Since we all know that computers work in discreet values and thus create approximations of select real numbers, why not take advantage of this and create a real number class? Yes, there would be a lot of overloads on the operators and perhaps we have to update the math.h library, but still, this seems to be the most accurate way. Only at display time, or printing does it need to perform some kind of binary conversion so it can be used with some given api, but at least the errors don't get drastically worse with many subsequent computations going against a float. This could be particularly useful in a financial institution where your inputs are gauranteed to be only fractions of 100th (at worse I am assuming).
For example, we can implement a class that has two ints such as int numerator, int denominator... and from there we have to overload the operators and maybe create some kind of conversive function as well input/output functions. Well, what do you think?
Here is an example... suppose that you have to deposit 33 cents... you would convert and store this into to the realnum obj as 33 num 100 denom. From there I think you can have pretty darn accurate calculations. Oh btw, make sure the user input was loaded as a string and have that parsed into the real num object.
Just a thought. I might be wrong though
actually average 17" lcds are 1280x1024. 15" tend to be 1024x768. But still, it is very fantastic. Now if they can kick up the response times of existing small lcds for portable gaming devices that would be great.
Or are you simply admitting that capitalism and social responsibility, not socialism, are entirely at odds with each other?
They are. They always have been, but for a supporter of either side, one must recognize the importance in each. Basically, we need a little bit of both for a good society. We have seen capitalism at its very worse with no social benefits, and we have seen socialism in its purity and both cannot function without a little of each. The reason why socialism came to exist was purely due to the start of capitalism. Engels and Marx genuinely had a sincere utopian cause, but this easily and almost always falls to corruption. China for example is currently flourishing but wait.... that is a communist country, right? Wrong. Well, it has a lot of state control, but they have also turned into a free market economy. Before then, China was very poor, and the people suffered enormously, I am not stating that everything is good now, but I would have to say it is much better than say 20-30 years ago.
Well, based on your post it looks like you want to build web based applications probably on unix platforms if you are interested in Unix and Perl. Where to start... well yes it is overwhelming, but with a little time and patience you can get there.
I read the other comments and felt that they did not provide enough information to get you started, or were perhaps to vague or abstract for a person to understand -especially if they are not programmers yet.
This is what you need to do if you want to be really good at these technologies:
First of all, you need to understand basic program theory before you can begin. The best way to learn (without having to take discreet math courses and classes on logic) is to learn a contemporary object oriented programming language.
I personally recommend learning C++. By default, it is very simple but grows in complexity is you start to progress. In addition to this there are many great simple programs to write and algorithms to study as you go along. It is strongly recommended to purchase a thorough in depth book on C++ with small exercises. One book that I am not overly fond of but does do the trick is the Deitel books.
I prefer C++ over Java (for learning btw) because it is more strict, involves more micromanagement, and clearly indicates and teaches you about memory management and pointers and so forth later on. C++ uses explicit ways about this versus C# and Java has some implied rules. In addition to this, your first tutorial will not all of a sudden force you to define your own class and merely focuses on the basics. C++ also forces you to learn and understand scope issues, referencing, creating dynamic data structures and so forth without using prebuilt containers. (yes, there are prebuilt containers using STL, but once again, this is for tutorial reasons so please don't bash me here) Also try building your own data structures, sort algorithms, graphs, recursion, and hashes as these will help you to understand more advanced container classes later on in your programming career.
Once you fully understand C++, you can then proceed to higher more easier languages and you will be able to understand and learn them with great ease, since c++ was perhaps the most difficult way (unless you were using assembler or writing your own microcode and working with control stores).
After learning C++/Java/C# whichever you did choose, I would recommend reading up on relational database theory. This is a very important staple for any new technology that you would pursue and it would be in your best interest not to gaff this topic. Then start writing some sample app using your c++/java/c# skills to interface with some kind of SQL server whether it is mySQL, Oracle, or MS-SQL, it really does not matter for learning purposes. Please, try to stay away from Access when you are learning, this program teaches you bad habits on using relational databases as its wizards help to try to make things easier and ends up screwing you over in the long run. Seriously though, you need to have a very strong understanding of relational database theory, the use of joins, foreign keys, primary keys and what not.
During that time you have been taking breaks or trying to figure out how to compile code and use IDEs, try working on Unix or Windows and understand the command line and some scripting including shell scripting and the mighty PERL scripting language. (Perl is great btw) For windows, I would still recommend using Perl or VBScript (you can download PERL for windows at activestate.com)
Why do I recommend Perl? Perl is a very simple easy and powerful text parsing language and can be used for CGI. Also, later on you will have to make a choice between using PHP and ASP/ASP/NET this is largely going to be decided on your OS of choice, but if you choose PHP, you will find that it is very similar to the PERL language.
After mastering rdbms and your contemporary OOP language, you can either try to learn PHP or ASP/.NET. Be sure to lear
There are two rules to understand about computers.
The computer will do EXACTLY what you want to do.
When the computer is not doing something you wanted to do, refer to rule #1.
No really though, from my experience as a user and then later programmer, this seemed to always be the case. A lot of times we assume or imply that we wanted it to do something but then did not foresee potential problems or logic errors and it ends up doing something we didn't want it to do or additional things we forget to exactly tell it NOT to do, and that is when you have problems. Or maybe we didn't understand clearly enough what that function or button was intended to do.
So, I guess many other rules and methods and techniques can also be derived from these two basic rules.
Slashdot Mirror
Since we all know that computers work in discreet values and thus create approximations of select real numbers, why not take advantage of this and create a real number class? Yes, there would be a lot of overloads on the operators and perhaps we have to update the math.h library, but still, this seems to be the most accurate way. Only at display time, or printing does it need to perform some kind of binary conversion so it can be used with some given api, but at least the errors don't get drastically worse with many subsequent computations going against a float. This could be particularly useful in a financial institution where your inputs are gauranteed to be only fractions of 100th (at worse I am assuming). For example, we can implement a class that has two ints such as int numerator, int denominator... and from there we have to overload the operators and maybe create some kind of conversive function as well input/output functions. Well, what do you think? Here is an example... suppose that you have to deposit 33 cents... you would convert and store this into to the realnum obj as 33 num 100 denom. From there I think you can have pretty darn accurate calculations. Oh btw, make sure the user input was loaded as a string and have that parsed into the real num object. Just a thought. I might be wrong though
actually average 17" lcds are 1280x1024. 15" tend to be 1024x768. But still, it is very fantastic. Now if they can kick up the response times of existing small lcds for portable gaming devices that would be great.
Or are you simply admitting that capitalism and social responsibility, not socialism, are entirely at odds with each other? They are. They always have been, but for a supporter of either side, one must recognize the importance in each. Basically, we need a little bit of both for a good society. We have seen capitalism at its very worse with no social benefits, and we have seen socialism in its purity and both cannot function without a little of each. The reason why socialism came to exist was purely due to the start of capitalism. Engels and Marx genuinely had a sincere utopian cause, but this easily and almost always falls to corruption. China for example is currently flourishing but wait.... that is a communist country, right? Wrong. Well, it has a lot of state control, but they have also turned into a free market economy. Before then, China was very poor, and the people suffered enormously, I am not stating that everything is good now, but I would have to say it is much better than say 20-30 years ago.
Well, based on your post it looks like you want to build web based applications probably on unix platforms if you are interested in Unix and Perl. Where to start... well yes it is overwhelming, but with a little time and patience you can get there.
I read the other comments and felt that they did not provide enough information to get you started, or were perhaps to vague or abstract for a person to understand -especially if they are not programmers yet.
This is what you need to do if you want to be really good at these technologies:
First of all, you need to understand basic program theory before you can begin. The best way to learn (without having to take discreet math courses and classes on logic) is to learn a contemporary object oriented programming language.
I personally recommend learning C++. By default, it is very simple but grows in complexity is you start to progress. In addition to this there are many great simple programs to write and algorithms to study as you go along. It is strongly recommended to purchase a thorough in depth book on C++ with small exercises. One book that I am not overly fond of but does do the trick is the Deitel books.
I prefer C++ over Java (for learning btw) because it is more strict, involves more micromanagement, and clearly indicates and teaches you about memory management and pointers and so forth later on. C++ uses explicit ways about this versus C# and Java has some implied rules. In addition to this, your first tutorial will not all of a sudden force you to define your own class and merely focuses on the basics. C++ also forces you to learn and understand scope issues, referencing, creating dynamic data structures and so forth without using prebuilt containers. (yes, there are prebuilt containers using STL, but once again, this is for tutorial reasons so please don't bash me here) Also try building your own data structures, sort algorithms, graphs, recursion, and hashes as these will help you to understand more advanced container classes later on in your programming career.
Once you fully understand C++, you can then proceed to higher more easier languages and you will be able to understand and learn them with great ease, since c++ was perhaps the most difficult way (unless you were using assembler or writing your own microcode and working with control stores).
After learning C++/Java/C# whichever you did choose, I would recommend reading up on relational database theory. This is a very important staple for any new technology that you would pursue and it would be in your best interest not to gaff this topic. Then start writing some sample app using your c++/java/c# skills to interface with some kind of SQL server whether it is mySQL, Oracle, or MS-SQL, it really does not matter for learning purposes. Please, try to stay away from Access when you are learning, this program teaches you bad habits on using relational databases as its wizards help to try to make things easier and ends up screwing you over in the long run. Seriously though, you need to have a very strong understanding of relational database theory, the use of joins, foreign keys, primary keys and what not.
During that time you have been taking breaks or trying to figure out how to compile code and use IDEs, try working on Unix or Windows and understand the command line and some scripting including shell scripting and the mighty PERL scripting language. (Perl is great btw) For windows, I would still recommend using Perl or VBScript (you can download PERL for windows at activestate.com)
Why do I recommend Perl? Perl is a very simple easy and powerful text parsing language and can be used for CGI. Also, later on you will have to make a choice between using PHP and ASP/ASP/NET this is largely going to be decided on your OS of choice, but if you choose PHP, you will find that it is very similar to the PERL language.
After mastering rdbms and your contemporary OOP language, you can either try to learn PHP or ASP/.NET. Be sure to lear
There are two rules to understand about computers.
No really though, from my experience as a user and then later programmer, this seemed to always be the case. A lot of times we assume or imply that we wanted it to do something but then did not foresee potential problems or logic errors and it ends up doing something we didn't want it to do or additional things we forget to exactly tell it NOT to do, and that is when you have problems. Or maybe we didn't understand clearly enough what that function or button was intended to do.
So, I guess many other rules and methods and techniques can also be derived from these two basic rules.
Well, that's my two cents.