4 ms·
I think the important part here is that (in your example), Joe in HR wrote an application that is important enough to be used but not important enough to be pro
by sjm-lbm 10y ago
I think the important part here is that (in your example), Joe in HR wrote an application that is important enough to be used but not important enough to be professionally rewritten in a "better" language. I don't really think that speaks to faults in VB6, but to a sizable and interesting market for a product that allows non-programmers to write simple programs.
- orionblastar 10y agoI have known people writing apps in MS-Office like Access, Word, or Excel using VBA, and I was assigned to convert it to VB 6.0 and SQL Server. Usually the over the weekend projects need debugging and error trapping and other things to it. I can't tell you how many Invalid Use of Null errors where avoided by using the trim function and adding a blank quote "" next to the variable that held data: result = trim("" & RS(index)) Just a simple modification that new programmers didn't know.
- oldmanjay 10y agoThat's sort of like applauding your neighbor for training his dog to always shit on your lawn
- untog 10y agoOf course it isn't. Some of the stuff people wrote in VB6 was (and still is) enormously productive.
- oldmanjay 10y agoSure, and shit is productive in a biological sense. Doesn't mean I want to work with it.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- mistermann 10y agoYou remind me of programmers who will bill a client $50k for a $2k problem under the guise of it being done "properly"...oh, and keeping it a secret that an "improper" $2k implementation was an option. People heap scorn on auto mechanics (for example) that pad bills, but many people whose work doesn't get their hands dirty seem to think they are subject to a different moral code.
- voltagex_ 10y agoIt depends on the client, and whether you're going to be on the hook (phone wise or legal wise) for the future of whatever you create. The $2k prototype/hack has a way of becoming a business-critical thing when you're not watching.
- pc86 10y ago> many people whose work doesn't get their hands dirty seem to think they are subject to a different moral code Let's not try to turn this into some "workers unite!" nonsense. I don't think how dirty someone's hands get have anything to do with what we're talking about. Using your extreme example, the the $2k option is wrapping half a roll of duct tape around a leak. The $50k option is buying warrantied parts directly from the factory (not OEM). What both you and the parent ignore is that there's usually a perfectly valid $20k option (OEM) that is a fair middle ground.
- mistermann 10y ago> Using your extreme example, the the $2k option is wrapping half a roll of duct tape around a leak. The $50k option is buying warrantied parts directly from the factory (not OEM). You haven't seen some of the things I have. There are some extremely dishonest people in this industry that would literally be in prison if they pulled financially comparable stunts in an industry that isn't so opaque.
- PostThisTooFast 10y agoHe reminds me of an entire team of programmers who turned up their noses at VB, insisting that they work in VC instead. When, predictably, the VB prototype of the product worked perfectly well (the whole app was database-driven)... they were all fired and the product was finished by one designer and a team of contractors instead.