Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Balwinder S Dheeman
On 11/20/2012 03:42 PM, Steve Simon wrote: How do you studiously not do something? Doesn't the imply working hard at something? Indeed, everything I did read about Go made it look very attractive so I am ignoring it as I know myself. If I read more I will start to get annoyed that I am

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread lucio
Me, OTOH, would like see Go go out of fashion ASAP; What's so special a C/C++ programmer can't do what she/he can do with Go? What is so special a COBOL programmer can't do? ++L

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread LluĂ­s Batlle i Rossell
On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 09:54:34AM +, Balwinder S Dheeman wrote: On 11/20/2012 03:42 PM, Steve Simon wrote: How do you studiously not do something? Doesn't the imply working hard at something? Indeed, everything I did read about Go made it look very attractive so I am ignoring it as I

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread erik quanstrom
On Thu Nov 22 04:03:29 EST 2012, charles.fors...@gmail.com wrote: usize is indeed the same size as uintptr. Instead of either for purely integer values, it would be better to make all integers 64 bit, and use uint and int (for pointer differences), but that causes other problems, at the

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Nemo
Halo 4 On Nov 22, 2012, at 11:07 AM, lu...@proxima.alt.za wrote: What is so special a COBOL programmer can't do?

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread Charles Forsyth
I hadn't noticed that particularly, but having grep'd the source, I see it's also used for variables that are counters and numbers of things. Is that right too? I suspect it's more out of expediency. Some other type usage looks odd too. int32 where int would do. Curious. On 22 November 2012

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread Richard Miller
.B char can generally be assumed to be a signed value. What does generally mean here? Is it safe to assume or not? There are no signed variants of these as they are not useful where size-specific types are appropriate. Not useful seems an arbitrary judgment. There are certainly cases

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread Richard Miller
usize is indeed the same size as uintptr. Instead of either for purely integer values, it would be better to make all integers 64 bit I hope that was intended as a joke. It's not that long ago I was writing C for a 16-bit processor (in a smart card). I would hate to lose the meaning of int

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread Charles Forsyth
On 22 November 2012 11:00, Richard Miller 9f...@hamnavoe.com wrote: OTOH, it's not worth making special provision for physical memory addresses. I think that any code which is dealing with those is not likely to be portable to another architecture for many other reasons. I can't envision a

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread Charles Forsyth
To try to clarify: most existing Plan 9 code doesn't worry about the actual type of sizeof or pointer differences. They assume int/long or uint/ulong. It's obvious from this discussion that hardly anyone noticed usize. Since its introduction years ago, grep shows that only kernel code has used

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread Richard Miller
Even port refers to physical addresses (eg, Page) You're right, I should have thought a bit longer. This is why my PAE hack for xen only supports 4GB of physical (well, virtually physical) memory.

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread Charles Forsyth
I meant, detect code. It's easy to find: just look at libflate, but there were many more. On 22 November 2012 11:32, Charles Forsyth charles.fors...@gmail.com wrote: it's quite hard to find code (automatically) that assumes they are 32 bits.

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread Richard Miller
New C programmers are often confused by size_t being unsigned (even experienced ones at times) Especially experienced ones. My 1978 copy of KR says The expression sizeof(object) yields an integer equal to the size of the specified object. Not unsigned integer. Old habits die hard.

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread Charles Forsyth
It was in v6 (and a nasty bug): /* * sizeof gets turned into a number here. * Bug: sizeof(structure-member-array) is 2 because * the array has been turned into a ptr already. */ if (op==SIZEOF) { t1 = length(p1); p1-op = CON; p1-type = INT;

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread erik quanstrom
On Thu Nov 22 06:01:38 EST 2012, 9f...@hamnavoe.com wrote: .B char can generally be assumed to be a signed value. What does generally mean here? Is it safe to assume or not? good point. There are no signed variants of these as they are not useful where size-specific types are

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread erik quanstrom
i put up corrections - erik

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread Steve Simon
The expression sizeof(object) yields an integer equal to the size of the specified object. Not unsigned integer. Old habits die hard. I feel your pain. We use lint a lot here and it irritates me greatly when it grumbles about loss of precision in assignment from sizeof() or nelem() to an

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread Charles Forsyth
It was changed in Ritchie's own compiler in v7 as I noted earlier. It was that, use long, or limit your sizeof'd data to half the 16-bit address space. On 22 November 2012 11:54, Steve Simon st...@quintile.net wrote: I wish I had been in the standards meeting with a big stick when somone

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread Anthony Martin
Charles Forsyth charles.fors...@gmail.com once said: On 22 November 2012 03:44, Bruce Ellis bruce.el...@gmail.com wrote: uintptr in all over the go packages because it is right. I hadn't noticed that particularly, but having grep'd the source, I see it's also used for variables that are

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread Charles Forsyth
this is just a sample, but there were other likely candidates: ./src/pkg/runtime/cpuprof.c: uintptr count; ./src/pkg/runtime/cpuprof.c: uintptr count; // tick count ./src/pkg/runtime/cpuprof.c: uintptr evicts; // eviction count ./src/pkg/runtime/cpuprof.c: uintptr lost; // lost ticks that need to

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread Anthony Martin
Charles Forsyth charles.fors...@gmail.com once said: this is just a sample, but there were other likely candidates: Ah. I thought we were talking about Go code not C. Carry on. Anthony

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread Richard Miller
so what do you want to do about usize. i can't easily just make it 64-bits on nix, because that would require that we get some changes in sources. malloc would need to be fixed, etc. Just tell the plain truth - have I got this right? Usize is an unsigned integer which can hold the maximum

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread David Leimbach
On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 7:10 AM, Kurt H Maier kh...@intma.in wrote: On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 09:56:33AM -0500, Calvin Morrison wrote: On 19 November 2012 04:59, Steve Simon st...@quintile.net wrote: Isn't all C code valid C++? problem solved. As of c99, they have diverged. They weren't

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread erik quanstrom
On Thu Nov 22 08:50:13 EST 2012, 23h...@gmail.com wrote: Java was not in high school, but in 9th grade in a normal German school. i think you're trying to make a subtile distinction about the german educational system using american terms. if so, it would be much less confusing with

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Dan Cross
VisitorFactoryBuilderFactorySingletonDecoratorFactory. On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 6:57 AM, Charles Forsyth charles.fors...@gmail.comwrote: I'm writing Java now, after a long gap, and it's ok. It has its share of annoying aspects, but it's not too bad. Java is a bit like a high-level assembler

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Dan Cross
Personally, I think that all of this language posturing is geekier-than-thou nonsense. Calling C++ or Java a disease? Really? Suggesting that if you use one of those languages you're somehow mentally deficient? Really? Suggesting someone change jobs because they're asked to program in C++?

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread erik quanstrom
i agree with your point. but i think that you the statments you point out are hyperbole. In the big scheme of things, absolutely none of this matters. Whether one programs in Java, C, Go, COBOL or 370 assembler doesn't really make any difference; one could die tomorrow, and would anyone care

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread erik quanstrom
Usize is an unsigned integer which can hold the maximum size of an object declared statically (the sizeof operator returns a value of type usize) or created by the usual allocation functions (the size argument of malloc is - or should be? - type usize). Usize may be smaller than uintptr,

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Bakul Shah
On Nov 22, 2012, at 9:54 AM, Balwinder S Dheeman bsd.sans...@anu.homelinux.net wrote: Me, OTOH, would like see Go go out of fashion ASAP; What's so special a C/C++ programmer can't do what she/he can do with Go? Is this opinion born out of experience with Go or due to a lack of

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread dexen deVries
On Thursday 22 of November 2012 09:38:06 Dan Cross wrote: In the big scheme of things, absolutely none of this matters. Whether one programs in Java, C, Go, COBOL or 370 assembler doesn't really make any difference; one could die tomorrow, and would anyone care what language s/he programmed

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread lucio
Halo 4 Whatever it is, I haven't needed it in the past 38 years, should I have? ++L

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread tlaronde
On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 03:54:11PM +0100, Hugo Rivera wrote: Of course, it depends on the problem considered. But I think the big problems in the world have little to do with programming languages, particularly c++, which is the topic at hand. But you are wrong... There are numerous big and

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread lucio
C++ and java feel highly inconsistent and are full of stupid busywork and strange programming philosophies that you have to learn about, Chances are Go would not be what it is, if it was anything at all, without the mistakes of C++ and Java (the latter are a mystery to me I am not even remotely

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread erik quanstrom
On Thu Nov 22 10:48:35 EST 2012, tlaro...@polynum.com wrote: On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 03:54:11PM +0100, Hugo Rivera wrote: Of course, it depends on the problem considered. But I think the big problems in the world have little to do with programming languages, particularly c++, which is

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread lucio
Of course, it depends on the problem considered. But I think the big problems in the world have little to do with programming languages, particularly c++, which is the topic at hand. Well, in the unequal world of long-post-apartheid rural South Africa where I live, my hope is to teach

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread erik quanstrom
Well, in the unequal world of long-post-apartheid rural South Africa where I live, my hope is to teach unspoilt, but also uneducated kids programming using Go on a Plan 9 platform (the teaching, mostly). Doing the same in C++ or Java would demand much more effort on my part and much more

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Hugo Rivera
Great, you have my admiration, for what's worth. I truly mean that, no sarcasm or anything alike. It would be much better if I could offer my support instead, and maybe some day I could try to do something similar as you are. 2012/11/22 lu...@proxima.alt.za: Of course, it depends on the problem

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Christopher Nielsen
Exactly this, Dan. Thanks. On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 6:38 AM, Dan Cross cro...@gmail.com wrote: Personally, I think that all of this language posturing is geekier-than-thou nonsense. Calling C++ or Java a disease? Really? Suggesting that if you use one of those languages you're somehow

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread lucio
and even that aside, can you cite studies that show that the choice of programming language is the dominant term in determining the error rate of the resulting code? Come on, Erik, are you suggesting that because there are no studies, the situation could not exist? It is only my opinion,

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread tlaronde
On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 11:00:51AM -0500, erik quanstrom wrote: putting aside that i don't believe that the big problems like war and hunger have anything to do with programming errors, There have been already numerous hundreds of millions if not billions of money losses by financial

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Nemo
it's an Xbox game. and yes, you need it ;) On Nov 22, 2012, at 4:37 PM, lu...@proxima.alt.za wrote: Halo 4 Whatever it is, I haven't needed it in the past 38 years, should I have? ++L

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread lucio
Great, you have my admiration, for what's worth. I truly mean that, no sarcasm or anything alike. It would be much better if I could offer my support instead, and maybe some day I could try to do something similar as you are. Nice as it is to receive support, I must warn you that I have not

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread lucio
it's an Xbox game. and yes, you need it ;) Xbox-360? Surely it runs IBM code? :-) ++L

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread erik quanstrom
On Thu Nov 22 11:15:36 EST 2012, lu...@proxima.alt.za wrote: and even that aside, can you cite studies that show that the choice of programming language is the dominant term in determining the error rate of the resulting code? Come on, Erik, are you suggesting that because there are no

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Richard Miller
9th grade is usually 1st year high school in the us. DeutschlandUSA - - Hochschule college Gymnasium high school Sporthalle gymnasium

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Bakul Shah
On Nov 22, 2012, at 8:06 AM, lu...@proxima.alt.za wrote: Of course, it depends on the problem considered. But I think the big problems in the world have little to do with programming languages, particularly c++, which is the topic at hand. Well, in the unequal world of long-post-apartheid

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Dan Cross
On Nov 22, 2012 9:50 AM, erik quanstrom quans...@quanstro.net wrote: i agree with your point. but i think that you the statments you point out are hyperbole. That is fair to an extent. In the big scheme of things, absolutely none of this matters. Whether one programs in Java, C, Go,

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Dan Cross
On Nov 22, 2012 9:56 AM, dexen deVries dexen.devr...@gmail.com wrote: On Thursday 22 of November 2012 09:38:06 Dan Cross wrote: In the big scheme of things, absolutely none of this matters. Whether one programs in Java, C, Go, COBOL or 370 assembler doesn't really make any difference; one

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Kurt H Maier
On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 09:38:06AM -0500, Dan Cross wrote: Personally, I think that all of this language posturing is geekier-than-thou nonsense. And the rest of this email is wiser-than-thou bullshit. Programming languages ARE tools. If you enjoy using shitty tools to earn your living, when

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread tlaronde
On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 05:18:03PM +, Charles Forsyth wrote: Yes, that would be silly. You need only the screwdriver, provided it's sonic, but I suppose that just emphasises your point about tools. You did not get the big picture: the screwdriver is for the engine; the hammer is to deal

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Bakul Shah
On Thu, 22 Nov 2012 18:22:33 +0100 tlaro...@polynum.com wrote: On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 05:18:03PM +, Charles Forsyth wrote: Yes, that would be silly. You need only the screwdriver, provided it's soni c, but I suppose that just emphasises your point about tools. You did not get the

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread lucio
so that's just an anecdote. i'd like to know more about the subject. It's not going to be a popular subject, I don't think your curiosity will be rewarded. I do agree that culture is very important. I also think that I was extremely lucky to learn computing at the time when there were many

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread lucio
A friend is developing such web/tablet based lessons for similar kids in India (India has as big a problem of poor ed. as the whole of Africa). The BBC reports exceptional success by some NGOs introducing tablets in rural (central) Africa amongst children. But the price is wrong. Scrappy,

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread hiro
On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 5:32 PM, Richard Miller 9f...@hamnavoe.com wrote: 9th grade is usually 1st year high school in the us. DeutschlandUSA - - Hochschule college Gymnasium high school Sporthalle gymnasium It's much more

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread lucio
Ha! Ever programmed in APL? Don't knock it, to learn APL I had to shift paradigm and it was a very important lesson in my programming education. ++L

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Pavel Klinkovsky
and even that aside, can you cite studies that show that the choice of programming language is the dominant term in determining the error rate of the resulting code? Could it help? http://archive.adaic.com/intro/ada-vs-c/cada_art.html Pavel

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread lucio
dan, I don't care about your children. You may sing a different tune if/when Dan's daughter becomes the President of the USA. ++L

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Dan Cross
Nor should you. What she eats is my problem not yours, and it's an incredibly minor problem. Like, only a little more important than worrying about C++ and Java. On Nov 22, 2012 12:33 PM, hiro 23h...@gmail.com wrote: dan, I don't care about your children.

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Dan Cross
Thanks for making my point for me. On Nov 22, 2012 12:13 PM, Kurt H Maier kh...@intma.in wrote: On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 09:38:06AM -0500, Dan Cross wrote: Personally, I think that all of this language posturing is geekier-than-thou nonsense. And the rest of this email is wiser-than-thou

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread lucio
a computer is a multiple purpose device, not an education. Prove it. ++L

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Dan Cross
On Nov 22, 2012 12:43 PM, lu...@proxima.alt.za wrote: Ha! Ever programmed in APL? Don't knock it, to learn APL I had to shift paradigm and it was a very important lesson in my programming education. No doubt. As a learning exercise, such things are great. But I don't know that the brand of

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Paul Lalonde
PS2 development is generally too expensive for the cost model of education games, sadly. On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 9:39 AM, lu...@proxima.alt.za wrote: A friend is developing such web/tablet based lessons for similar kids in India (India has as big a problem of poor ed. as the whole of

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread lucio
In the big scheme of things, absolutely none of this matters. Whether one programs in Java, C, Go, COBOL or 370 assembler doesn't really make any difference; one could die tomorrow, and would anyone care what language s/he programmed in? really? This world has bigger problems than that. My

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread lucio
No doubt. As a learning exercise, such things are great. But I don't know that the brand of brevity engendered by APL really leads to fewer defects. No, although you don't have to look as far to find the errors :-) ++L

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread tlaronde
On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 05:40:25PM +, Pavel Klinkovsky wrote: and even that aside, can you cite studies that show that the choice of programming language is the dominant term in determining the error rate of the resulting code? Could it help?

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread lucio
I remembering finding Iverson's book A Programming Language quite interesting. I don't remember the book any more, but I did read the library copy in its entirety, maybe even more than once and was thrilled when the university almost accidentally got an APL interpreter from Univac for their

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread lucio
Books do still get printed btw. I'm still looking for a copy of Hollindale and Toothill's Digital Computers (from memory, of course), which I remember being another of the formative books I was privileged to read. ++L

Re: [9fans] go forth and ulong no more!

2012-11-22 Thread Federico G. Benavento
On Nov 22, 2012, at 6:38 AM, Charles Forsyth charles.fors...@gmail.com wrote: I wonder if there's an assumption that usize is a novelty. It has been in u.h for at least 5 years. yes, there was such assumption on my behalf. I haven't seen it before erik posted the man page, now after some

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Richard Miller
I remembering finding Iverson's book A Programming Language quite interesting. ... Today it is just a topic for nostalgic conversation, What Iverson did next: http://9fans.net/archive/2009/07/265

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Kurt H Maier
On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 07:47:07PM +0200, lu...@proxima.alt.za wrote: a computer is a multiple purpose device, not an education. Prove it. Have you even contacted IAEP or one of the dozens of OLPC working groups in your area?

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Kurt H Maier
On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 12:45:51PM -0500, Dan Cross wrote: Thanks for making my point for me. Someone had to. It sure wasn't you.

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Matthew Veety
On Thu, 22 Nov 2012, Richard Miller wrote: 9th grade is usually 1st year high school in the us. DeutschlandUSA - - Hochschule college Gymnasium high school Sporthalle gymnasium I thought that Uni was equal to college here in

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Matthew Veety
Only if she give me free healthcare and hookers. -- Veety

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Bakul Shah
On Nov 22, 2012, at 10:02 AM, Charles Forsyth wrote: I remembering finding Iverson's book A Programming Language quite interesting. I highly recommended Iverson's Turing Award lecture Notation as a tool of thought. http://www.jsoftware.com/papers/tot.htm

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Bakul Shah
On Nov 22, 2012, at 10:12 AM, lu...@proxima.alt.za wrote: I remembering finding Iverson's book A Programming Language quite interesting. I don't remember the book any more, but I did read the library copy in its entirety, maybe even more than once and was thrilled when the university

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread erik quanstrom
To put it another way, I consider emotional arguments about programming languages so unimportant that they pale in comparison to encouraging my daughter to eat a healthy breakfast; starving kids in other countries didn't even enter my mind. emotional areguments are poor arguments, regardless

[9fans] C++

2012-11-22 Thread Winston Kodogo
Ay, Curamba! This discussion is exactly why we need Boyd. But, let the record show, C++ has been scientifically shown to be an unbelievably crap and monstrously complex language, even though I earn my daily bread by using it. I was a contemporary of Dr Stroustrup when he was spending his time

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread lucio
On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 07:47:07PM +0200, lu...@proxima.alt.za wrote: a computer is a multiple purpose device, not an education. Prove it. Have you even contacted IAEP or one of the dozens of OLPC working groups in your area? Sounds more like an accusation than a response. What I

Re: [9fans] c++

2012-11-22 Thread Kurt H Maier
On Fri, Nov 23, 2012 at 05:31:52AM +0200, lu...@proxima.alt.za wrote: On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 07:47:07PM +0200, lu...@proxima.alt.za wrote: a computer is a multiple purpose device, not an education. Prove it. Have you even contacted IAEP or one of the dozens of OLPC working