I have always liked programming in C++ (and Iâ(TM)m talking about way back when it first appeared). Poorly written C++ code that has to be maintained by others is definitely a drag but thatâ(TM)s a different issue. I would concede that long, nested template instantiations for predicates can be hard to parse. Macros, typedefs, and the new auto keyword help and should be used. Otherwise, does C++ make it easy to write write-only code? I donâ(TM)t think anymore than any other language. Well written C++ is no more difficult to understand than any other 3rd generation programming language.
I shouldn't be surprised--it is the Internet after all--but I am a little shocked at the number of Luddites here on Slashdot. A plethora of posters rail against smart speakers as if they only serve as Trojan horses for a Big Brother conspiracy. Newsflash: your webcam, PC, smartphone, all have the potential to, and to degrees already are, capturing your data. The potential for abuse exists in all connected, embedded computer systems. Guess what, they're not going away; they're only going to proliferate. The challenge, and the obligation, with smart tech, and any tool for that matter, is to harness the benefits while vigilantly squelching any abuse.
Why the denigration of programming? I suppose, calling it coding is a start. Code is only the middle part of the software development life-cycle. We counter this denigration of the "coding" moniker with the term "software engineering". The source of the denigration of programming is technology management. By breaking down the work of programming into separate tasks, simple-minded managers think they can make the job conceptually simpler. What these managers don't account for is the loss of information between SDLC phases when they're conducted by different people. Agile attempts to rectify the situation, but coding camps either completely ignore or give short shrift to so-called "Upper CASE". You also have authors like Alan Cooper ("About Face") who advocate for the separation of coding and design. That's like saying Bob Dylan shouldn't compose and perform his own music. Whatever your opinion of Dylan's singing voice, I think everyone would agree that strict division of labor would rob the world of unique perspectives and contributions, not to mention progress of any sort.
Yes we need more (and better) programmers, especially from under-represented population segments. However, attempting to dumb down an intellectual activity like programming (into "coding") is a silly and cynical attempt to depress wages.
I took an introductory computer class as an undergrad in 1978. The language was BASIC on a teletype. I was a math major at the time, but I liked programming and the field was booming back then (still is) so I switched my major to computer science. After ten years in the field, I still liked it so I went back to school and got my Master's in computer science.
Buses can be made faster without necessarily making them more dangerous, insofar as discounting the inherent danger in speed itself. In fact, it's a well known concept. It's called Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and it's being implemented in urban areas all over the world.
Software Engineering encompasses all the phases of the Software Development Life Cycle: Analysis, Design, Code, Test, Maintain. In non-agile development shops, where rolls are strictly separated, then the person relegated to doing the programming should probably be called a programmer or developer or coder. A lot of companies use the separate phases as promotional carrots. Programming is deemed the lowest level, or perhaps Testing is. Then one gets promoted to "designer" or "architect" or "systems analyst" (back in the day). This is cheap malpractice on the part of bad companies. Flat out do not work for companies that do this. If during the interview you discover that design and programming are strictly separated and done by different people, just politely leave the interview as soon as possible and never return.
All autonomous vehicles should constantly upload and retrieve information from a publicity owned database in the cloud, absolutely secured of course, so all vehicles have up-to-the minute awareness of road conditions and status. Let the chaos begin?
OP states, "Granted, the survey in question only involved 5,000 respondents, so it shouldn't be viewed as comprehensive."
Statistically speaking, 5,000, if randomly selected, should be sufficiently comprehensive to get a good representation of the entire population.
I work from home and use a standing desk. I just bought an inexpensive (very) Lack table from Ikea and plopped it on my bench table. It's great. I can put my laptop on it and alternate between sitting and standing. Very nice. If it's too high you can lop off the legs or mount an inexpensive shelf (with brackets, all from Ikea) for a keyboard on the front legs. No excuse not to do it--at all.
The posts claiming the problem is not sitting are just caviling. The original study reports that the problem IS sitting for long periods.
This disaster seems related to the missing Malaysian flight in that it appears a suicidal pilot commandeered the aircraft in both cases. In this day of mobile networks, there shouldn't be a second where flight video and data isn't being uploaded to a server in real-time.
We need to acknowledge the fact Linux Torvalz (tee-hee) is being utterly illogical (odd for a 10x programmer) when he utters that a language is bad because there are so many bad programmers using it. There are bad programmers in any language. If there's a preponderance of bad programmers using C++, it's not because the language is bad, but because it has been so popular (and powerful) for so long.
I read an essay once where the author said that reality of human barbarity must not be hidden because otherwise we'll live in an infantile, delusional condition. As much as I don't want to see such things, I would have to agree. Unfortunately, I don't recall the author, other than she was a relatively famous writer (I want to say Joyce Carol Oates, but I'm not certain).
Self-taught programmers, usually white males, middle-to-upper class, many who curiously did not go to or complete college despite their relatively wealthy backgrounds, is a very weird artifact of the computer industry.
Slashdot Mirror
I have always liked programming in C++ (and Iâ(TM)m talking about way back when it first appeared). Poorly written C++ code that has to be maintained by others is definitely a drag but thatâ(TM)s a different issue. I would concede that long, nested template instantiations for predicates can be hard to parse. Macros, typedefs, and the new auto keyword help and should be used. Otherwise, does C++ make it easy to write write-only code? I donâ(TM)t think anymore than any other language. Well written C++ is no more difficult to understand than any other 3rd generation programming language.
I shouldn't be surprised--it is the Internet after all--but I am a little shocked at the number of Luddites here on Slashdot. A plethora of posters rail against smart speakers as if they only serve as Trojan horses for a Big Brother conspiracy. Newsflash: your webcam, PC, smartphone, all have the potential to, and to degrees already are, capturing your data. The potential for abuse exists in all connected, embedded computer systems. Guess what, they're not going away; they're only going to proliferate. The challenge, and the obligation, with smart tech, and any tool for that matter, is to harness the benefits while vigilantly squelching any abuse.
You need to read the Software Engineering Code of Ethics toot sweet. Here's the link http://www.acm.org/about/se-co....
Why the denigration of programming? I suppose, calling it coding is a start. Code is only the middle part of the software development life-cycle. We counter this denigration of the "coding" moniker with the term "software engineering". The source of the denigration of programming is technology management. By breaking down the work of programming into separate tasks, simple-minded managers think they can make the job conceptually simpler. What these managers don't account for is the loss of information between SDLC phases when they're conducted by different people. Agile attempts to rectify the situation, but coding camps either completely ignore or give short shrift to so-called "Upper CASE". You also have authors like Alan Cooper ("About Face") who advocate for the separation of coding and design. That's like saying Bob Dylan shouldn't compose and perform his own music. Whatever your opinion of Dylan's singing voice, I think everyone would agree that strict division of labor would rob the world of unique perspectives and contributions, not to mention progress of any sort. Yes we need more (and better) programmers, especially from under-represented population segments. However, attempting to dumb down an intellectual activity like programming (into "coding") is a silly and cynical attempt to depress wages.
Unless you're producing a virus, your program shouldn't break with Update turned on.
"Premature optimization is the root of all evil." Said some sage. It was either Fred Brooks or Donald Knuth, I forget. Google it.
I took an introductory computer class as an undergrad in 1978. The language was BASIC on a teletype. I was a math major at the time, but I liked programming and the field was booming back then (still is) so I switched my major to computer science. After ten years in the field, I still liked it so I went back to school and got my Master's in computer science.
Feel the Bern.
Buses can be made faster without necessarily making them more dangerous, insofar as discounting the inherent danger in speed itself. In fact, it's a well known concept. It's called Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and it's being implemented in urban areas all over the world.
From what I've read recently, it's not exactly true that the majority of programmers is self-taught. It's high, but not over 50%.
Where you live, you're screwed no matter who's driving.
Software Engineering encompasses all the phases of the Software Development Life Cycle: Analysis, Design, Code, Test, Maintain. In non-agile development shops, where rolls are strictly separated, then the person relegated to doing the programming should probably be called a programmer or developer or coder. A lot of companies use the separate phases as promotional carrots. Programming is deemed the lowest level, or perhaps Testing is. Then one gets promoted to "designer" or "architect" or "systems analyst" (back in the day). This is cheap malpractice on the part of bad companies. Flat out do not work for companies that do this. If during the interview you discover that design and programming are strictly separated and done by different people, just politely leave the interview as soon as possible and never return.
More vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) technology will evolve.
All autonomous vehicles should constantly upload and retrieve information from a publicity owned database in the cloud, absolutely secured of course, so all vehicles have up-to-the minute awareness of road conditions and status. Let the chaos begin?
When a bunch of car jackers surround my vehicle.
Black ice on a highway curve at night and if a sink hole suddenly emerges in my lane.
Organizational memory isn't valuable, viz. Sturgeon's Law.
The Internet.
OP states, "Granted, the survey in question only involved 5,000 respondents, so it shouldn't be viewed as comprehensive." Statistically speaking, 5,000, if randomly selected, should be sufficiently comprehensive to get a good representation of the entire population.
I work from home and use a standing desk. I just bought an inexpensive (very) Lack table from Ikea and plopped it on my bench table. It's great. I can put my laptop on it and alternate between sitting and standing. Very nice. If it's too high you can lop off the legs or mount an inexpensive shelf (with brackets, all from Ikea) for a keyboard on the front legs. No excuse not to do it--at all. The posts claiming the problem is not sitting are just caviling. The original study reports that the problem IS sitting for long periods.
This disaster seems related to the missing Malaysian flight in that it appears a suicidal pilot commandeered the aircraft in both cases. In this day of mobile networks, there shouldn't be a second where flight video and data isn't being uploaded to a server in real-time.
We need to acknowledge the fact Linux Torvalz (tee-hee) is being utterly illogical (odd for a 10x programmer) when he utters that a language is bad because there are so many bad programmers using it. There are bad programmers in any language. If there's a preponderance of bad programmers using C++, it's not because the language is bad, but because it has been so popular (and powerful) for so long.
I read an essay once where the author said that reality of human barbarity must not be hidden because otherwise we'll live in an infantile, delusional condition. As much as I don't want to see such things, I would have to agree. Unfortunately, I don't recall the author, other than she was a relatively famous writer (I want to say Joyce Carol Oates, but I'm not certain).
Self-taught programmers, usually white males, middle-to-upper class, many who curiously did not go to or complete college despite their relatively wealthy backgrounds, is a very weird artifact of the computer industry.
...they'll either burn out, or even worse get promoted and you'll have to report to them. Yikes!