> JavaScript lacks most of the language features needed for writing robust, reliable software at a large scale.
There is no reason that it should not be possible to write huge enterprise applications in JavaScript. (or assembly language).
It's just that it becomes a huge unmaintainable mess.
The reason for higher and higher level languages, including type checking, is to make the compiler to more and more of the bookkeeping of writing software. You could do it in assembly language if you were willing to do enough bookkeeping.
What JavaScript (and similar dynamic languages) bring is that you can write smaller projects very quickly. See Ruby on Rails for example. But then Twitter started with Ruby, and in 2012 switched to Java for scalability. They said that Ruby was the right language when they started.
> (1) Is this unique to Java?
> (2) I'm betting if you have a large enough pool of open source things, which depend on other open source things . ..
You answer your own question. It may be unique to Java because Java has an absolute embarrassment of open source riches. Some of them have been around for a long time. Bad management leads to big projects not getting upgraded. Not just libraries, but even the Java runtimes that they run on. Just look at how many developers on reddit complain about big systems still running on decrept ancient dinosaur versions of Java, way before even Generics.
The root cause is not poor unit testing. Not bad developers. It is managers who won't allow the change to be made. It ultimately will always come down to money. They are unwilling to spend on having a reasonable staging environment that closely mimics the production system such that making these changes could be done safely and receive proper testing. And people to do that work also cost money.
In short: management doesn't care, due to money. So the product can just self-destruct. (like SourceForge)
Facebook could make sure all of your personal information is kept very safe and confidential, and only made available to anyone who claims to be an advertiser wanting to 'target' you.
Um, if I am not mistaken, PermGen was replaced with Metaspace not meatspace. But considering what goes into both spaces, the confusion is understandable.
The stores which own the legislatures of both Illinois and Texas should simply order them to change the laws.
You can buy all of the government some of the time, and some of the government all of the time, but . . .
it takes a lot of money to buy all of the government, all of the time. So that option is only available to very large companies.
A passport is proof of ownership. Sort of like how a company puts a 'property of' sticker on a computer. But maybe my definition of passport is totally consistent with yours if you assume citizenship == subject of the realm == ownership.
Why should a robot need a passport? It is a machine. Like your toaster. This will continue to be true for some time to come.
Should other dangerous machines also need a passport? What about a robot welding machine? A numerically controlled drill press? (Hey, it could decide to hurt you just when you happen to have your hand in the wrong spot!)
If the electricity is off for two weeks, society will begin to totally disintegrate.
Your water tap stops because no power to pump water into your nearby water tower. It may have a backup generator, but that takes fuel, which I'll come to next.
You won't be able to put fuel into your car because no electricity to operate the gas pumps at the filling station. Even using siphoning or other ways of pumping the fuel out of the underground storage tanks, the filling station fuel supplies will get tapped out soon.
Not only will you no longer be able to use your car (electric or fuel powered) but there will be no more deliveries. Your local grocery store should be completely picked clean by now.
At this point, people will fight for food, water, batteries, fuel, other supplies. Don't expect help from the police, military of government. They will be having the same basic problems. The people who participate in the police and military will be having the same basic problems with their own families.
It is not "video bytes", it is "video bites". As in, wow that's too bad, that really bites. The term 'bites' is not as widely used as 'sucks', but it is more correct, since the former is a bad thing, and the latter is a good thing.
So please correct the spelling of your "Video Bites" spam inserts on the front page.
Thank you
Regards, with my sincerest indifference to the success of your organization and source forge spam operations
> 3d printing a gun certainly takes a lot of effort.
In 1985, using your own Laser Printer to print leaflets took a lot of effort and money. Apple's first LaserWriter cost just a shave under $8000. Add the cost of a Mac, you're well over $10,000. And this is in 1985 dollars.
Choice of software, at the time was painfully limited. MacDraw wasn't even around yet. So you could use MacPaint (painfully) and get low quality images on your laserwriter. You could use MacWrite, or Microsoft Word (such as it was) and get lots of neatly formatted text in multiple fonts and styles.
3D printing is only going to get cheaper and easier. The state of 3D printing today is the worst it will ever be.
3D printers and the programs that drive them must be regulated. Otherwise, consider the dangers to society. Anyone would be able to circumvent laws, such as Arizona's legal limit of two dildos per household.
I was able to get into a live chat with someone at Netflix and give them this feedback.
Please do not even go down the rabbit hole of experimenting with advertising. I enjoy the ad-free experience that you currently offer. The world is literally polluted with ads, and we do not need more. Advertisers will mandate the placement of ads on the inside of our eyeballs once the technology becomes available. Instead, raise your prices if it is more money that you need to support and improve your already excellent service.
If this terrible idea must go forward (managers, executives, etc), then please offer a higher priced ad-free plan.
Decades ago, cable TV sold itself to the advertisers. It's like an addictive drug. It was argued back then, at first, to justify that you pay for cable tv, that it would be ad-free. We see how that worked out. Now cable tv spends more time on ads than it does on content. And the content has deteriorated to the point that it is literally un-watchable. Instead I watch online internet TV, such as Netflix and others. I hope that I don't eventually have to shift my viewing habits again because Netflix goes the way of cable TV.
Please, please do not open up this can of worms. You cannot re-can it once opened. Netflix will gradually deteriorate into more and more ads and less and less content. Ads will end up driving decisions, including eventually the content, until the disease of ads infect the content itself like a cancer. It is a gradual process that starts on a slippery slope at a watershed moment. A watershed is like the continental divide. There is a line through the US where if a drop of rain falls on one side of the line, it ends up eventually in the Atlantic ocean. If it falls only a few inches away on the other side of the line, it eventually ends up in the Pacific ocean. This advertising is like that. Netflix is at a watershed moment that will affect its destiny. Please don't make the wrong choice.
Back in about 1981, Apple did this. Steve Jobs was changed forever after seeing Xerox Parc. Soon Apple employed the top who's who of every great computer science person on the planet. Like with everything Apple did back then, it took Microsoft a long time to copy.
Taking an old saying, and exhaustively expanding it to its logical conclusion, I come up with the following observed hierarchy of value.
Those who can, do.
Those who can't, become managers.
Those who can't manage, teach on the subject.
Those who can't teach, become consultants*.
Those who can't succeed in consulting, run for office.
Those who can't get elected, become lobbyists.
The problem is that everyone lower down than "those who can" incorrectly perceive the value hierarchy to be inverted to make themselves feel better.
If the NSA had only been spying on terrorists we wouldn't even be having this conversation. (although it's not really a conversation, but you get my point)
Why would the NSA and CIA be spying on Congress? Is it someone's goal to set up the apparatus of a police state?
Why is the NSA spying on the EU Parliament? Are they looking for terrorists in Parliament?
See: TED How the NSA betrayed the world's trust — time to act
at: 4:30
also see at: 12:40 (or at 12:00 for better context) "I don't think they're looking for terrorists in Parliament."
(see at: 6:00 if you believe in encryption golden keys)
Slashdot Mirror
> JavaScript lacks most of the language features needed for writing robust, reliable software at a large scale.
There is no reason that it should not be possible to write huge enterprise applications in JavaScript. (or assembly language).
It's just that it becomes a huge unmaintainable mess.
The reason for higher and higher level languages, including type checking, is to make the compiler to more and more of the bookkeeping of writing software. You could do it in assembly language if you were willing to do enough bookkeeping.
What JavaScript (and similar dynamic languages) bring is that you can write smaller projects very quickly. See Ruby on Rails for example. But then Twitter started with Ruby, and in 2012 switched to Java for scalability. They said that Ruby was the right language when they started.
> (1) Is this unique to Java? .
> (2) I'm betting if you have a large enough pool of open source things, which depend on other open source things . .
You answer your own question. It may be unique to Java because Java has an absolute embarrassment of open source riches. Some of them have been around for a long time. Bad management leads to big projects not getting upgraded. Not just libraries, but even the Java runtimes that they run on. Just look at how many developers on reddit complain about big systems still running on decrept ancient dinosaur versions of Java, way before even Generics.
The root cause: poor management (in most cases)
The root cause is not poor unit testing. Not bad developers. It is managers who won't allow the change to be made. It ultimately will always come down to money. They are unwilling to spend on having a reasonable staging environment that closely mimics the production system such that making these changes could be done safely and receive proper testing. And people to do that work also cost money.
In short: management doesn't care, due to money. So the product can just self-destruct. (like SourceForge)
Well tested code is best. So the few unit tests you have should be run many times to ensure code is well tested.
Facebook could make sure all of your personal information is kept very safe and confidential, and only made available to anyone who claims to be an advertiser wanting to 'target' you.
The 2038 problem is similar to Y2K but for Unix. 2015 + 25 years = 2040.
> If you don't like local Wal-Mart's policy which considers entering the store to be a sign of consent, what are you going to do
Amazon.com
Like encryption, those high powered IR LEDs to blind cameras, only attract attention -- until everyone is doing it.
Once encryption is outlawed, only outlaws will use encryption. Similarly wearing IR LEDs wired into your hat.
Well tested code is best. Therefore you should run your unit tests many times so you can say your code is well tested.
> In meatspace nobody recognizes Rorschach.
Um, if I am not mistaken, PermGen was replaced with Metaspace not meatspace. But considering what goes into both spaces, the confusion is understandable.
The stores which own the legislatures of both Illinois and Texas should simply order them to change the laws.
You can buy all of the government some of the time, and some of the government all of the time, but . . . it takes a lot of money to buy all of the government, all of the time. So that option is only available to very large companies.
> what is a passport? It's proof of citizenship
A passport is proof of ownership. Sort of like how a company puts a 'property of' sticker on a computer. But maybe my definition of passport is totally consistent with yours if you assume citizenship == subject of the realm == ownership.
Why should a robot need a passport? It is a machine. Like your toaster. This will continue to be true for some time to come.
Should other dangerous machines also need a passport? What about a robot welding machine? A numerically controlled drill press? (Hey, it could decide to hurt you just when you happen to have your hand in the wrong spot!)
What do you have against dicks? You probably don't like languages with dick typing.
If the electricity is off for two weeks, society will begin to totally disintegrate.
Your water tap stops because no power to pump water into your nearby water tower. It may have a backup generator, but that takes fuel, which I'll come to next.
You won't be able to put fuel into your car because no electricity to operate the gas pumps at the filling station. Even using siphoning or other ways of pumping the fuel out of the underground storage tanks, the filling station fuel supplies will get tapped out soon.
Not only will you no longer be able to use your car (electric or fuel powered) but there will be no more deliveries. Your local grocery store should be completely picked clean by now.
At this point, people will fight for food, water, batteries, fuel, other supplies. Don't expect help from the police, military of government. They will be having the same basic problems. The people who participate in the police and military will be having the same basic problems with their own families.
By now, you can see where this is going.
Dear Slashdot,
It is not "video bytes", it is "video bites". As in, wow that's too bad, that really bites. The term 'bites' is not as widely used as 'sucks', but it is more correct, since the former is a bad thing, and the latter is a good thing.
So please correct the spelling of your "Video Bites" spam inserts on the front page.
Thank you
Regards, with my sincerest indifference to the success of your organization and source forge spam operations
> I know you are being sarcastic
:-)
How could you tell?
> 3d printing a gun certainly takes a lot of effort.
In 1985, using your own Laser Printer to print leaflets took a lot of effort and money. Apple's first LaserWriter cost just a shave under $8000. Add the cost of a Mac, you're well over $10,000. And this is in 1985 dollars.
Choice of software, at the time was painfully limited. MacDraw wasn't even around yet. So you could use MacPaint (painfully) and get low quality images on your laserwriter. You could use MacWrite, or Microsoft Word (such as it was) and get lots of neatly formatted text in multiple fonts and styles.
3D printing is only going to get cheaper and easier. The state of 3D printing today is the worst it will ever be.
3D printers and the programs that drive them must be regulated. Otherwise, consider the dangers to society. Anyone would be able to circumvent laws, such as Arizona's legal limit of two dildos per household.
I was able to get into a live chat with someone at Netflix and give them this feedback.
Please do not even go down the rabbit hole of experimenting with advertising. I enjoy the ad-free experience that you currently offer. The world is literally polluted with ads, and we do not need more. Advertisers will mandate the placement of ads on the inside of our eyeballs once the technology becomes available. Instead, raise your prices if it is more money that you need to support and improve your already excellent service.
If this terrible idea must go forward (managers, executives, etc), then please offer a higher priced ad-free plan.
Decades ago, cable TV sold itself to the advertisers. It's like an addictive drug. It was argued back then, at first, to justify that you pay for cable tv, that it would be ad-free. We see how that worked out. Now cable tv spends more time on ads than it does on content. And the content has deteriorated to the point that it is literally un-watchable. Instead I watch online internet TV, such as Netflix and others. I hope that I don't eventually have to shift my viewing habits again because Netflix goes the way of cable TV.
Please, please do not open up this can of worms. You cannot re-can it once opened. Netflix will gradually deteriorate into more and more ads and less and less content. Ads will end up driving decisions, including eventually the content, until the disease of ads infect the content itself like a cancer. It is a gradual process that starts on a slippery slope at a watershed moment. A watershed is like the continental divide. There is a line through the US where if a drop of rain falls on one side of the line, it ends up eventually in the Atlantic ocean. If it falls only a few inches away on the other side of the line, it eventually ends up in the Pacific ocean. This advertising is like that. Netflix is at a watershed moment that will affect its destiny. Please don't make the wrong choice.
Back in about 1981, Apple did this. Steve Jobs was changed forever after seeing Xerox Parc. Soon Apple employed the top who's who of every great computer science person on the planet. Like with everything Apple did back then, it took Microsoft a long time to copy.
Taking an old saying, and exhaustively expanding it to its logical conclusion, I come up with the following observed hierarchy of value.
Those who can, do.
Those who can't, become managers.
Those who can't manage, teach on the subject.
Those who can't teach, become consultants*.
Those who can't succeed in consulting, run for office.
Those who can't get elected, become lobbyists.
The problem is that everyone lower down than "those who can" incorrectly perceive the value hierarchy to be inverted to make themselves feel better.
* Insultants
This is the best evidence why a free market should not be allowed for the employment of smart people.
/sarc
I assume communication failures also count as 'system down'?
It seems like the easiest way to give the average backhoe operator launch authority.
Don't worry. Robots have no reason to want to harm slow, inferior, annoying humans.
If the NSA had only been spying on terrorists we wouldn't even be having this conversation. (although it's not really a conversation, but you get my point)
Why would the NSA and CIA be spying on Congress? Is it someone's goal to set up the apparatus of a police state?
Why is the NSA spying on the EU Parliament? Are they looking for terrorists in Parliament?
See: TED How the NSA betrayed the world's trust — time to act
at: 4:30
also see at: 12:40 (or at 12:00 for better context) "I don't think they're looking for terrorists in Parliament."
(see at: 6:00 if you believe in encryption golden keys)
Maybe Space X will have a requirement to sell space launches through dealer networks, but United Launch Alliance will not have such a requirement.