December 2005
7 posts
Java Schools
Mail sent to Joel in response to this: Ha! I’ve been through this myself. Back in the mid-80’s I got a degree in Applied Statistics and Computing. There was an awful lot of numerical maths and heavy statistics as well as a firm grounding in structured programming. We were taught using Pascal, which did have pointers but nowhere near as bare bones as C. The year I left they took out a lot of the...
An interesting take on object orientation etc.
Have a look at this: I sort of agree with him. See the comments on Java and whatnot I’ve been making here recently. But I don’t see why we need to care about inefficencies in structures in ‘C’. If you care about this then use the alignment technique I gave earlier. I like structured data, probably because I’m a database programmer by training and inclination. I can’t stand writing code like this:...
Quick 'C' programming tip for aligning those pesky...
Just a quick note. One of my friends, Roger, was on the ANSI ‘C’ committee.
One of the problems, if you have ever written an interface that either listens on a pipe for structured data or tries to read a packed binary file written by COBOL or somesuch, is that something like1
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struct record
{ char indicator[3];
int bill_amount
/* etc. not sure of syntax these days */
} ;
If...
Java is the new 'C' part 2
We had adjourned to the kitchen, it was done in some old mock style from somewhen. Not Victorian, but nearly, pretty ugly. I whisked the green tea and followed the ancient ritual. The master had never subscribed to the nonsense about coders being caffene-fuelled chocolate junkies. Brain-dead, tired, and fat, not to mention incipiently diabetic. The master could be hard at times, but fair. The hot...
Java is the new 'C' part 1
When I next saw the master he was on a new health kick, gone was the pipe and the toffee tobbaco and in was the low fat food and exercise. He still managed to fix me with a rheumy eye though. Grasshopper, it’s been a long time, many heads have passed under the surgeon’s knife since we last talked. What have you been doing, my young friend? I swallowed hard and tried to look him in the eye. I’ve...
Cohesive Libraries
http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2005/12/11/cohesive_code_packages/ Kevin’s responses are posted here in black I know what you mean about the java.util package. On a slightly related note I’m studying for the Business Components Developer exam and you need to learn serveral interface specs. Not a problem. Then you need to know which comes from java.rmi., and which from javax.rmi.. Ah, an unnecessary...
At the feet of the master
This is a reprint of something I wrote ages ago. Thought it might amuse. I’ve cleaned up the swearwords – you can guess them back in if you care. Ah yes, indeed. The old programmer sucked contemplatively on his pipe, waving the bowl dangerously close to my ear. In my day you had to watch for them, the little dears, they’d have your hand off as soon as look at you. He was talking about the...