Slashdot Mirror


User: narcc

narcc's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
5,471
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 5,471

  1. Re:Six identifiable bullet points on PHP Finally Getting a Formal Specification · · Score: 1

    Because reading is difficult for you:

    The claim was that == was intransitive. My claim was that, like every other language, transitivity only breaks down when you start to mix types.

    Feel silly yet? You should.

    As Patman64 already said

    And you felt the need to repeat it? Even though his reply was completely idiotic? Why?

  2. Re:Six identifiable bullet points on PHP Finally Getting a Formal Specification · · Score: 1

    , as you can tell from his meticulous list of instances when == is not transitive.

    Which highlights his laughable ignorance. He clearly doesn't understand dynamic languages. If you do the same comparisons in other dynamic languages, or others with the relevant type casts, you'll get the exact same results.

    Then again, I'm not trying to defend a long-debunked meme. I appreciate the effort you put in to your "rebuttal", but it's laughably incompetent. A bit like the "fractal" article itself.

  3. Re:Six identifiable bullet points on PHP Finally Getting a Formal Specification · · Score: 1

    They don't exist. I've asked the "what's wrong with it" question countless times. I've never received an actual answer. I think your six points are about spot on, that's pretty much all the article has to offer.

    I disagree with the first point, for obvious reasons. As well as point 5, which is not a language issue. Point 6 would need some clarification as it's completely unsupported. Point 2 doesn't make sense to me. How many languages throw an exception on a parse error? What if the error is in the handler itself? Further, he seems to hate the fact that PHP doesn't have MORE fatal errors. I'm convinced that he'd complain, as he did in other cases, if a parse error *wasn't* fatal. It's a very odd complaint.

    I'd give the author points 3, and 4. Of course, even if I grant him all six, it hardly makes PHP a "fractal" of bad design.

  4. Re:Engineer? on PHP Finally Getting a Formal Specification · · Score: 1

    But there is!

    In many places, it's illegal to engage in the practice of unlicensed engineering.

    We could stand a good crack-down. I'm sick of seeing all the one-skill-wonders running around calling themselves "engineers" to feed their fragile egos. It does a serious disservices to REAL engineers, like the parent.

  5. Re:its why devs cringe. on PHP Finally Getting a Formal Specification · · Score: 1

    - it utilisies the very thing that we do in other languages where it isn't necessary to make our code clear.

    Except it imposes a burden on the developer, which, in sane languages, can be handled with a single click on the the pretty-print button.

    This argument drives me crazy. It completely ignores *every other factor* that affects code legibility. I've even seen Python zealots argue that all Python code readable because indentation is enforced. What a joke! I've seen plenty of illegible Python code.

    And yes, when the indentation level changes by more than one level, it's significantly more difficult to read than other languages. Even if you disagree, you've got to admit that it's far easier to tell when a block begins and ends when you have two indicators instead of one.

    If that's not to your liking, consider that, in Python, it's possible to have two programs that appear visually identical but are, in fact, different. You want to talk about readability while advocating a language in which you can easily create errors that you actually can't see? It's the height of absurdity.

  6. Re:its why devs cringe. on PHP Finally Getting a Formal Specification · · Score: 1

    I'm pretty sure that python has its own list of issues. Maybe not to the same extent as PHP, but they exist.

    Python's problems are far broader and deeper than PHP's. At least with PHP, there isn't anything fundamentally wrong with the language. Python, on the other hand, is beyond salvation.

    Just one example: The whitespace issue isn't simply a matter of personal preference. It's why Python will NEVER have anonymous functions without laughably absurd limitations.

  7. Re:Formal specifications are pretty useless for th on PHP Finally Getting a Formal Specification · · Score: 1

    This is Slashdot so ... probably not.

  8. Re:whoosh! on Programming Languages You'll Need Next Year (and Beyond) · · Score: 1

    That definition is decades old.

    So defined by whom? On what basis? Can you direct me to the relevant literature? (Don't look too hard, you won't find anything. Since we're playing CS101, you should pay particularly close attention to formal language theory, which you'll find quite illuminating.)

    HTML5+CSS3 is known to be Turing complete, yet no one would call HTML5+CSS3 a "programming language". There are other languages which are broadly recognized as "programming languages" which are not Turing complete. (CS101 again: TM's provide just one of many models of computation. Another, which is not Turing complete, would be FSM's. There are many others.)

    See, this thread is all about informal definitions. What is considered a programming language or not in a practical sense. The problem, of course, is that everyone here seems to have forgotten that! If you want to be pedantic, a programming language can be Turing complete, or not. They're just ways in which instructions are provided to a computer.

  9. Re:whoosh! on Programming Languages You'll Need Next Year (and Beyond) · · Score: 1

    It's not about mere basic arithmetic, it's about whether or not symbolic computation is possible. The litmus test is whether or not you can write a simulation of a universal Turing Machine within the computer language.

    Oh, in that case, HTML5 +CSS3 qualifies. The more you know.

    Despite that fact, no one in their right mind would describe the combination that way. I'd find better criteria, if I were you.

  10. Re:Oh good, another one. on Reglue: Opening Up the World To Deserving Kids With Linux Computers · · Score: 1

    Then don't put it in the home.

    Support your local Neighborhood Networks center!

    It really does make a difference.

  11. Re:wrong bro on Programming Languages You'll Need Next Year (and Beyond) · · Score: 1

    we can get pedantic about the difference between "coding" and "programming" languages

    No, you can't. There is no formal distinction. There isn't even a commonly understood / agreed upon informal distinction!

    Pretending that such a distinction exists is just another silly way for the otherwise unskilled to make themselves feel superior to their peers.

  12. Re:Repeat after me... on Programming Languages You'll Need Next Year (and Beyond) · · Score: 1

    Yes, you're right.

    The fact that you think not knowing CSS will make a programmer limited showcases that your programming experience is limited to front-end development.

    It's clear that he thinks that anyone who thinks that "not knowing CSS will make a programmer limited" somehow indicates that that person's "programming experience is limited to front-end development"

    It's far more irrational than I originally thought!

    One is (obviously) not an indicator of the other. You'd think will all the self-proclaimed "rationalists" on Slashdot that this sort of nonsense wouldn't be so prevalent.

  13. Re:If you want to earn big bucks... on Programming Languages You'll Need Next Year (and Beyond) · · Score: 1

    Going back to languages, no language guarantees good income, not even comfortable jobs.

    Except COBOL.

  14. Re:Repeat after me... on Programming Languages You'll Need Next Year (and Beyond) · · Score: 1

    LOL, what?

    How does being familiar with CSS indicate that a persons programming experience is limited to "front-end development"?

    I can't rightly comprehend the confusion of ideas that would provoke such a statement!

  15. Re:Repeat after me... on Programming Languages You'll Need Next Year (and Beyond) · · Score: 0

    There's a difference?

  16. Re:Repeat after me... on Programming Languages You'll Need Next Year (and Beyond) · · Score: 4, Interesting

    HTML5 + CSS3 is Turing complete, which is the usual criteria.

    Picking nits...

  17. Re:Dear Slashdot on Ask Slashdot: Where Can I Find Resources On Programming For Palm OS 5? · · Score: 4, Informative

    See, old stuff that *they* like is important. Working on that stuff is a great idea.

    Working on old stuff that they don't care about is clearly a waste of time.

    Anyhow, here's a start for you: GCC PRC-Tools Which is likely what you want. Ron's Obsolete Palm OS Computing Information Page has a working link to HotPaw, which is better than nothing.

    You'll also want to take advantage of the Wayback Machine to see what's behind all the dead links you're surely running in to.

  18. Re: Not worth it on Ask Slashdot: Where Can I Find Resources On Programming For Palm OS 5? · · Score: 2

    This is Slashdot, right?

    This is the last thing I expected to find here.

  19. Re:I sure hope these ship! on Samsung Delays Tizen Phone Launch · · Score: 1

    I guess it's BlackBerry or FireFox OS for you.

    I'd call that a win anyway, but ymmv.

  20. Re:Yes it should ship! on Samsung Delays Tizen Phone Launch · · Score: 1

    Yes.

  21. Re:Laziness on Popular Android Apps Full of Bugs: Researchers Blame Recycling of Code · · Score: 1

    How about "pride in your work"? Remember that old maxim "anything worth doing is worth doing well"?

    I simply can't believe that money is the only thing that motivates people.

  22. Re:Dang... on Siberian Discovery Suggests Almost All Dinosaurs Were Feathered · · Score: 1

    For the TL;DR crowd - Go read some Paul Tillich

  23. Re:Good on Chromebooks Are Outselling iPads In Schools · · Score: 2

    What we need is FireFox OS on the desktop.

    Hate Mozilla all you want, this is exactly the reason we need them around.

  24. Re:wat on Black Holes Not Black After All, Theorize Physicists · · Score: 1

    A lesson about infinity from a guy who fails at basic geometry... I think I'll skip this one.

  25. Re:Consider Apple's latest Xcode IDE with Swift on 'Just Let Me Code!' · · Score: 1

    as much fun to code in as Python

    Wow, that's almost as fun as a trip to the dentist!