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Viruses Enlisted as Nano-builders
Parsa writes "Nanotechnology is getting closer with genetically engineered
viruses grabbing zinc sulfide and arranging themselves into
highly organized structures. The
story is here at MSNBC.com."
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Gentlemen, the time has come for a serious discussion on whether or not to continue using C for serious programming projects. As I will explain, I feel that C needs to be retired, much the same way that Fortran, Cobol and Perl have been. Furthermore, allow me to be so bold as to suggest a superior replacement to this outdated language.
To give you a little background on this subject, I was recently asked to develop a client/server project on a Unix platform for a Fortune 500 company. While I've never coded in C before I have coded in VB for fifteen years, and in Java for over ten, I was stunned to see how poorly C fared compared to these two, more low-level languages.
C's biggest difficulty, as we all know, is the fact that it is by far one of the slowest languages in existance, especially when compared to more modern languages such as Java and C#. Although the reasons for this are varied, the main reasons seems to be the way C requires a programmer to laboriously work with chunks of memory.
Requiring a programmer to manipulate blocks of memory is a tedious way to program. This was satisfactory back in the early days of coding, but then again, so were punchcards. By using what are called "pointers" a C programmer is basically requiring the computer to do three sets of work rather than one. The first time requires the computer to duplicate whatever is stored in the memory space "pointed to" by the pointer. The second time requires it to perform the needed operation on this space. Finally the computer must delete the duplicate set and set the values of the original accordingly.
Clearly this is a horrendous use of resources and the chief reason why C is so slow. When one looks at a more modern (and a more serious) programming language like Java, C# or - even better - Visual Basic that lacks such archaic coding styles, one will also note a serious speed increase over C.
So what does this mean for the programming community? I think clearly that C needs to be abandonded. There are two candidates that would be a suitable replacement for it. Those are Java and Visual Basic.
Having programmed in both for many years, I believe that VB has the edge. Not only is it slightly faster than Java its also much easier to code in. I found C to be confusing, frightening and intimidating with its non-GUI-based coding style. Furthermore, I like to see the source code of the projects I work with. Java's source seems to be under the monopolistic thumb of Sun much the way that GCC is obscured from us by the marketing people at the FSF. Microsoft's "shared source" under which Visual Basic is released definately seems to be the most fair and reasonable of all the licenses in existance, with none of the harsh restrictions of the BSD license. It also lacks the GPLs requirement that anything coded with its tools becomes property of the FSF.
I hope to see a switch to VB very soon. I've already spoken with various luminaries in the *nix coding world and most are eager to begin to transition. Having just gotten off the phone with Mr. Alan Cox, I can say that he is quite thrilled with the speed increases that will occur when the Linux kernel is completely rewritten in Visual Basic. Richard Stallman plans to support this, and hopes that the great Swede himself, Linux Torvaldis, won't object to renaming Linux to VB/Linux. Although not a C coder himself, I'm told that Slashdot's very own Admiral Taco will support this on his web site. Finally, Dennis Ritchie is excited about the switch!
Thank you for your time. Happy coding.
Egg Troll
C - A language that combines the speed of assembly with the ease of use of assembly.
Deep down you want to suck Bill Gates' cock, don't you, fat *NIX boy?
Wait until the nano virus mutates! Then where will we be!? UP SHITS CREEK WITHOUT A PADDLE THATS WHERE!
LOL...mod this up as funny!
Her name is "Belcher" not "Belch". That said, she's hot, smart and a Belcher - what a catch!
bleeah..vom vom vom.
Mozilla test:
TEST
Virii is not a word you pompous asshole.
Reprinted completely without permission from The Holland Sentinel. Story available here.
The days are few, the shoppers many at mall Local shoppers were out in force Sunday, but the atmosphere was still friendly
Last modified at 4:36 a.m. on Monday, December 21, 1998
By JOHN SPYKERMAN
Staff writer
Ron Nelson had a feeling that holiday shopping would be more laid back in Holland than back home in Grand Rapids.
Faced with the last weekend of shopping before Christmas, he packed his nephew and two sons into the car and made the 30-minute drive to Westshore Mall. What he found was a crowded but relatively relaxed shopping environment, and a chance for the kids to visit Santa Claus.
"Yeah, we took a chance," Nelson said before meeting his nephew Deontay, 5, and sons Demetrius, 5, and Chris, 2, as they finished their visit with Santa. "I knew (the mall) was opening up at 12, so we gave it a couple hours and headed on over."
Plenty of other people headed on over Sunday to Westshore Mall and other shopping centers, which were abuzz the last weekend before Christmas, even though the opposition of many Holland residents to shopping on the Sabbath kept Sunday's crowds smaller than Saturday's.
"It's pretty hectic," said Joe Barends, an assistant store manager at the Holland Target. "Normally in Holland on Sundays it's a bit slower -- you tend to let your guard down."
Retailers across the country have complained that warm weather got the holiday shopping season off to a slow start, severely dampening sales of such Christmas staples as coats and sweaters. While the temperature has turned cold, some shoppers said Sunday it's still hard to get into the Christmas spirit given the weather.
Sally Laseur from Fennville said it's been a little hard to decorate this year with the lack of snow. Still, she said, it couldn't be Christmas without that last-minute rush for presents.
"It's kind of hectic here," she said, trying to keep her 1-year-old daughter, Genesis, and friend, Tyler Diaz, from wandering off into the swarm of shoppers bustling through Westshore Mall. "Trying to get a stroller was bad -- they're completely gone."
Target's Barends said that sales have been very good for his store for the most part.
"We've sold a lot of toys, a lot of electronics," he said. "Clothing is a little down. Jackets and flannels have been a little slow, but sweats are selling like crazy."
With Christmas a heartbeat away, retailers are counting on many shoppers who still have much of their gift-buying left to do. Last year, the three biggest shopping days of the year in terms of sales were Dec. 20, Dec. 22 and Dec. 23, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, a New York-based trade group.
Knowing that the last week of the season is so crucial, almost every national retailer stepped up their promotions over the weekend. The biggest markdowns came in apparel, with merchants eager to unload some of the clothes that have sat on shelves for weeks during the warm spell.
Kathleen Fent from Holland tried to take advantage of one of those sales Saturday and put the holiday shopping season behind her. Unfortunately, a too-small sweater sent her back to the mall for one last visit on Sunday.
No fan of holiday crowds, Fent was looking to get in and out as quickly as possible Sunday afternoon, even if crowds were somewhat smaller than Saturday's masses.
"Yesterday it was like I was going to go postal," she said. "Today, I want to leave now. I hate screaming kids."
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Copyright 1998. The Holland Sentinel.
Woo hoo - one step closer to the Grey Goo end of the world. Just more proof that Mars needs women.
Push the envelope. Watch it bend.
If I start seeing yellow butterflies, I'm going to be real pisssed off.
ugly bags of mostly water.
<Troll>ST??? What is ST???</Troll>
Good thing I came across a trivia question with this as the answer. NoMoreNicksLeft refers to the Startrek The Next Generation episode called Home Soil where a group of microbrains declared war on the human race.