Ok. Setting up a new system may help, but one of the secondary effects of malware is the control of somebody else about your system. If he decides to infect user data (manually) you may not find that automatically. (e.g. what about a change in the source code of large programs....).
Depends what your "Beginner" should achieve in the end.
Is he a CS student? Is he a beginner in a programmer's school? Is he studying Economics? or is he a 7 Year old kid?
For the 7 year old kid: give him any language which enables him to do graphics, sound or control his toys (Lego?). If likes Programming he'll anyway absorb the whole language so quick that you can give him another one when he is 8 years. Do not be concerned about ruining his programming style. He'll like to change it. I startet programming since i was 11 (now 31) and i am changing my coding style every two years in average (sometimes revising old ones - if needed in the actual task). Explöain you kid that a programmming language is a only tool to o things, not a philosophy.
Economics student: I do not like to admit it, but VB might be the thing he is expected to have some knowledge in later.
Programmer: Iff the purpose of the school is to have him maintaining VB Applications. Remember that he is probably not going to be an software architect after that. Otherwise C AND Java are probably the best choices.
CS Student: NO. It is a waste of time to learn a language where it is cheaper to hire other persons for and the pedagogic value of VB is NULL for him. He should get a touch of functional programming - good to know the concepts if you need automated code creation. He should get into C to know that the practical low-level workhorse found in embedded products (and it will be there for many years) can do for him or the people he is leading (programmers) - iff he understood the meaning of the word "system call", he knows enough C (do not be mistaken. It takes quite some way to understand, that "system call" is quite differend from "library function". I know experienced programmers who do not understand the difference between "Internal Error" and "Failed System Call" - these guys usually write elaborate, difficult to debug pieces of sh... code). And teach him Java to let him see a language which was designed in the object oriented way. Maybe even C# for the latter purpose.
Stating something like:
"you can reload your drivers while the system is running" Which basically means: Yes, thy got the microkernel concept right. This is probably the biggest step ever made by microsoft from the viewpoint of a modern architechture. A whole lot of other Problems are solved automatically in this moment (e.g. they mention that it is possible to prioritize I/O transactions.)
ans something like
"Hey thy now use your 3D graphics card to make your desktop shinier".
in the same tone of voice and guiding the users to the conclusion that the amount of work invested in both is in any way at least to a few orders of magnitude - similar. The truth is that rewriting the kernel and even the most elementary drivers for the hardware used most often must have taken *hundreds* to *thausands* of man-years of highly capable programmers - and a huge will to invest into the future.
This does not mean that i'll slaughter the fileserver under linux when vista appears - for something as trivial as serving files the monolithic kernel is ok (and does very well)- but if they did what they claim they have made a huge advance.
To me
1) keycards for the doors
2) intensice care units
3) doctors pagers
are three different systems, which (at least 1) and 2)) fall into the category "critical infrastructure". Commonly such systems have to be built that a failure of a part of the system should not to an interruprion of the whole system. This is a commonly known criteria. Coupling all three systems to a single personal computer, which makes them shut down if having a problem is absolutely inacceptable.
The telephone netowrk e.g. is build in this principle. I never, not even during a power blckout ever had no phone connection. The locking system of the building should not require any connection to operate, but should be an independend microcontroller system, which is pretty independent and keep the keys during a power failure and take up operation w/o any measure from the outside. Why an intensive Care Unit is connected to the internet is completely unobviuos to me; Anyway alo this unit ahould support a operation based only on the normal phone system and should be self-sustained.
Nevetheless, the main fault is the attackers.
design the most evil Windows virus ever, which combines all known techniques and some more, send it in a mail with a title like "free naked teens", but in a way that it has to be clicked on to infect to the management and watch the desaster. After all employes got this virus e-mail from the Management they can either admit that they clicked on the mail (admitting that they are stupid and incompetent) or they can say that this only happend due to the insecure Windows.....
Even it it is my personal belief that there exists no possibility to create a region in space with a deviation of the local metric big enough from a Minkoski tensor to allow a closed curve in time, i do not see a topological reason against that. Some argumenations of the author suggest that he has no idea what exactly he is talking about (why else his "there is no velocity in time" argument, which proves nothin, besides the author having understand a derivative); I admit that one of the major problems would be that "classically spoken" your trajectories lead in a bend region of the universe in circles (circles is *circles in space-time*), wherefore the resulting differential equations would not be "initial value problems", but at the same time be subjected to very strange boundary conditions; last but not least one could argue what happens at the "boundary" of such a region; but vortices have been known for a long time and this boundary is similar to the event horizon of a black hole. (May a qualified physicist speak and correct me..... GR is not really a topic I know very well).
if more than 10% of the posters here have ever used Adobes Graphics Suite for some time > 3 Month in daily use AND gimp also for the same amount of time on at least similar tasks. I do not believe so; after a few days Adobes products (i.e. Illustrator) kick the ass of all other Drawing/Image modification (unspecialized) Tools, if run on decent Hardware AND used for creating printable Documents. The UI is a little bit strange for a few days and featuritis does not make things better in the beginning, but when you get the concepts, which are less counterintuitive than the xfig GUI, the UI is very efficient.
On the other hand: for most photo operations I use the gimp. Before Adobes procuct has finished loading the plugins on my computer, I am already done with editing using xfig or gimp and there are functions in the gimp which I actually did not find in Adobes products, since everyone who wants to play around is encouraged to do so. And I scripted the gimp when scriping was an unknown word in drawing/painting programs.
The most important thing is: make a model of what you want to do before even thinking which programming language you use. Reduce the semantics needed from external sources to the essential set of features. But do not re-implement semantics w/o need.
Whereever possible make finite automata models; try to use automated techniques for detecting deadlock in the interplay of these. Wherever possible use known protocols.
Try to avoid atomic regions in your code for which you have no semantic model (i.e. try to make atomic regions only inside member methods of object specifically designed for "sharing data").
Avoid unecessary system calls; for the sake of performance and because you never know what will happen.
If you are sure that you have no circular references, prefer reference counting over garbage collection. (because it is a finite automata!).
Try to avoid dynamic data allocation - or better: think about the chinks in which memory will be needed. Depending on your application write your own memory allocation (Only do this if you know what you are doing), if you have a special idea about the sequence in which memory will be needed (imagine the following memory requests (i write in C, but you should get the point). i=0;a=malloc(10000);b[i++]=malloc(10);free(a);a=ma lloc(20000);b[i++]=malloc(10);free(a); a=malloc(30000);b[i++]=malloc(10);......
In this simple example.
If finite automata do not suffice at a point use a stack machine.
*Maybe* use yacc to design your parser;
Probably necessary to say, but: Run your network of your computing cores should be connected to the GUI only via IPC; Please no shared memory space.
For the network communication consider existing methods. e.g. Corba - if applicable.
Ahem; as many things as possible should be as stateless as possible; makes testing easier.
Also for the number crunchers it's really important to think actively about the cache size. These faces of people who don't think about when they write something like (matlab syntax) the following:
for y=1:10000
for x=1:10000
a(x,y)=c*b(x,y)
end end
are really funny to observe when you tell them that it matters which of the loop is the "outer" one.
(Somethines these hints are necessary after "My Program does not run much faster on the 2.8GHz Pentium than on the 1GHz Pentium......").
Besides the fact that "nailing to a tree" is something which is unlikely to happen to my memory cards, probably the outcome depends strongly is the nail goes trough the flash memory or only trough plastic. Furthermore "washing" should be carried out at temperatures from 30-90 degrees, and the results should be interpreted in terms of flipped bits. Hammering is a combination of mechanical stress and vibration, two things which can be separated (and are interestin separate- one tells you if you might put the memory card in your pocket, the other one if you should damp vibrations if you put it onto your bike). Running it over with a toy card after running it over wit h a skateboard (I suppose with sombody on it) will not do additional damage, i guess! And dipping into cola may oxidise the contacts......
So.... I think the test was not carried out correctly and scientifically......
Java will in near future nearly kill any other language regarding thin clients - in fact it did. Most mobile phones here are delivered with some kind of java; It runs on windriver vxworks os (most uses embedded RT os); It runs on Mainframes, Smartcards and other funny devices.
The really bad frst version of the AWT and all the compatibility Problems from Java 1.0 to 1.2 and quick changes are clearly a minus, but since 2 years these settled.
The Problem about distributed applications is in most cases, to my experience, not the programming but the conception/semantics behind. To believe that porting an non-distributed system to a distributed one can be done by programmers alone is futile. Most of the time even semantical changes in the function are appropriate - since actions which did not cause any considerable cost before (e.g. accessing an database!) cost something (e.g. a limited centralized cpu, a limited centralized network interface, a limited amount of data transferred with high priority, a limted amount of total data transferred and so on).
Well....
The Rule is known, that if you perform scientific misconduct you may loose your PHD. No reason to complain if you got nature papers with this misconduct before.
Actually programming in jython, java & matlab, some of the principles which i learned while programming on a C128 and an 8051 with 128 bytes and C on linux are the following:
Never Copy - if not necessary (be careful with the "=" operator in C++ and other high-level Lang.)
Aggregate Information as soon as possible
Preserve Locality
Save Memory always - your Computer has lots of RAM, but little Cache.
Be careful with 2D-Arrays and similar structures and consider the cache organiziation
Try to use Regular automata wherever appropriate instead of more complex structures.
Slashdot Mirror
RMS should apply for a Job there.
Ok. Setting up a new system may help, but one of the secondary effects of malware is the control of somebody else about your system. If he decides to infect user data (manually) you may not find that automatically. (e.g. what about a change in the source code of large programs....).
Depends what your "Beginner" should achieve in the end.
Is he a CS student? Is he a beginner in a programmer's school? Is he studying Economics? or is he a 7 Year old kid?
For the 7 year old kid: give him any language which enables him to do graphics, sound or control his toys (Lego?). If likes Programming he'll anyway absorb the whole language so quick that you can give him another one when he is 8 years. Do not be concerned about ruining his programming style. He'll like to change it. I startet programming since i was 11 (now 31) and i am changing my coding style every two years in average (sometimes revising old ones - if needed in the actual task). Explöain you kid that a programmming language is a only tool to o things, not a philosophy.
Economics student: I do not like to admit it, but VB might be the thing he is expected to have some knowledge in later.
Programmer: Iff the purpose of the school is to have him maintaining VB Applications. Remember that he is probably not going to be an software architect after that. Otherwise C AND Java are probably the best choices.
CS Student: NO. It is a waste of time to learn a language where it is cheaper to hire other persons for and the pedagogic value of VB is NULL for him. He should get a touch of functional programming - good to know the concepts if you need automated code creation. He should get into C to know that the practical low-level workhorse found in embedded products (and it will be there for many years) can do for him or the people he is leading (programmers) - iff he understood the meaning of the word "system call", he knows enough C (do not be mistaken. It takes quite some way to understand, that "system call" is quite differend from "library function". I know experienced programmers who do not understand the difference between "Internal Error" and "Failed System Call" - these guys usually write elaborate, difficult to debug pieces of sh... code). And teach him Java to let him see a language which was designed in the object oriented way. Maybe even C# for the latter purpose.
Stating something like: "you can reload your drivers while the system is running" Which basically means: Yes, thy got the microkernel concept right. This is probably the biggest step ever made by microsoft from the viewpoint of a modern architechture. A whole lot of other Problems are solved automatically in this moment (e.g. they mention that it is possible to prioritize I/O transactions.) ans something like "Hey thy now use your 3D graphics card to make your desktop shinier". in the same tone of voice and guiding the users to the conclusion that the amount of work invested in both is in any way at least to a few orders of magnitude - similar. The truth is that rewriting the kernel and even the most elementary drivers for the hardware used most often must have taken *hundreds* to *thausands* of man-years of highly capable programmers - and a huge will to invest into the future. This does not mean that i'll slaughter the fileserver under linux when vista appears - for something as trivial as serving files the monolithic kernel is ok (and does very well)- but if they did what they claim they have made a huge advance.
To me 1) keycards for the doors 2) intensice care units 3) doctors pagers are three different systems, which (at least 1) and 2)) fall into the category "critical infrastructure". Commonly such systems have to be built that a failure of a part of the system should not to an interruprion of the whole system. This is a commonly known criteria. Coupling all three systems to a single personal computer, which makes them shut down if having a problem is absolutely inacceptable. The telephone netowrk e.g. is build in this principle. I never, not even during a power blckout ever had no phone connection. The locking system of the building should not require any connection to operate, but should be an independend microcontroller system, which is pretty independent and keep the keys during a power failure and take up operation w/o any measure from the outside. Why an intensive Care Unit is connected to the internet is completely unobviuos to me; Anyway alo this unit ahould support a operation based only on the normal phone system and should be self-sustained. Nevetheless, the main fault is the attackers.
design the most evil Windows virus ever, which combines all known techniques and some more, send it in a mail with a title like "free naked teens", but in a way that it has to be clicked on to infect to the management and watch the desaster. After all employes got this virus e-mail from the Management they can either admit that they clicked on the mail (admitting that they are stupid and incompetent) or they can say that this only happend due to the insecure Windows.....
Even it it is my personal belief that there exists no possibility to create a region in space with a deviation of the local metric big enough from a Minkoski tensor to allow a closed curve in time, i do not see a topological reason against that. Some argumenations of the author suggest that he has no idea what exactly he is talking about (why else his "there is no velocity in time" argument, which proves nothin, besides the author having understand a derivative); I admit that one of the major problems would be that "classically spoken" your trajectories lead in a bend region of the universe in circles (circles is *circles in space-time*), wherefore the resulting differential equations would not be "initial value problems", but at the same time be subjected to very strange boundary conditions; last but not least one could argue what happens at the "boundary" of such a region; but vortices have been known for a long time and this boundary is similar to the event horizon of a black hole. (May a qualified physicist speak and correct me..... GR is not really a topic I know very well).
if more than 10% of the posters here have ever used Adobes Graphics Suite for some time > 3 Month in daily use AND gimp also for the same amount of time on at least similar tasks. I do not believe so; after a few days Adobes products (i.e. Illustrator) kick the ass of all other Drawing/Image modification (unspecialized) Tools, if run on decent Hardware AND used for creating printable Documents. The UI is a little bit strange for a few days and featuritis does not make things better in the beginning, but when you get the concepts, which are less counterintuitive than the xfig GUI, the UI is very efficient. On the other hand: for most photo operations I use the gimp. Before Adobes procuct has finished loading the plugins on my computer, I am already done with editing using xfig or gimp and there are functions in the gimp which I actually did not find in Adobes products, since everyone who wants to play around is encouraged to do so. And I scripted the gimp when scriping was an unknown word in drawing/painting programs.
The most important thing is: make a model of what you want to do before even thinking which programming language you use. Reduce the semantics needed from external sources to the essential set of features. But do not re-implement semantics w/o need.
a lloc(20000);b[i++]=malloc(10);free(a); ......
Whereever possible make finite automata models; try to use automated techniques for detecting deadlock in the interplay of these. Wherever possible use known protocols.
Try to avoid atomic regions in your code for which you have no semantic model (i.e. try to make atomic regions only inside member methods of object specifically designed for "sharing data").
Avoid unecessary system calls; for the sake of performance and because you never know what will happen.
If you are sure that you have no circular references, prefer reference counting over garbage collection. (because it is a finite automata!).
Try to avoid dynamic data allocation - or better: think about the chinks in which memory will be needed.
Depending on your application write your own memory allocation (Only do this if you know what you are doing), if you have a special idea about the sequence in which memory will be needed (imagine the following memory requests (i write in C, but you should get the point).
i=0;a=malloc(10000);b[i++]=malloc(10);free(a);a=m
a=malloc(30000);b[i++]=malloc(10);
In this simple example.
If finite automata do not suffice at a point use a stack machine.
*Maybe* use yacc to design your parser;
Probably necessary to say, but: Run your network of your computing cores should be connected to the GUI only via IPC; Please no shared memory space.
For the network communication consider existing methods. e.g. Corba - if applicable.
Ahem; as many things as possible should be as stateless as possible; makes testing easier.
Also for the number crunchers it's really important to think actively about the cache size. These faces of people who don't think about when they write something like (matlab syntax) the following:
for y=1:10000
for x=1:10000
a(x,y)=c*b(x,y)
end
end
are really funny to observe when you tell them that it matters which of the loop is the "outer" one.
(Somethines these hints are necessary after "My Program does not run much faster on the 2.8GHz Pentium than on the 1GHz Pentium......").
Besides the fact that "nailing to a tree" is something which is unlikely to happen to my memory cards, probably the outcome depends strongly is the nail goes trough the flash memory or only trough plastic. Furthermore "washing" should be carried out at temperatures from 30-90 degrees, and the results should be interpreted in terms of flipped bits. Hammering is a combination of mechanical stress and vibration, two things which can be separated (and are interestin separate- one tells you if you might put the memory card in your pocket, the other one if you should damp vibrations if you put it onto your bike). Running it over with a toy card after running it over wit h a skateboard (I suppose with sombody on it) will not do additional damage, i guess! And dipping into cola may oxidise the contacts......
So.... I think the test was not carried out correctly and scientifically......
No - actually I think it might be faster than cpython who dies not have a JIT
Java will in near future nearly kill any other language regarding thin clients - in fact it did. Most mobile phones here are delivered with some kind of java; It runs on windriver vxworks os (most uses embedded RT os); It runs on Mainframes, Smartcards and other funny devices. The really bad frst version of the AWT and all the compatibility Problems from Java 1.0 to 1.2 and quick changes are clearly a minus, but since 2 years these settled. The Problem about distributed applications is in most cases, to my experience, not the programming but the conception/semantics behind. To believe that porting an non-distributed system to a distributed one can be done by programmers alone is futile. Most of the time even semantical changes in the function are appropriate - since actions which did not cause any considerable cost before (e.g. accessing an database!) cost something (e.g. a limited centralized cpu, a limited centralized network interface, a limited amount of data transferred with high priority, a limted amount of total data transferred and so on).
Well.... The Rule is known, that if you perform scientific misconduct you may loose your PHD. No reason to complain if you got nature papers with this misconduct before.
- Never Copy - if not necessary (be careful with the "=" operator in C++ and other high-level Lang.)
- Aggregate Information as soon as possible
- Preserve Locality
- Save Memory always - your Computer has lots of RAM, but little Cache.
- Be careful with 2D-Arrays and similar structures and consider the cache organiziation
- Try to use Regular automata wherever appropriate instead of more complex structures.
Some more important non-algorithmic ideas?