programming languages
The archetypal Hello World program has always had a calming effect on developers. It’s been a programming staple for decades: [Hello World] is typically one of the simplest programs possible in a computer language. Some, however, are surprisingly complex, especially in some GUI contexts; but most are very simple,
programming languages
OSNews published a nine-language performance roundup in early 2004. The results are summarized here: intlongdoubletrigI/OVisual C++9.618.86.43.510.548.8Visual C#9.723.917.74.19.965.3gcc C9.828.89.514.910.073.0Visual Basic9.823.717.74.130.785.9Visual J#9.623.917.
programming languages
Have you ever worked with developers that were charter members of the third-party-control-of-the-month club? You know the kind – they never met a third party control they didn’t like. They spend all day trolling downloads and experimenting with every tool listed on The Daily Grind. Which means deploying your solution
programming languages
When I read Wesner Moise’s post on Asperger's Syndrome, I wasn’t surprised. Many of the best software developers I’ve known share some of the traits associated with Asperger’s Syndrome: 1. Social impairments It is worth noting that because it is classified as a spectrum
.net
I just updated my post The Bloated World of Managed Code with baseline memory footprints for Console and Winforms apps in .NET 2.0. I’ll admit I am a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to managed code apps. Now that tiny, native BitTorrent clients are available such
programming languages
Laurent Bourgeois sent in an amusing link to the story of SkiFree in the words of Chris Pirih, the original Microsoft programmer who wrote it: I wrote SkiFree in C on my home computer, entirely for my own education and entertainment. One day while I was playing with it at
programming languages
The 1978 BASIC program Animal is an animal-specific variation of twenty questions. You think of an animal, and the computer tries to guess what animal you’re thinking of by asking a series of yes or no questions. If the computer is stumped, the user is prompted to enter a
retro gaming
I sometimes go by the handle “Wumpus” online. It’s part of my personal brand, just like Coding Horror is. Why? Let’s go hunting together: It was one of my formative computing experiences on the first “real” computer I owned. No, my Coleco ADAM doesn’t count. The images
case sensitivity
One of the most pernicious problems with C-based languages is that they’re case-sensitive. While this decision may have made sense in 1972 when the language was created, one wonders why the sins of Kernighan and Ritchie have been blindly perpetuated for the last thirty-three years. I realize this is
programming languages
Artima has another great interview series, this time with Erich Gamma. You know, Erich Gamma: Gang of Four, JUnit, Eclipse. As you might expect from such a notable developer, it’s full of great advice. Like this section on avoiding frameworkitis: Frameworkitis is the disease that a framework wants to
programming languages
In Software Training Sucks: Why We Need to Roll it Back 1,000 Years, Rob Walling makes a compelling argument for abandoning traditional training classes in favor of apprenticeships: Why not use the time-tested approach of trades that have been doing it for years? Let’s take an electrical apprenticeship
music
Did you know that the Windows 95 startup sound was composed by avant-garde electronic musician Brian Eno? I had no idea until I saw it referenced on music thing. Eno describes the process in a 1996 San Francisco Chronicle interview: Q: How did you come to compose “The Microsoft Sound?