No list is complete without Vernor Vinge's _True Names... and Other Dangers_. I don't care if it's a book, instead of an article, but still, it's required reading.
I second that! The world described is much more advanced, but we are getting into some of the same problems now.
how? the spelling is horrific, the grammar atrocious, and the logic faulty. who doesn't like programming advice who can't program natural language.
You should cut them a little slack; most natural language interpreters will parse anything by aggressively guessing how to correct typos and syntax errors (unless they support the -W or --pedantic flags). It makes it damned hard to debug.
Bad writing slows down processing significantly, though. And that is -my- time they are wasting!
... But only 300 books? That appears insane. Somebody must have decided that storage was limited, so the book collection should be limited...and not bothered to check what the reasonable limits were.
Those are not the EPROMs that you are thinking of. The storage is probably much less than you think.
Developers usually don't use the help, mostly because they developed it or just look at the source... so no, this is not a obvious bug....
There must be testing by people who are -not- the developers. Developers get "blind spots" and don't know about stuff that they don't use, like help files. There is plenty of need, in open source, for volunteers who are not technical. See "naive tester".
... On the other hand, you ask what the city has done for you and I have to point out that the lion's share of your farming equipment is the direct result of factories in those cities. Can you till, plant and harvest without the benefits of tractors and combines anymore? Who is keeping those skills alive so that if the urban centers shut down, the countryside can continue operating as it does without petroleum and replacement parts?...
Are the factories actually in the city? I think the buildings that you see are empty and abandoned. There are factories here, that are working quite well. The workers are from here, not there. The knowledge is here. If you still have active factories you are lucky... but it may not last. See you soon, I'll save a place...
Latin was the one language that all academics shared.
...you mean, those who didn't speak Hebrew, Greek, or Arabic?
Actually, the Arabic scientists of the time -did- speak Latin, Greek and other languages, and so did most of the Hebrew or Greek ones. But the Euroupeans did not generally speak Arabic.
Fortran, apart from being a brilliant language for numerical math, has the added benefit of keeping CS graduates at bay. I'd rather have a physicist who can't program, than a CS type who can.
The problem was not the CS major, it was hiring a fool right out of school to run a project that large. He may grow out of being a fool, most do. But not yet.
I hope you don't assign your Physics students that way...
Too many people think that voting is like a test in school. That you are supposed to vote for the one that you think will win, instead of the one that should have the job. Bad mistake...
Actually, the entire thing was about forcing the use of electronic voting machines. All parties thought that they would be the ones able to "hack" the software and steal elections!
How often is an altitude of 60,000 feet not an error in reporting equipment (either altimiter or transponder)?
Note: "How often" does not matter in computer software, only "can it happen". If so, it must be handled. If only by popping an error. The alternative is disaster for you and your company...
Assuming they have a realistic alternative. When better jobs are hard to find and you have bills to pay in order to avoid being thrown out on the street and having to live in your Honda it's not far off slavery.
Speaking as someone who grew up in South Carolina, this is very far from slavery!
Of course some corporations try to take advantage of the situation, by making you think you have no choice, but that is only to be expected.
Assuming I don't lose my dentures and my hip doesn't give out I'm sure I'll be able to come up with some right after my daily afternoon nap. - 43-year-old programmer
Pull yourself together. Dude, you are just past being a kid ! In fact, you are the age be my kid... 8-)
... But in the history of a universal and formal definition of a state, let alone representative democracy, 200 years is pretty much the entirety of history.
Um... I think the Greek and Roman republics were before that. They fell into kingdoms, but they were there more than 200 years, each, before they did. And there have been others, smaller but there.
Slashdot Mirror
No list is complete without Vernor Vinge's _True Names... and Other Dangers_. I don't care if it's a book, instead of an article, but still, it's required reading.
I second that! The world described is much more advanced, but we are getting into some of the same problems now.
how? the spelling is horrific, the grammar atrocious, and the logic faulty. who doesn't like programming advice who can't program natural language.
You should cut them a little slack; most natural language interpreters will parse anything by aggressively guessing how to correct typos and syntax errors (unless they support the -W or --pedantic flags). It makes it damned hard to debug.
Bad writing slows down processing significantly, though. And that is -my- time they are wasting!
... Here's a few pages to get a taste of the style: http://www.cs.utsa.edu/~wagner...
Heh! ... Interesting. 8-)
It's amazing how many arguments reduce to the people arguing about the meaning of words!
Maybe we should start with defining our terms? 8-)
... Even if the project don't seem to fix/care about the bugs, it can help other developers to see that is a common bug and fix it anyway.
Yes. And even if they ignore most bug reports, they might not ignore the one in question. Sending the bug report at least gives it a chance.
... But only 300 books? That appears insane. Somebody must have decided that storage was limited, so the book collection should be limited...and not bothered to check what the reasonable limits were.
Those are not the EPROMs that you are thinking of. The storage is probably much less than you think.
I'm just shocked to learn that squids can read.
Yeah!!! Well... Jarheads are great, everyone should have one tied up in their back yard to protect their house!
8-}
Lots of people in their 40s and 50s and 60s have mediocre jobs writing 200 lines of code per quarter in some large corporation.
BTW what's the typical amount of code that one writes in a quarter in a programming job? I just want to know some stats.
"Lines of Code" has been known to be a very bad metric, since before you were born. Hell, almost before even I was born!
Don't be ridiculous.
They're all managing programmers.
Those who Can, do. Those who can't, Manage!
Developers usually don't use the help, mostly because they developed it or just look at the source ... so no, this is not a obvious bug. ...
There must be testing by people who are -not- the developers. Developers get "blind spots" and don't know about stuff that they don't use, like help files. There is plenty of need, in open source, for volunteers who are not technical. See "naive tester".
... On the other hand, you ask what the city has done for you and I have to point out that the lion's share of your farming equipment is the direct result of factories in those cities. Can you till, plant and harvest without the benefits of tractors and combines anymore? Who is keeping those skills alive so that if the urban centers shut down, the countryside can continue operating as it does without petroleum and replacement parts? ...
Are the factories actually in the city? I think the buildings that you see are empty and abandoned.
There are factories here, that are working quite well. The workers are from here, not there. The knowledge is here.
If you still have active factories you are lucky... but it may not last.
See you soon, I'll save a place...
ALL CAPS has been optional since 1990, at least.
Fortran has had modularisation, structured code since 1990, Classes and object-orientated since 2003. Please update your prejudices.
...modularisation, structured code since Fortran IV, about 1973 (?). FTFY...
Latin was the one language that all academics shared.
...you mean, those who didn't speak Hebrew, Greek, or Arabic?
Actually, the Arabic scientists of the time -did- speak Latin, Greek and other languages, and so did most of the Hebrew or Greek ones. But the Euroupeans did not generally speak Arabic.
Fortran, apart from being a brilliant language for numerical math, has the added benefit of keeping CS graduates at bay. I'd rather have a physicist who can't program, than a CS type who can.
The problem was not the CS major, it was hiring a fool right out of school to run a project that large. He may grow out of being a fool, most do. But not yet.
I hope you don't assign your Physics students that way...
So, they are going to ban the only reliable way to stop the engine, in an emergency like the ones Toyota had...
Not Good.
Too many people think that voting is like a test in school. That you are supposed to vote for the one that you think will win, instead of the one that should have the job. Bad mistake...
Actually, the entire thing was about forcing the use of electronic voting machines. All parties thought that they would be the ones able to "hack" the software and steal elections!
How often is an altitude of 60,000 feet not an error in reporting equipment (either altimiter or transponder)?
Note: "How often" does not matter in computer software, only "can it happen".
If so, it must be handled. If only by popping an error.
The alternative is disaster for you and your company...
Yes. It's a buffer overread. But if did not go beyond the memory allocated by malloc.
Only because the programmers "hacked" malloc! Not Good!
And if your system fails, it doesn't matter if it was faster...
When free enterprize gets bad enough, regulation is the result.
Clean up your act, or you will be roadkill for the control freaks in government!
If you are worried about security don't use software written by people who can't be bothered to check parameters.
"If Engineers built buildings the way Programmers write programs, the first Woodpecker that came along would Destroy Civilization!"
Assuming they have a realistic alternative. When better jobs are hard to find and you have bills to pay in order to avoid being thrown out on the street and having to live in your Honda it's not far off slavery.
Speaking as someone who grew up in South Carolina, this is very far from slavery!
Of course some corporations try to take advantage of the situation, by making you think you have no choice, but that is only to be expected.
Assuming I don't lose my dentures and my hip doesn't give out I'm sure I'll be able to come up with some right after my daily afternoon nap.
- 43-year-old programmer
Pull yourself together.
Dude, you are just past being a kid ! In fact, you are the age be my kid... 8-)
... But in the history of a universal and formal definition of a state, let alone representative democracy, 200 years is pretty much the entirety of history.
Um... I think the Greek and Roman republics were before that. They fell into kingdoms, but they were there more than 200 years, each, before they did. And there have been others, smaller but there.
It is possible for even free stuff to cost a lot more than it is worth !