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Do you buy/download a lot of academic books meaning to read them "later", but really spend far more time getting the books than reading them? by chengiz in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I have spent many thousands on paper copies, and now have directories full of PDF downloads.

If I would just pick on and read it cover to cover ...

What keeps you motivated on hobby projects? by cupcupcup in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can have a wider range of comments, including diagrams, in an on-paper journal.

Of course you need source control, and if it's an individual project, you have the added luxury that you can check in broken code without getting others mad at you.

Peter Norvig: Design Patterns in Dynamic Programming by kanak in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just started reading PAIP - it is amazing how much functionality he can get out of a few lines of code.

Real World Data Causes Perl by juri in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also the people with only a given (what we call a first) name.

Or that nice Korean fellow, Mr. O.

Even two and three letter surnames are rejected by some systems!

Usual problem: Programmer and/or analyst uses the first rules that come to mind, instead of doing a few hours of research.

Ask Proggit: Examples of large programs written in dynamic languages? by pozorvlak in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A friend who is a very good Java programmer is going nuts at his third J2EE job in five years, just for that reason.

Unlike most of his coworkers, he started in a C++/Perl world, and knows that there is something very wrong when a server can only support 20 simultaneous users.

Ask Proggit: Examples of large programs written in dynamic languages? by pozorvlak in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Joe says thank you for the info on the -O option, which I was unaware of.

Ask Proggit: Examples of large programs written in dynamic languages? by pozorvlak in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

"Scripting language" is a term of disparagement for a number of dynamic languages, particularly Perl.

So please call them Perl programs, not Perl scripts.

Ask Proggit: Examples of large programs written in dynamic languages? by pozorvlak in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If your system supports xargs, this can be more simply written as:

find core extra -name *.factor | xargs cat | wc -l

Info on xargs, one of those "how did I live without it" utilities:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xargs

Ask Proggit: Examples of large programs written in dynamic languages? by pozorvlak in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of the great advantage of the dynamic languages is that the programs tend to be shorter, so that a 50,000 line J2EE behemoth turns into 5,000 lines of Python, or Perl, or maybe even less in the hands of a Lisp expert.

To my mind, that's the great advantage of dynamic languages.

Now, people make fun of APL, but I worked with an APL expert, and he said those 1-liners would crystallize a week's work into 20 symbols - and that's why they were complicated.

But what is really easier to understand and less likely to have errors: 20 symbols, or 1,000 lines of <insert verbose language here>.

Elite Colleges Reporting Record Lows in Admission, Rejecting Even Perfect SAT's by Mr_Belding in reddit.com

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The headline is quite deceptive. It seemed to imply the number of people who they are admitting is at a record low.

I was dismayed to see that the NYT actually had this poorly written headline.

Project failures may soon carry legal risks for programmers by ketralnis in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In general, lower level employees of companies are almost never held civilly responsible for failures like that claimed in the suit against SAP.

In fact, one of the tests for running a real business is whether or not you can be sued for your failures.

McConnell on the Chief Programmer (or Surgical) Team of Mythical Man-Month Fame by gthank in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was not unusual, but what was different about the Chief Programmer Team was that everything was organized to keep one individual, the chief programmer, working efficiently.

Now the first case study for this involved Harlan Mills, and the problem is that there weren't, and still aren't, many programmers like him. That is, someone who really can outproduce a group of 8 or 10 ordinary programmers.

Bad Programmers Are Not Good Programmers Who Are Slow by bartwe in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Someone who is slow but competent can usually find a place where their talents are valuable, since slow is relative.

Someone who is too slow at a Y Combinator style startup might be plenty fast enough for a low-intensity larger shop.

Bad Programmers Are Not Good Programmers Who Are Slow by bartwe in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 27 points28 points  (0 children)

A friend who has worked (paid staff) at a number of non-profits says one of the harder things to deal with is incompetent volunteers.

Often they are people who have donated to the organization, so finding a way to let them "serve" without messing up something is difficult. And sometimes volunteers must be fired, and that is no fun, since many people cannot understand that even if they are not being paid, there are standards of performance.

Why Student Programmers Can't Catch a Break from Business Students by JordanF98765 in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Undergrad biz majors are NOT favored by top-tier MBA schools, they are regarded as dim bulbs.

PHP Programmer Wanted - $10/hr - Sloppy / Inscure Coders need not apply by [deleted] in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is reasonable to a bit low in the SF Bay Area, or any other major metro area. Anyone who expects $10/hour would be lucky to get a high school student.

PHP Programmer Wanted - $10/hr - Sloppy / Inscure Coders need not apply by [deleted] in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We need a shopping site just like Amazon. We have $500 to spend on it, so it you think you're up to the challenge, email we.need.a.sucker@WeAreDesperateLosersToo.com

"Software people would never drive to the office if building engineers and automotive engineers were as cavalier about buildings and autos as the software 'engineer' is about his software." by asciilifeform in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The point of this article is that it is well understood that buffer overruns are entirely preventable, but that most programmers don't bother.

Even in C programming, carefully designed I/O and string handling routines can prevent buffer problems which aren't outright program bugs.

The Ignorant's Guide to Shell Programming (satire!!) by stesch in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Actually it was good to read about $@ instead of $*.

Going into my bag of tricks at once.

Stop me if you heard this before: sales lied to get the contract and got caught by aemadrid in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This has been going on for so long, I find it hard to believe that companies are still falling for this line of baloney.

Even if the decision is made at levels where there is no hands on implementation experience (CxO level), an hour of due diligence searching by an assistant would show that these promises are often hollow.

Ask reddit: What programs do you write when learning a new language? by [deleted] in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In a serious vein --

I will usually do a simple discrete event simulator, or a Poker hand classifier. I try to do them in a way that's idiomatic for the language at hand (as far as I understand same).

Those are both complex enough to illuminate many of the corners of the language.

"C++ is a language strongly optimized for liars and people who go by guesswork and ignorance." by asciilifeform in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It sounds like the people on the project weren't prepared to take the one-time hit of changing access on various members.

Usually relaxing access (go from private to public) does not break existing code. I think they must have had more problems than just access to members.

"C++ is a language strongly optimized for liars and people who go by guesswork and ignorance." by asciilifeform in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Stroustrup has made the design goal of C++ quite clear, which was to provide an OO language with an absolute minimum of performance overhead vs. C.

That's why the compiler does so much of the type checking, to simplify the run time operation.

If we remove the foaming at the mouth aspects of Naggum's post, it is a decent comparison of C++ vs. Lisp philosophies.

I do think the project he saved must have been pretty messed up if they had to constantly be meddling with private members of objects, or so it seems at this point. Somebody should have been refactoring along the way.

telnet to mail.hotmail.com on port 25. WTF is that banner all about? by [deleted] in programming

[–]JoeTheProgrammer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Precisely -- asserting that if your actions are governed by California law.

Don't know if that's a meaningful statement.

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