4 ms·
TO ALL THE NAYSAYERS REGARDING AWK'S POWER: Q. Have you had any surprises in the way that AWK has developed over the years? A. One Monday morning I walked int
by ThaddeusQuay2 15y ago
TO ALL THE NAYSAYERS REGARDING AWK'S POWER:
Q. Have you had any surprises in the way that AWK has developed over the years?
A. One Monday morning I walked into my office to find a person from the Bell Labs micro-electronics product division who had used AWK to create a multi-thousand-line computer-aided design system. I was just stunned. I thought that no one would ever write an AWK program with more than a handful of statements. But he had written a powerful CAD development system in AWK because he could do it so quickly and with such facility. My biggest surprise is that AWK has been used in many different applications that none of us had initially envisaged. But perhaps that's the sign of a good tool, as you use a screwdriver for many more things than turning screws.
- from the 2008 Computerworld interview with Alfred V. Aho (http://goo.gl/OVtFU http://goo.gl/OVtFU)
- rudiger 15y agoSerious question: What can you use a screwdriver for (besides turning a screw)?
- burgerbrain 15y agoA prybar.
- tednaleid 15y agoI can remember using a screwdriver as a hole punch, a paint can opener, a cutting edge to open plastic bags, and a door stop. I'm sure I've used them for other things as well. When a screwdriver is the only tool handy, you'll often make that work rather than spend the time finding/buying a better tool.
- Getahobby 15y agoThis week I used a screwdriver to pry open the top of a rack mounted server case because it was stuck shut.
- eric-hu 15y agoI've found a screwdriver to be one of my go-to tools for car work. Oftentimes I need to remove a rubber gasket that's been in the car for years. It's usually completely hardened from heat and baked onto a metal surface. A screwdriver is really useful for scraping that off before I install a new one. When I worked in a restaurant I saw the line cook do the same with food burned into the salamander.
- rhizome 15y agoyou can score many surfaces with a screwdriver, say for measuring to cut wood, or steel, or something.
- WalterBright 15y agochisel hole punch lever prybar stethoscope electrical bus bar electrical probe paint stirrer scraper hammer engraving tool depth gauge compass And yes, I've used screwdrivers for all those purposes.