4 ms·
I worked in a different era than yours. Today, you can pick and choose the microsoft stack you want to use, if any at all, because you have choice and they don'
by mahmud 16y ago
I worked in a different era than yours. Today, you can pick and choose the microsoft stack you want to use, if any at all, because you have choice and they don't.
Then, you sold software based on polish and integration in UI look and feel. You have to choose your tools very carefully, because of the realities of software publishing and distribution. You don't know how long it takes from the moment you press the CD-ROM, to the moment it goes on the shelf, to when it's bought. If it looks and works OK today, a year from now it would be butt ugly. Only hardware vendors could get away with ugly software. Even anti-virus software is polished and themed to oblivion. But mine corporate software with strong Office integration, it has to look modern, for some modern in the unknown future.
Did ole-good Windows API and C++ classes just go away with the advent of COM?
They didn't. I occasionally write native win32 apps with Dev-C++. But I could not, today, embed all third party components, be they MS' or off-the-shelf, using only pure C++ and win32 API.
There are tiers of Win32 interfaces and libraries, in terms of quality and system integration. On one end you have the Win32 API, and on the other end the latest managed .NET newfangled things (I am ignoring native NT layer and the DDK.) However, in between you have this graveyard of APIs, from OLE to ActiveX to COM to what have you. Each has been pushed with merciless fervor by MS, at a time when they were the only game in town.
I am glad you like your stay on .NET though. Cheers! I myself java just rediscovered Java (the JVM, really) and this is where it's at. Sun couldn't sell for shit, but they knew how to make software.
- thecodemonk 16y agoWait a minute... You are complaining that you are now forced to have updated looking and function software? Oh. The horror. That's a sure way to make your users mad. Sell them software today that looks like it was written 10 years ago... But wait, it was written 10 years ago. You are completely pushing the philosophy of technology needs to remain the same and consistant through all of time. Not possible, ever. Technology HAS to evolve or we all sit at a standstill. If you don't want to learn new things and stay modern in technology, then you need to sign up for truck driving, not software development. They (MS) didn't just sit around trying to find ways to piss you off by coming out with new technology. They released one, found a way to improve, and released that next. Quite blaming the vendors and put the blame squarely where it belongs, with people who refuse to learn and evolve with the technology.
- mahmud 16y agoWhat? Did I not make myself clear or are you incapable of reading? I am not "complaining about now", I am complaining about 10 years ago. Specifically '98-00. Fireup Wikipedia and do a little MS history research. I want my software to look fresh and fit in with the UI of the environment. I said was coding for the future, i.e. use the most cutting edge software today, so by the time we put the software on shelves, it doesn't look old. My #1 issue with MS, really, is that they let the official API stagnate and forced us developers to use Office and IE components, in the hope of integrating them with Windows. I would make sense of your writing if it wasn't so weirdly phrased.