Gak, wish I had mod points so I could mod your reply up.
Good points, although I'd never say never if I were you. After all, if they can design an entire virtual machine that can abstract hardware calls to different OSs, I'd imagine that they could do something similar for DirectX/OpenGL.
But for 3d games, I don't think this will be at all trivial for porting... the PS2's architecture is extremely different to that of a PC, and just blindly interpreting Direct3d Immediate Mode calls ("draw this triangle here") will surely not take advantage of the PS/2 architecture at all.
I thought that too, but after looking around the Playstation2 section at CompUSA I noticed that there are a LOT of PC games (Half-life, No One Lives Forever, Baldurs Gate to name a few) that have been ported to the PS2. That makes me think that perhaps the hardware, or at least the PS2 API, is that different from a PC.
Granted, I've never DONE a porting to the PS2 but it seems like a lot of companies have.
comment stuff that is out of the norm or is a cheesy workaround to some OS or component bug. I often code for the Windows platform so my code is sprinkled with nuggets of wisdom like this.
// have to do it this way to avoid problem X
or
//tried it the suggested way but that didn't work so we'll do it this way. May revisit later.
Those are just examples, the actual comments are much more precise about the problem.
You don't let the client shove those things down your throat at the last minute. You tell them, "Either the date has to shift or we have to leave out this feature until later."
I know, I know I can already hear the chattering of keyboards in/. land. "But the client MAKES us put the feature in and THEY control the MONEY". I've been in that situation before and 9 times out of 10, once I've explained it to the customer that they will be getting a better value and more stable code by either slipping the delivery date or by letting us include and document the new feature and deliver it in a patch later they understand. Of course you get the occasional jackass that is on a power trip and says they won't pay if it ships late, that's why you make sure you're business is totally dependant upon one client. You make sure you have as many clients as you can handle so no one client can lord over you.
What'a your next great suggestion? "Don't update the techincal spec or the functional spec because you don't have time because that triples the amount of work you have to do if the code is also commented. Just ride in like a code cowboy and make the changes you need".
I agree that if the next person doesn't change the comments, it makes it harder for the next person that has to work on the code. SO MAKE SURE THEY CHANGE THEM. If they don't, they're not really the kind of coder you need around.
In the past, I've modifier existing comments likes so.
//orginal comment // modifier by SCK 2/1/2001 - fixed possible buffer overrun in var m_intInput
It didn't take me that long to write the comment and the guys that worked on the code after me appreciated it
We can barely get some of the administrative people we have trained on Windows.
I tried to get my fiance to use Linux (SuSE 8.0), her response was "I don't want to learn Linux. I want to use Windows, that's what we have at work". Even though 90% of what she does on her computer at home (online banking, documents, web surfing) can be done just as easily on Linux, the exception being playing games (which I already have a dedicated machine for doing just that).
I tried telling her "There's nothing to learn really, you click on the menu, launch the program and use it like you would a Windows computer". Alas, to no avail.
My point being, even if you convince them it's cheaper, more stable, they won't care unless you force it down their throats. It's like medicine or a new dish. Some people like to try new things, others don't.
Not to mention the fact that you have to convince them that productivity won't be hurt. (now the Systems and help desk productivity might be hurt having to run around and say to everyone "it's just like windows". Your biggest problems will come when everyone and their dog wants to install their personal stuff (screensavers, wallpaper, P2P apps, etc...) on their new Linux machines, then get mad when you tell them it won't work.
He's not saying you have to use HIS company to be successful, he's saying if you want to be successful when you create a Web Service, you should consider the security of the Web Service you are creating.
Here's a key thing to think about IMO, a lot of the programmers at Microsoft are not the mercenaries we make them out to be. Don't blame the sins of the company on the fellow propeller heads working there.
A lot of them are working towards making a better product but their ideas may not be "economically feaseable" or "slated for the next release". Some of them just love programming and to get paid for it...heck that's "nerdvana".
Some of them are working on the development tools, which IMO beat the heck out of anything out there in the Open Source community (Although JEdit comes close).
BTW People had the same arguments about Apple in the late 80s and early 90s. "How can the Macintosh lose when we all care so much about it."
Plus a lot of us (by us I mean me unless anyone else feels the same way) are working with OSS simply because it's "fun" and we're not out to change the world. I could care less if Linux overtakes MS on the desktop or servers. I'm more concerned about the computers that I work with actually WORKING and making it more fun for me to work with them.
The number of reboots is VASTLY different between Win2K and Linux.
I just installed Win2K last night and I counted 14 reboots to get it installed and patched up with all the latest patches. When I installed SuSE 8.0 I had to reboot once (and I really didn't HAVE to reboot, I just wanted to after the install finished).
I switched my desktop system from RH 7.2 to SuSE 8.0 because of Mozilla.
I d/led the RPM for Mozilla 1.0 RC1 and tried to install it, rpm told me I need another source, I get that source it tells me it need 10 other sources to install. I give up and switch to SuSE, sure it uses RPM's but they seem to all WORK for me.
I haven't seen any differences between KDE 2 and KDE 3 except the cool little aqua-like inflating icons on the panel. But I'm not one of those people that can look at the root dir and tell what distro I'm running.
It's never been about "stress testing" the doctors, it's always been about "That's what I had to do so you have to also" and getting cheap labor out of desperate new doctors. Hospitals could schedule attendings or residents so that they don't end up working 36 hour shifts or 100 hour work weeks. They don't.
PS do you think that an attending or senior resident is overseeing a first year at 3AM when he is on call and has been ip for 24+ hours?
If MS had just announced that they weren't going to develop for the Windows 98 and NT platforms anymore, this comment board would be filled with people yelling about their decision and how typical of MS it was.
yes, I've had to restrain myself a couple of time from telling my friends who became "programmers" during the dot-com boom when they complain about there not being any IT jobs out there that employers are just being more picky about who they pick now. For enterprise level jobs there is still plenty of need, the industry has gone back to a more realistic model of employement rather than "we need a warm body we can train for cheap"
My fiance is a pharmacist in a hospital and has to deal with highly trained and hard working doctors all the time. Mostly fixing their screwups when they prescribe drugs for their patients. Think of pharmacists as QA for the docs and make sure your girlfriend and her co-workers treat them nicely because one just might save her ass, and her patient, someday.:)
90% of the "work ten times as hard" effort is self or system imposed to no good end. Having a resident (making around $20K/year mind you) work 36 hours straight (12 + 12 hours on call overnight + another 12 their normal shift) is not only dangerous but stupid.
How much of a drone a doc is really depends on their specialty, talk to an ER doc after they treat their 4000th runny nose/sore throat during the winter or a dermatologist after they've removed their 1 millionth wart. Pretty much like IT work. Setting up your 50th server is a lot like your 4th.
Working in IT matters too, someone has to program the pacemakers, heart monitors, etc... Heck, just think about having a bug in the source of a blood analyzing machine. Read about some "bugs" in this story too.
So what about movies, books, and music? If a movie can have a political message, why not a game?
What was that bunny RTS that came out not too long ago? Where all the bunnies had French accents and the pigs had German accents? A Commentary on WWII maybe? Satirical comments perhaps?
One of the big problems I've seen at places where I work is that they don't have any kind of advancement roadmap for programmers. Some places will have "senior" programming positions, but that's about as far as they go. They usually lump all IT positions into two categories, System Administration or Programming. There usually aren't positions such as "Senior Software Architect" or "Senior Database Administrator".
All the advancements lead to management. As if that's the natural end position for an employee, to end up running the place. Maybe if more companies spent some time defining out the advancement pathways for their employees, programming wouldn't seem like such a dead end job.
Nobody gets "forced" to work in any language or on any platform. If you don't like the language, don't program in it.
"But Windows is the standard at my job, I'm forced to write one a windows platform and use.NET"
Get a different job then dork, if you can't find a job that will make you happy. Change careers, you can always program on your Linux/Unix/OSX box at home as a hobby if you really love programming.
Why does every programmer think that they are so important that the world must cater to them? "Microsoft must go away because they are evil, they should change their languages because I don't like them"
Go play with your GCC compiler on your Linux box then. No one is "forced" to use any technology, you don't get put in jail or killed if you don't use Microsoft products. If you don't like what Microsoft does with VC++, don't use it. If you have to at your job and that doesn't make you happy, find another job. If you can't find a job programming on the Linux platform then either suck up and use MS products to make yourself money or find another career and make Linux programming your hobby.
It worked fine for me running IE 6 here, no Java 1.4 RTE just whatever came with IE 6.
#1 ain't no Java ON that page, it's a JSP Java Server Page. No applets, no Java to "poke around your hardware"
#2 Java ain't JavaScript. Java = language that is compiled to intermediate code and executed within a virtual machine. JavaScript = brand-name, interpreted language most often embedded in an HTML page.
A lot of people have a problem on their machine and automatically assume that it happens on EVERY machine.
Well for me, M.U.L.E. was the forerunner for most of the modern RTS games. It was also one of the first games, at least in my world where the sky was a dark blue with a light blue border and lots of askterixs in the sky, that had real replayability. Most of the games I had play up to that point were either maze type games or scrollers, same levels at the beginning, same bad guys in the same spots. M.U.L.E. had more randomness, not to mention the best theme song, at least until Commando came along.
IBM has done a LOT more for Java GUIs than Sun ever has IMO.
I installed the latest version of Eclipse and I was amazed at how fast the GUI ran. It is the first Java application that I've ran that didn't frustrate the hell out of me by running slowly. Sun should incorporate whatever GUI widgets IBM made into the next JDK.
Slashdot Mirror
Gak, wish I had mod points so I could mod your reply up.
Good points, although I'd never say never if I were you. After all, if they can design an entire virtual machine that can abstract hardware calls to different OSs, I'd imagine that they could do something similar for DirectX/OpenGL.
But for 3d games, I don't think this will be at all trivial for porting... the PS2's architecture is extremely different to that of a PC, and just blindly interpreting Direct3d Immediate Mode calls ("draw this triangle here") will surely not take advantage of the PS/2 architecture at all.
I thought that too, but after looking around the Playstation2 section at CompUSA I noticed that there are a LOT of PC games (Half-life, No One Lives Forever, Baldurs Gate to name a few) that have been ported to the PS2. That makes me think that perhaps the hardware, or at least the PS2 API, is that different from a PC.
Granted, I've never DONE a porting to the PS2 but it seems like a lot of companies have.
comment stuff that is out of the norm or is a cheesy workaround to some OS or component bug. I often code for the Windows platform so my code is sprinkled with nuggets of wisdom like this.
// have to do it this way to avoid problem X
or
//tried it the suggested way but that didn't work so we'll do it this way. May revisit later.
Those are just examples, the actual comments are much more precise about the problem.
You don't let the client shove those things down your throat at the last minute. You tell them, "Either the date has to shift or we have to leave out this feature until later."
/. land. "But the client MAKES us put the feature in and THEY control the MONEY". I've been in that situation before and 9 times out of 10, once I've explained it to the customer that they will be getting a better value and more stable code by either slipping the delivery date or by letting us include and document the new feature and deliver it in a patch later they understand. Of course you get the occasional jackass that is on a power trip and says they won't pay if it ships late, that's why you make sure you're business is totally dependant upon one client. You make sure you have as many clients as you can handle so no one client can lord over you.
I know, I know I can already hear the chattering of keyboards in
...Whos code I always have to work on!!!!
one comment every physical file.
What'a your next great suggestion? "Don't update the techincal spec or the functional spec because you don't have time because that triples the amount of work you have to do if the code is also commented. Just ride in like a code cowboy and make the changes you need".
I agree that if the next person doesn't change the comments, it makes it harder for the next person that has to work on the code. SO MAKE SURE THEY CHANGE THEM. If they don't, they're not really the kind of coder you need around.
In the past, I've modifier existing comments likes so.
//orginal comment
// modifier by SCK 2/1/2001 - fixed possible buffer overrun in var m_intInput
It didn't take me that long to write the comment and the guys that worked on the code after me appreciated it
We can barely get some of the administrative people we have trained on Windows.
I tried to get my fiance to use Linux (SuSE 8.0), her response was "I don't want to learn Linux. I want to use Windows, that's what we have at work". Even though 90% of what she does on her computer at home (online banking, documents, web surfing) can be done just as easily on Linux, the exception being playing games (which I already have a dedicated machine for doing just that).
I tried telling her "There's nothing to learn really, you click on the menu, launch the program and use it like you would a Windows computer". Alas, to no avail.
My point being, even if you convince them it's cheaper, more stable, they won't care unless you force it down their throats. It's like medicine or a new dish. Some people like to try new things, others don't.
Not to mention the fact that you have to convince them that productivity won't be hurt. (now the Systems and help desk productivity might be hurt having to run around and say to everyone "it's just like windows". Your biggest problems will come when everyone and their dog wants to install their personal stuff (screensavers, wallpaper, P2P apps, etc...) on their new Linux machines, then get mad when you tell them it won't work.
Or the Blitzkrieg bombing of England?
He's not saying you have to use HIS company to be successful, he's saying if you want to be successful when you create a Web Service, you should consider the security of the Web Service you are creating.
I certainly don't see anything funny about someones weight.
Especially if I have to search them.
Here's a key thing to think about IMO, a lot of the programmers at Microsoft are not the mercenaries we make them out to be. Don't blame the sins of the company on the fellow propeller heads working there.
A lot of them are working towards making a better product but their ideas may not be "economically feaseable" or "slated for the next release". Some of them just love programming and to get paid for it...heck that's "nerdvana".
Some of them are working on the development tools, which IMO beat the heck out of anything out there in the Open Source community (Although JEdit comes close).
BTW People had the same arguments about Apple in the late 80s and early 90s. "How can the Macintosh lose when we all care so much about it."
Plus a lot of us (by us I mean me unless anyone else feels the same way) are working with OSS simply because it's "fun" and we're not out to change the world. I could care less if Linux overtakes MS on the desktop or servers. I'm more concerned about the computers that I work with actually WORKING and making it more fun for me to work with them.
The number of reboots is VASTLY different between Win2K and Linux.
I just installed Win2K last night and I counted 14 reboots to get it installed and patched up with all the latest patches. When I installed SuSE 8.0 I had to reboot once (and I really didn't HAVE to reboot, I just wanted to after the install finished).
I switched my desktop system from RH 7.2 to SuSE 8.0 because of Mozilla.
I d/led the RPM for Mozilla 1.0 RC1 and tried to install it, rpm told me I need another source, I get that source it tells me it need 10 other sources to install. I give up and switch to SuSE, sure it uses RPM's but they seem to all WORK for me.
I haven't seen any differences between KDE 2 and KDE 3 except the cool little aqua-like inflating icons on the panel. But I'm not one of those people that can look at the root dir and tell what distro I'm running.
Interesting story here at CNN
d ents.ap/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/05/08/medical.resi
It's never been about "stress testing" the doctors, it's always been about "That's what I had to do so you have to also" and getting cheap labor out of desperate new doctors. Hospitals could schedule attendings or residents so that they don't end up working 36 hour shifts or 100 hour work weeks. They don't.
PS do you think that an attending or senior resident is overseeing a first year at 3AM when he is on call and has been ip for 24+ hours?
If MS had just announced that they weren't going to develop for the Windows 98 and NT platforms anymore, this comment board would be filled with people yelling about their decision and how typical of MS it was.
Oh wait, they've already done that.
yes, I've had to restrain myself a couple of time from telling my friends who became "programmers" during the dot-com boom when they complain about there not being any IT jobs out there that employers are just being more picky about who they pick now. For enterprise level jobs there is still plenty of need, the industry has gone back to a more realistic model of employement rather than "we need a warm body we can train for cheap"
My fiance is a pharmacist in a hospital and has to deal with highly trained and hard working doctors all the time. Mostly fixing their screwups when they prescribe drugs for their patients. Think of pharmacists as QA for the docs and make sure your girlfriend and her co-workers treat them nicely because one just might save her ass, and her patient, someday. :)
90% of the "work ten times as hard" effort is self or system imposed to no good end. Having a resident (making around $20K/year mind you) work 36 hours straight (12 + 12 hours on call overnight + another 12 their normal shift) is not only dangerous but stupid.
How much of a drone a doc is really depends on their specialty, talk to an ER doc after they treat their 4000th runny nose/sore throat during the winter or a dermatologist after they've removed their 1 millionth wart. Pretty much like IT work. Setting up your 50th server is a lot like your 4th.
Working in IT matters too, someone has to program the pacemakers, heart monitors, etc... Heck, just think about having a bug in the source of a blood analyzing machine. Read about some "bugs" in this story too.
Then why should we?
Excelsior!
You don't like cable because it doesn't show naked breasts during commercials?
and you have access to the internet?
Why do you need TV to show you naked breasts when you have the internet? Heck, it's one of the few things that the internet is good for!!!
Open a Word 2000 document, edit it, then save it in Word 97/2000/XP format and open it using Word 2000?
I couldn't with 642, my Word 2000 would hang when I opened a document saved by OpenOffice in Word 2000/XP format.
Now this may just have been me, has anyone else run into this problem? It was a pretty simple document, simple tables, no embedded graphics.
So what about movies, books, and music? If a movie can have a political message, why not a game?
What was that bunny RTS that came out not too long ago? Where all the bunnies had French accents and the pigs had German accents? A Commentary on WWII maybe? Satirical comments perhaps?
One of the big problems I've seen at places where I work is that they don't have any kind of advancement roadmap for programmers. Some places will have "senior" programming positions, but that's about as far as they go. They usually lump all IT positions into two categories, System Administration or Programming. There usually aren't positions such as "Senior Software Architect" or "Senior Database Administrator".
All the advancements lead to management. As if that's the natural end position for an employee, to end up running the place. Maybe if more companies spent some time defining out the advancement pathways for their employees, programming wouldn't seem like such a dead end job.
Nobody gets "forced" to work in any language or on any platform. If you don't like the language, don't program in it.
.NET"
"But Windows is the standard at my job, I'm forced to write one a windows platform and use
Get a different job then dork, if you can't find a job that will make you happy. Change careers, you can always program on your Linux/Unix/OSX box at home as a hobby if you really love programming.
Why does every programmer think that they are so important that the world must cater to them?
"Microsoft must go away because they are evil, they should change their languages because I don't like them"
Go play with your GCC compiler on your Linux box then. No one is "forced" to use any technology, you don't get put in jail or killed if you don't use Microsoft products. If you don't like what Microsoft does with VC++, don't use it. If you have to at your job and that doesn't make you happy, find another job. If you can't find a job programming on the Linux platform then either suck up and use MS products to make yourself money or find another career and make Linux programming your hobby.
It worked fine for me running IE 6 here, no Java 1.4 RTE just whatever came with IE 6.
#1 ain't no Java ON that page, it's a JSP Java Server Page. No applets, no Java to "poke around your hardware"
#2 Java ain't JavaScript. Java = language that is compiled to intermediate code and executed within a virtual machine. JavaScript = brand-name, interpreted language most often embedded in an HTML page.
A lot of people have a problem on their machine and automatically assume that it happens on EVERY machine.
Well for me, M.U.L.E. was the forerunner for most of the modern RTS games. It was also one of the first games, at least in my world where the sky was a dark blue with a light blue border and lots of askterixs in the sky, that had real replayability. Most of the games I had play up to that point were either maze type games or scrollers, same levels at the beginning, same bad guys in the same spots. M.U.L.E. had more randomness, not to mention the best theme song, at least until Commando came along.
IBM has done a LOT more for Java GUIs than Sun ever has IMO.
I installed the latest version of Eclipse and I was amazed at how fast the GUI ran. It is the first Java application that I've ran that didn't frustrate the hell out of me by running slowly. Sun should incorporate whatever GUI widgets IBM made into the next JDK.