4 ms·

Having switched to managed code a little over a decade ago, I can say that garbage collection is a godsend, but something in this article flipped a switch for m

by 13of40 10y ago

Having switched to managed code a little over a decade ago, I can say that garbage collection is a godsend, but something in this article flipped a switch for me. A conventional C programmer is taught, in a somewhat moralistic way, that it's their responsibility to track every resource and manage its lifetime, but with managed code we can delegate that to an admittedly very complicated program that takes care of it for us. Just like if I live in Manhattan, I don't need to know how to take my bag of garbage to the dump. I wonder what other metaphors are lurking right under our noses like that.

pjmlp 10y ago
One example I started to think about is driving. I wonder if C programmers only drive manual.
- willtim 10y ago
  It's true that in the UK, the vast majority of us drive manuals for no other reason than to maintain our practice at driving manuals.
  - pjmlp 10y ago
    I drive mostly manual, because of the price difference on car prices here in Europe.
- lucozade 10y ago
  C, the 1980's Porsche 911 of programming languages. Drive it well and it's scary fast. Make a mistake and you're upside down in a ditch. And it takes 30s for a dedicated amateur to break in and steal it.
- pif 10y ago
  Driving conditions can vary a huge lot. Stuck in city traffic, there's nothing to gain from manual stick. But if you are coming down a steep mountain road or running a car race, you want to use your engine to brake as well as to accelerate. As far as I know, in such a case, manual is unbeatable.
  - pjmlp 10y ago
    > As far as I know, in such a case, manual is unbeatable. I guess that was a big mistake for F1 and other sport cars to have adopted semi-automatic gear boxes then.
    - zdkl 10y ago
      I don't know of a lot of F1/automatic gear cars being involved in steep terrain where the engine braking scenario would come into its own.
      - detaro 10y ago
        The grandpartent comment clearly says "or running a car race" as another example. That said, I see no reason why a (semi-)automatic couldn't engine brake.
        zdkl 10y ago
        I understand, my point was that manual shift cars are used in every discipline where such things matter like rally driving afaik
        pjmlp 10y ago
        You mean like WRC? Better update yourself. The Subaru Impreza WRC2004 gearbox does a gear change in 0.05s vs 1s taken by the best manual ones. http://m.crash.net/wrc/feature/112516/1/technical-talk-semiautomatic-gearboxes.html http://m.crash.net/wrc/feature/112516/1/technical-talk-semia... Do you know any WRC driver able to beat that?
        pif 10y ago
        > I see no reason why a (semi-)automatic couldn't engine brake. The semi surely can. The full automatic, I don't know. How can the car understand that you want a lower gear before you touch the brake?
    - pif 10y ago
- acuozzo 10y ago
  > I wonder if C programmers only drive manual. FWIW, I mostly program in C and I drive automatic. C enables me to be a control freak with my code, but I don't really have a need or desire to be a control freak with other things in my life…
pif 10y ago
> Just like if I live in Manhattan, I don't need to know how to take my bag of garbage to the dump. Except when your garbage is full of rotting fish and you want that garbage disposed right now. In other words, RAII. I'd really like a language where you can choose GC or RAII for the types you define.

by 13of40 10y ago

pjmlp 10y ago

One example I started to think about is driving. I wonder if C programmers only drive manual.

willtim 10y ago
It's true that in the UK, the vast majority of us drive manuals for no other reason than to maintain our practice at driving manuals.
- pjmlp 10y ago
  I drive mostly manual, because of the price difference on car prices here in Europe.
lucozade 10y ago
C, the 1980's Porsche 911 of programming languages. Drive it well and it's scary fast. Make a mistake and you're upside down in a ditch. And it takes 30s for a dedicated amateur to break in and steal it.
pif 10y ago
Driving conditions can vary a huge lot. Stuck in city traffic, there's nothing to gain from manual stick. But if you are coming down a steep mountain road or running a car race, you want to use your engine to brake as well as to accelerate. As far as I know, in such a case, manual is unbeatable.
- pjmlp 10y ago
  > As far as I know, in such a case, manual is unbeatable. I guess that was a big mistake for F1 and other sport cars to have adopted semi-automatic gear boxes then.
  - zdkl 10y ago
    I don't know of a lot of F1/automatic gear cars being involved in steep terrain where the engine braking scenario would come into its own.
    - detaro 10y ago
      The grandpartent comment clearly says "or running a car race" as another example. That said, I see no reason why a (semi-)automatic couldn't engine brake.
      - zdkl 10y ago
        I understand, my point was that manual shift cars are used in every discipline where such things matter like rally driving afaik
        pjmlp 10y ago
        You mean like WRC? Better update yourself. The Subaru Impreza WRC2004 gearbox does a gear change in 0.05s vs 1s taken by the best manual ones. http://m.crash.net/wrc/feature/112516/1/technical-talk-semiautomatic-gearboxes.html http://m.crash.net/wrc/feature/112516/1/technical-talk-semia... Do you know any WRC driver able to beat that?
      - pif 10y ago
        > I see no reason why a (semi-)automatic couldn't engine brake. The semi surely can. The full automatic, I don't know. How can the car understand that you want a lower gear before you touch the brake?
  - pif 10y ago
acuozzo 10y ago
> I wonder if C programmers only drive manual. FWIW, I mostly program in C and I drive automatic. C enables me to be a control freak with my code, but I don't really have a need or desire to be a control freak with other things in my life…

pif 10y ago

> Just like if I live in Manhattan, I don't need to know how to take my bag of garbage to the dump. Except when your garbage is full of rotting fish and you want that garbage disposed right now. In other words, RAII. I'd really like a language where you can choose GC or RAII for the types you define.