29 Sep 2002 bgeiger   » (Journeyer)

responses
I'm still in favor of throwing mglazer and mslicker into a cage. Standard death matches are "two go in, one comes out." In this case, I'd prefer "two go in, none come out." </gripe>

mslicker: If tk actually wants to make a point, why doesn't he show all of us why his pet software can't be implemented in Forth. I've got a better idea: how about you prove that it can? You're the one making all sorts of claims about Forth's supposed (and rarely-applicable) advantages; the onus probandi is therefore on you.

Also, arguing over whether something can be written is pointless; anything that can be written in one general-purpose language can be written in another, with very few exceptions. The question, though, is whether one language is more suited for a task than another.

criswell: I see those ads pretty often, myself, and yes, they do take in novice Winblows users. The worst kind are those that have absolutely nothing to do with what they're selling, and masquerade as error dialog boxes... IIRC, they're selling some sort of software firewall/IDS setup.

desrick: Um... what?

program design
On Wednesday, as an in-class exercise, we were supposed to rewrite some crappy code. (pdf) (c source - all [sic], BTW). Basically, we were supposed to get rid of all global variables.

Instead of having to pass four variables in/out of each function, I created an array and an enum to name them.

The class lecturer (turns out she's not a professor after all!) came up behind me and started griping at me, and told me not to use an array.

I said, "Fine!" and rewrote it... using a struct. I know, I could have just as easily rewritten it to use four separate variables, but this is still more understandable, and as a side benefit it annoys the lecturer.

Of course, there was no class Monday since the lecturer had car trouble. I ended up teaching for a half hour or so, because everyone seemed to be asking me the same questions (especially since the lecturer couldn't explain the material to save her life).

life
I may have scared her off by letting her know I have feelings for her. Only time will tell.

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