I agree. After working with C, C++, Java, and a bit of ASM, prolog, and scheme, it's pretty easy to both know what's going on code-wise and having a whole new appreciation for not having to futz with things like memory.
I've said it before, and it should be said again. Most of the problems people have with java not being portable are due to stupid mistakes and shortcuts by the programmer.
The two most common problems (which should not happen) are use of non-core packages and hard coding of file seperator characters in pathnames instead of using File.seperator
Sun even takes pains to point these things out, but a lot of people don't listen, so those of use who write useable, portable code get to hear "java is teh suxor" too often.
I wish I had mod points, because this comment is really spot on. Turn it completely over, and I have no doubt that there would be people rabidly adding things like multiple inheritance (which was left out for a reason) and basically trying to turn Java into another C++ (which it was never meant to be).
Personally, I trust Sun and the commitie that they created to guide the development of Java to keep java going more than I trust the community at large to do it. Why? Because, for some reason, most open source languages tend to end up looking much the same to me (or, at most, 3 or 4 "origionals" and then a lot of copies that look a lot like one of the origionals)
Unfortunately a lot of (bad) managers don't judge on quality. They judge on lines of code or features that someone produces. The mentality is "get it out the door and worry about the nitpicking later" (and later never comes).
While you will never fix every single bug and not all bugs make sense to fix, this practice leaves a lot of bugs that should be fixed.
We understand the rational behind open source software. We just realize that not all of the software world needs to be (or indeed should be) open sourced.
as far as your nausea at us pragmatists, without us, nothing would ever get done. Tell me - how's HURD coming along?
That would make too much sense. We can't make sense - we have to be different.
There are three arguments against java that make me shake my head. That's one of them. The other two are that the code isn't portable (it is as long as you aren't stupid. In fact, sun publishes guidlines for writing portable code which includes things like not hardcoding file separators) and that it's a slow memory hog (which it isn't).
Nobody has to agree to a license. If you don't, you cannot distribute the work, but otherwise you are fine.
No, if you don't agree to the license under which it is released, you can not legally use a piece of software.
After all, most of them outline the restrictions not only for the distribution of the program (or writing, etc in the case of creative commons), but also for its use (even though it is usually a fairly blanket "you can use it however you want as long as you do x and y").
It's not as cut and dry an issue as you are trying to make it. Most licenses have aspects of what people consider to be eulas already in them. It just happens to be that, for things written under a contract agreement or similar arrangement, the "end user" is the company (not the people who work for it).
Believe it or not, they used pascal for a reason. It was (and is) a really great teaching language. It lets you teach the basics of programming without having to worry about a ton of libraries, etc. From there, you're set to go on to other languages like C, C++, Java, etc.
Be glad that you didn't have access to only Basic when you started out (my first computer was a CoCo).
There always will be people who go into the program who never really learn. It's kind on unavoidable. However, most of the grousing from HR is that they don't want to pay anything for the people they want to hire.
Case in point: Idly looking through the ads a few weeks ago, I ran across a company that wanted a "very" experienced software developer who also had project manager experience and extensive experience as a DBA in Oracle. The catch? They wanted to pay less than a lot of factory jobs in the area.
Personally, I *want* a new job, but all of the ones I'm seeing are either "We need a god of $X" or "we want to pay you $3/day". (And I do know a compiler from a debugger and C from SQL. I just haven't been in the field for ten years.)
Sounds a lot like a former boss of mine. Of course, when I left, things went to hell, and I kept getting emails from old co-workers asking when I was coming back.
The big factors of the textbooks are as follows: 1) Quite often, the book is chosen by a group of profs and not just that specific prof (as has been stated previously) 2) Sometimes, it is a book that the professor (or another prof on campus) has written, so of course they want you to buy the new one because it means more sales for them. 3) Professors usually have NO IDEA how much the books cost thier students. They (for the most part) all get free copies from the publishers. Some of my profs were shocked when I told them just how much we were getting gouged on the books (they had seriously guessed that the prices would have been $30-50 cheaper than they really were)
Re:Most game companies . . .
on
Abandoned Games
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· Score: 1
I remember, a few years ago, while wandering through Wal-mart, seeing a copy of the origional SimCity for sale on cd on their $10 bargin rack. If they were still selling it then, they may still be.
Very little in the realm of bootleg copies of *anything* even approaches the volume of bootleg hollywood movies in China (except maybe bootleg software - in China). When you've got a metric boatload of people and prices *that* low, everything else almost automatically becomes tiny by comparrison.
The reason they aren't trying it anywhere else is because there is no market for bootlegged copies of movies.
Actually, there is one that I can think of off the top of my head - anime. There is a huge amount of bootleg anime out there. Sometimes the copies even make their way onto the amazon used marketplace as legitimate copies.
Slashdot Mirror
Too late. I've already gotten recruitment calls from "Bob" and "Jane" who were HR for various companies.
You think outsourced tech support is bad? This was worse.
I agree. After working with C, C++, Java, and a bit of ASM, prolog, and scheme, it's pretty easy to both know what's going on code-wise and having a whole new appreciation for not having to futz with things like memory.
I've said it before, and it should be said again. Most of the problems people have with java not being portable are due to stupid mistakes and shortcuts by the programmer.
The two most common problems (which should not happen) are use of non-core packages and hard coding of file seperator characters in pathnames instead of using File.seperator
Sun even takes pains to point these things out, but a lot of people don't listen, so those of use who write useable, portable code get to hear "java is teh suxor" too often.
I noticed the smell the first time I opened a spindle of cds years ago. Books have a scent, cds have a scent, and so does pretty much everything else.
CDs and DVDs do indeed have a distinct scent. I know this is going to sound weird, but take the cover off of your spindle of cdrs and sniff.
I wish I had mod points, because this comment is really spot on. Turn it completely over, and I have no doubt that there would be people rabidly adding things like multiple inheritance (which was left out for a reason) and basically trying to turn Java into another C++ (which it was never meant to be).
Personally, I trust Sun and the commitie that they created to guide the development of Java to keep java going more than I trust the community at large to do it. Why? Because, for some reason, most open source languages tend to end up looking much the same to me (or, at most, 3 or 4 "origionals" and then a lot of copies that look a lot like one of the origionals)
Unfortunately a lot of (bad) managers don't judge on quality. They judge on lines of code or features that someone produces. The mentality is "get it out the door and worry about the nitpicking later" (and later never comes).
While you will never fix every single bug and not all bugs make sense to fix, this practice leaves a lot of bugs that should be fixed.
You know us British are European right?
Last time I checked, the British lived on islands off the coast of the European continent and not on the continent itself.
We understand the rational behind open source software. We just realize that not all of the software world needs to be (or indeed should be) open sourced.
as far as your nausea at us pragmatists, without us, nothing would ever get done. Tell me - how's HURD coming along?
That would make too much sense. We can't make sense - we have to be different.
There are three arguments against java that make me shake my head. That's one of them. The other two are that the code isn't portable (it is as long as you aren't stupid. In fact, sun publishes guidlines for writing portable code which includes things like not hardcoding file separators) and that it's a slow memory hog (which it isn't).
I'm in Ohio and I hear it constantly too.
Nobody has to agree to a license. If you don't, you cannot distribute the work, but otherwise you are fine.
No, if you don't agree to the license under which it is released, you can not legally use a piece of software.
After all, most of them outline the restrictions not only for the distribution of the program (or writing, etc in the case of creative commons), but also for its use (even though it is usually a fairly blanket "you can use it however you want as long as you do x and y").
It's not as cut and dry an issue as you are trying to make it. Most licenses have aspects of what people consider to be eulas already in them. It just happens to be that, for things written under a contract agreement or similar arrangement, the "end user" is the company (not the people who work for it).
Because he wanted to? Why do so many people write different versions of basically the same program on their own time?
Besides, it got him a job, didn't it?
EULA - end user license agreement
notice the key word?
I never understood why they ever had TP
Believe it or not, they used pascal for a reason. It was (and is) a really great teaching language. It lets you teach the basics of programming without having to worry about a ton of libraries, etc. From there, you're set to go on to other languages like C, C++, Java, etc.
Be glad that you didn't have access to only Basic when you started out (my first computer was a CoCo).
Ruby also uses the Then keyword with If, but you can get around using it.
Gee, that kind of backs up my statement that they don't want to pay for the people they'd like to hire, doesn't it?
There always will be people who go into the program who never really learn. It's kind on unavoidable. However, most of the grousing from HR is that they don't want to pay anything for the people they want to hire.
Case in point: Idly looking through the ads a few weeks ago, I ran across a company that wanted a "very" experienced software developer who also had project manager experience and extensive experience as a DBA in Oracle. The catch? They wanted to pay less than a lot of factory jobs in the area.
Personally, I *want* a new job, but all of the ones I'm seeing are either "We need a god of $X" or "we want to pay you $3/day". (And I do know a compiler from a debugger and C from SQL. I just haven't been in the field for ten years.)
Sounds a lot like a former boss of mine. Of course, when I left, things went to hell, and I kept getting emails from old co-workers asking when I was coming back.
The big factors of the textbooks are as follows:
1) Quite often, the book is chosen by a group of profs and not just that specific prof (as has been stated previously)
2) Sometimes, it is a book that the professor (or another prof on campus) has written, so of course they want you to buy the new one because it means more sales for them.
3) Professors usually have NO IDEA how much the books cost thier students. They (for the most part) all get free copies from the publishers. Some of my profs were shocked when I told them just how much we were getting gouged on the books (they had seriously guessed that the prices would have been $30-50 cheaper than they really were)
I remember, a few years ago, while wandering through Wal-mart, seeing a copy of the origional SimCity for sale on cd on their $10 bargin rack. If they were still selling it then, they may still be.
Very little in the realm of bootleg copies of *anything* even approaches the volume of bootleg hollywood movies in China (except maybe bootleg software - in China). When you've got a metric boatload of people and prices *that* low, everything else almost automatically becomes tiny by comparrison.
Antonio Banderas would be cool, but personally I'd love to have Reggie Bannister and Angus Scrimm autograph my Phantasm movies. =]
I can't help it. I'm a horror nut. BOOOOOOOOOOY!
The reason they aren't trying it anywhere else is because there is no market for bootlegged copies of movies.
Actually, there is one that I can think of off the top of my head - anime. There is a huge amount of bootleg anime out there. Sometimes the copies even make their way onto the amazon used marketplace as legitimate copies.
Oh no. They meant an actual piece of flooring.
Loved the answer though =]