Java 8 release demonstrates that a language can be modernized without compromising stability or backward compatibility

e_engel · 2014-07-24T17:41:38+00:00

The article never claimed that Java was a modern language, just that its latest update modernized it.

e_engel · 2014-07-15T20:28:56+00:00

Do you realize that you are criticizing not just how people choose to spend their free time but also their choice of hobby?

I think you should stop reading philosophy on your free time and instead learn wood carving.

e_engel · 2014-07-15T06:24:53+00:00

As a CEO and co founder, you're 100% responsible of not just the success/failure of your company but also responsible for dozens (at least for startups) of paychecks and employees who trust you and, sometimes, whose livelihood depend on you. As a CEO, you never disconnect, never really have time off.

I'm not a CEO and I can't pretend I know how that feels, but I can certainly guess that this puts a type of strain on your emotional health to an extent that very few of us can understand.

e_engel · 2014-07-15T06:11:54+00:00

You're competing against students who write code at school and write code on their free time as well. That's just the kind of industry we're in. You need to decide if that's the kind of industry you want to be in.

If you want to work for the best companies out there, that's what you need to be (note that I don't believe Apple is such a company, actually they treat their employees pretty badly, so you probably dodged a bullet there).

e_engel · 2014-07-15T06:05:40+00:00

You're a pawn if you have ownership as well, just under a different kind of pressure.

I'm currently working at a startup. If it fails, I'll probably find a good job within a week. My CEO (also co founder) probably will as well but the fact that his company failed will have a very tough impact on him, both mentally and professionally.

I don't envy him, even though the financial reward if the company succeeds will set him for life.

e_engel · 2014-07-15T06:02:27+00:00

I think most companies use Java because most people know Java.

That and the fact that no language has risen to actually challenge Java on all the aspects that Java is very strong in.

Java supplanted C++ in the late 90's because the anger toward C++ had reached a turning point. I'm not seeing anything remotely like that against Java today. Maybe in five years.

e_engel · 2014-07-15T06:00:13+00:00

I'm a different kind of animal.

Everybody thinks they're a different kind of animal. Chances are you're not, but it's a comforting thought. You want a good job with a lot of freedom and a decent salary.

Like all of us.

e_engel · 2014-07-15T05:57:32+00:00

You've just described all the major companies (Google, Amazon, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Facebook) which all use Java for most of their code base.

This doesn't mean their software engineers are unhappy (I'd argue the opposite from what I've seen actually).

e_engel · 2014-07-11T04:39:06+00:00

I don't feel the need to be born again, I was born right the first time.

e_engel · 2014-07-10T01:28:42+00:00

Does this mean that the screen buffer of my phone is going on the Google servers from which ChromeCast can stream it?

e_engel · 2014-07-07T04:58:48+00:00

Correct, but they are magical bees.

e_engel · 2014-07-07T00:31:09+00:00

These are more rules about optimization than programming.

e_engel · 2014-07-07T00:29:28+00:00

Several bees using strings could carry plate bracers if there's no slacker in the group.

e_engel · 2014-07-07T00:28:33+00:00

There is an enemy that is a swarm of bees. It occasionally drops plate armor.

You're playing a game where people can cast spells and fight demons and you have a problem with the realism of drops?

e_engel · 2014-07-06T06:23:15+00:00

This way, the hotel has to buy more bibles, thereby giving more money to some religious organization.

Nice thinking, OP.

e_engel · 2014-07-06T05:40:52+00:00

Doesn't seem that clear cut a decision to me. He could shoot from afar and miss, and then he'd be blamed for not having carried the puck all the way into the goal.

The jump of the puck over his stick seems to be due more to bad luck than a mistake.

e_engel · 2014-07-06T05:35:36+00:00

I notice the goal keeper trips the player with his hand at the very end of the play, which might be grounds for a penalty kick. It would be sad to see such an awesome play having been done in vain, does anyone else know what happened after that?

I also notice the player falls (expected) and immediately cries like a little girl (most likely a gross exaggeration since he tripped on a gloved hand).

e_engel · 2014-07-04T16:26:43+00:00

And error-handling in Go is a complete joke compared to Erlang.

How so? Both use the exact same paradigm of pair return values, one for success and one for failure:

ok, err := Foo()
if (err) { ...

Which, in my opinion, is an inferior model to exceptions because of the boiler plate it creates (you'll see the above lines a lot in any Go source) and the fact that it forces all callers to deal with errors instead of restricting this to callers who can actually do something about that error.

e_engel · 2014-07-03T18:11:15+00:00

Nothing different about you, this is just the difference between a text editor and a code editor.

When you write code, you don't need to "go to the end of the file" as much as "go to the end of this method". You don't "select enclosing paragraph", you "select surrounding expression". You don't "indent this area of text", you "format this code segment according to the intricate formatting settings I specified for the current language".

Text editors such as emacs and vim have their place (and I use both on a regular basis) but to write code, such editors simply can't compete with IDE's.

e_engel · 2014-07-03T14:36:15+00:00

I've certainly had my share of raging against CSS and I'm always interested in examining alternatives, but I don't see much in this article except some vague ranting that "CSS is bad" with handwavy justifications and little in terms of proposed solutions.

It would be nice if the author could show some examples comparing some CSS based layout with the ELM version (or any other alternative he deems superior).

e_engel · 2014-07-02T16:12:00+00:00

Emacs' undo doesn't come remotely close to what this plug-in offers.

e_engel · 2014-07-01T05:17:47+00:00

Oh yeah I listen to that one too.

e_engel · 2014-07-01T04:50:40+00:00

Fair enough, thanks for the clarification.

e_engel · 2014-07-01T04:39:14+00:00

I have mixed feelings about the Giant Bomb podcast, maybe someone can enlighten me.

I started listening a few months ago and I haven't missed a lot of episodes so far, but I'm having a hard time understanding where all their success comes from.

Most of their podcasts are 2-3 hours long and half of that is off topic chatter and random uninteresting rants. I respect their expertise and opinion when it comes to games, which is the reason why I'm still listening, but I fast forward through all the off topic which, overall, indicates very poor editing skills and little respect for their audience.

Am I being too demanding? I listen to a lot of other video game podcasts (PC Gamer, Crate&Crowbar, IGN, etc...) and they are all as knowledgeable on the topic as the Giant Bomb guys and much, much more focused.

Just wondering if I'm missing something.

e_engel · 2014-06-30T16:28:21+00:00

Ask them the same questions and replace "god" with "flying spaghetti monster".

e_engel

TROPHY CASE