h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"I DO believe that NOTHING should be done in a language which forces you to stick to a single OS (eg VB) unless there is NO chance that ANYONE will EVER want to use it on another computer to the one it's being designed for. "

This kind of absolutist argument is pointless, dogmatic and not really rooted in the real world. The simple fact is that portability is one requirement among many, not the SOLE requirement that needs to be fulfilled when building a commercial system. As you would not doubt know if you had built one yourself. I tend to listen first to the specific customer and then the business, before taking petitions from the techies.

Besides, the PC architecture, for all its faults, is pretty dominant and a Fairly Safe Bet. Your argument is tantamount to telling us next that no-one should record a video on VHS just in case someone wants to watch it on a Betamax machine. Get real.

Some programs are OS depentant in design, like registry editing, which is Windows only.

-- DoctorMO --

And some people are just saying, 90% of the people who might want to use it will use a specific OS, and 90% of the other 10% can install/gain access over that same OS, so it'll be ready in 1/4 to 1/10 of the time it would require to make this cross platform, and it isn't worth the time and efford.


Dancer

Anyhow, don't bleat at the people using platform-specific development tools; complain to the people who wrote the tools that way in the first place! If all development tools were cross-platform, this issue wouldn't arise...

Oh, Peet, as wise as always, and keeping the title up to date


Dancer

te he and so only some of the debate is left...

-- DoctorMO --

Unfortunately, cross platform tools tend to be way behind their rather more targeted equivalents. VB works so well and is such an easy platform to develop on *because* it is tightly integrated with Windows, not despite that fact. I just want to use something that enables me to get my job done quickly and easily and runs on the vast majority of client machines out there. In my current circumstances, the choice is VB. Of course, this situation might change radically, but somehow I doubt it.

FM

If that is the case then my future is secured on VB, but that won't stop me learning some more Assembler, and it won't stop me learning Perl or Java just because VB will do.

-- DoctorMO --

Depends how much time you have. I spent a fair number of my younger years learning new technologies for the sake of it (as I did with VB initially). Now I don't have time to do this so I look to whatever will get the job done quickest and easiest. I'd still like to be able to learn some trendy new skills, but nowadays I tend to sit back, wait until the lustre has worn off whatever is currently the techies' brand spanking new plaything, and then look into learning it if I need to.

Some how I never quite thought of Perl or Java as being brand new play things, as they have been here for more that 4 years! and any way people tend to get stuck in the past as they grow old, I here by pledge that it I ever become stuck that I shall make sure of my revision.

-- DoctorMO --

I agree, one can get stuck. However, most of the tools I use are alive and kicking still. I suppose my motto is 'evolution, not revolution'. I'f I'm called upon to learn something radically different as part of my job then I will do it.

I'm just going though CGI Perl now, and it's been very easy, most of the syntax I can understand and grasp. It's just a matter of time before I can do anything in CGI, Script count=4, Test Scripts=7.

-- DoctorMO --

OK, DrMO, then explain the six lines of PERL near the bottom of http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A642999

Don't run it though - it's illegal!

#define m(i)(x[i]^s[i+84])<< unsigned char x[5],y,s[2048];
main(n){for(read(0,x,5);
read(0,s,n=2048);
write(1,s,n))
if(s[y=s[13]%8+20]/16%4==1) {
int i=m(1)17^256+m(0)8,k=m(2)0,j=m(4)17^m(3)9^k
*2-k%8^8,a=0,c=26;
for(s[y]-=16;--c;j*=2)a=a*2^i&1,i=i/2^j&1 << 24;
for(j=127;++jy)c+=y=i^i/8^i>>4^i>>12,i=i>>8^y<>14,y=a^a*8^a<>8^y<<9,k=s
[j],k="7Wo~'G_\216"[k&7]+2^"cr3sfw6v;*k+>/n."[k>>4]*2^k*257/8,s[j]=k^(k&k*2&34)
*6^c+~y;}
}

Well what can I say other that it made this here h2g2 text box spaz-out and most of it is maths throw in two For to Next loops Read and Write somthing, I woun't expect this code to work, athough someone once told me that perl was obtuse to say the least a bit like C realy exept more so.

-- DoctorMO --

Hmm. From what I've seen of PERL it's generally quite a neat language. Is there an implementaion for W2K I could have a play with?

FM

I'm sure they do an Active Perl for Win2K

I'm sure they do an Active Perl for Win2K

They do indeed - I've put a link on my homepage, if you're interested.

I played with an implementation called WinPERL a while back; if you grub around the search engines you can probably find it...

Not sure about that, but I have Active Perl for Win 98, and it does for testing, although god knows I don't use it as much as I should, it's just that WS_FTP makes it so easy just to test from Cyber Space.

-- DoctorMO --