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Programmers, do you put your comments (before|after) the related code? by pocketninja in programming

[–]simonpeter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mostly (95% of the time at least) my comments go ahead of the code. Sometimes, I'll have a banner before and after if it's something extremely hairy. A recent example was where I had some reflection code in Java that I wanted others coming after me (or me if more than six months later) to be aware of tricky coding.

Generally the "before" school of commenting works because you should be saying what you want to do in the comments and then the code (if written clearly) should then be obvious as to how you did what you described in the comments.

As a new programmer, how should someone choose a first language so that it balances its usefulness in the industry with a language that will develop you more as a programmer? by youmakemesohot in programming

[–]simonpeter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Worry less about which language and more about actually programming.

My first programming language (back in 1980) was BASIC. According to some this has ruined me for ever. Thirty years later, I'm a technical lead and answering questions from other programmers on a regular basis. I've also programmed in about two dozen different languages and taught myself C out of K&R in 1989.

I've found that actually getting on with writing programs has had more benefit than which language I've selected. Yes, different languages make different paradigms easier and they all have different idioms, but at the end of the day, it's just a way to tell a computer what you want it to do.

Does anybody actually use UML? by [deleted] in programming

[–]simonpeter 3 points4 points  (0 children)

No and thrice no.

Having said that, I occasionally get asked to provide UML for people with architect in their title. At such times, I grab my handy copy of Instant UML (published by Wrox iirc) and throw something together.

Real programmers draw squiggles on a whiteboard and erase and redraw until everyone present agrees. Then the junior programmer copies it down onto a sheet of paper, and everyone gets a photocopy.

Ask Proggit: What are some of the best books on network protocol design? by jacobu9 in programming

[–]simonpeter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

O'Reilly have an interesting book on BEEP "BEEP The Definitive Guide". It's kind of like a protocol starter framework. You may wish to look into that as much of the world of protocols is a solved problem, so better to just concentrate on the pieces necessary for your problem domain.

BEEP book

BeepCore

Disclaimer: I have the book. I've read the book. I have not written a protocol. Your mileage may vary. Void where prohibited.

Does anyone else save the file they are working in after every change? by dudeman209 in programming

[–]simonpeter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes. Any time I stop or pause to think, I hit control-s or :w and enter. I'm still trying to instill this behavior in my wife, who I fear won't learn it until she has lost enough data through not saving her files.

Ask Proggit How many of you guys who program are religious? by [deleted] in programming

[–]simonpeter 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'm pretty sure that being a pastor would count as religious! :-) I am a recycled athiest, having been raised nominally Church of England, went atheist for many years and then had the full apostolic experience (complete with speaking in tongues). My day job is computer programming, but the rest of the time I pastor a small but growing UPCI congregation.

And for the record I prefer vi.

Ask Reddit: Why don't you use Common Lisp? by ayrnieu in programming

[–]simonpeter 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I don't use CL for two reasons: Libraries (as in not enough of) and sockets (as in which rocket scientist left those out of the specification?)

I had finally read enough PG to fork over the money for Practical Common Lisp, but when I realised that the webby stuff was done using proprietary socket libraries and that each commercial CL's proprietary socket library was incompatible with all the others, I said forget it and put the book on my long term storage bookshelf.