8 ms·

IDK man, I wonder how TF did the creators of Winamp do it? Were they so much smarter than the programers of today? And Winamp 2.95 still works on WIndows 11 tod

IDK man, I wonder how TF did the creators of Winamp do it? Were they so much smarter than the programers of today? And Winamp 2.95 still works on WIndows 11 today. IIRC Borland Delphi was the most popular tool back then for making Win32 apps since it was so easy to use.

pjc50 7mo ago
https://github.com/alexfreud/winamp https://github.com/alexfreud/winamp : does indeed look like classic Win32 in the files I randomly tried, although there's also a QT DLL and a whole load of other stuff on there.
userbinator 7mo ago
Were they so much smarter than the programers of today? The average programmer back then was probably far more knowledgeable of the low-level details.
panxyh 7mo ago
Yes, of course they were smarter.
kulahan 7mo ago
Software seems to have quality and capability as diametrically opposed attributes.
asveikau 7mo ago
> Were they so much smarter than the programers of today? Unironically the answer is yes. I've been watching this for at least 15 years. I think one inflection point is when everybody who was coming up became accustomed to GC languages. Within a decade of that trend starting, nobody could reason about memory anymore. With the AI boom we're going through another inflection point. When coding is synonymous with using an LLM, nobody will be aware of how anything works (or doesn't)
- blub 7mo ago
  The web and web apps as pushed by Google and others was another nail in the coffin of efficient software. From Android to whatever web framework they’re peddling as development solutions, these are not designed for efficiency, but for time-to-market and consumption by front-end developers.
- hbn 7mo ago
  Also a lot of people got into the industry because they saw the salaries of programmers, but have no real passion for computers or software. They did the studying enough to pass the tests and write an algorithm to pass the interview and land a job. But they don't have the drive to make things better, think outside the box, or write something they can be proud of. AI has accelerated this because it's becoming harder to detect the frauds.
- LeFantome 7mo ago
  > became accustomed to GC languages There is a certain amount of truth to that I think I do not think anybody was “smarter”. There were smart and less smart people then and now. But the “typical” practice changes. And that changes what you get. I think your “typical” programmer is more productive today in terms of what they can accomplish. But that work is going to be built at a higher level of abstraction and likely a lower level of run-time efficiency. As a percentage, fewer people understand or take into account the lower level details. It is not just about new tech. After all, I can write all my code in RISC-V assembler. And I can manually allocate memory and manipulate pointers in C#. It is just not what people normally do these days.
blub 7mo ago
I worked on Windows programs similar to WinAmp, which had custom drawing, skins with custom shapes, etc. Usually written directly in WinAPI, VCL (C++ Builder, not Delphi) or a combination. It was a matter of having access to the right (although limited) resources such as Petzold’s book, Codeproject and experimentation. There was no big rush, no start-up hustler mentality and most importantly hardware resources mattered a lot and it was a point of pride to create efficient software. The development culture of present time is the opposite of that: developers are drowning in documentation, the default solution is technically inferior and the hustler mentality’s dominating.

pjc50 7mo ago

https://github.com/alexfreud/winamp https://github.com/alexfreud/winamp : does indeed look like classic Win32 in the files I randomly tried, although there's also a QT DLL and a whole load of other stuff on there.

userbinator 7mo ago

Were they so much smarter than the programers of today? The average programmer back then was probably far more knowledgeable of the low-level details.

panxyh 7mo ago

Yes, of course they were smarter.

kulahan 7mo ago

Software seems to have quality and capability as diametrically opposed attributes.

asveikau 7mo ago

> Were they so much smarter than the programers of today? Unironically the answer is yes. I've been watching this for at least 15 years. I think one inflection point is when everybody who was coming up became accustomed to GC languages. Within a decade of that trend starting, nobody could reason about memory anymore. With the AI boom we're going through another inflection point. When coding is synonymous with using an LLM, nobody will be aware of how anything works (or doesn't)

blub 7mo ago
The web and web apps as pushed by Google and others was another nail in the coffin of efficient software. From Android to whatever web framework they’re peddling as development solutions, these are not designed for efficiency, but for time-to-market and consumption by front-end developers.
hbn 7mo ago
Also a lot of people got into the industry because they saw the salaries of programmers, but have no real passion for computers or software. They did the studying enough to pass the tests and write an algorithm to pass the interview and land a job. But they don't have the drive to make things better, think outside the box, or write something they can be proud of. AI has accelerated this because it's becoming harder to detect the frauds.
LeFantome 7mo ago
> became accustomed to GC languages There is a certain amount of truth to that I think I do not think anybody was “smarter”. There were smart and less smart people then and now. But the “typical” practice changes. And that changes what you get. I think your “typical” programmer is more productive today in terms of what they can accomplish. But that work is going to be built at a higher level of abstraction and likely a lower level of run-time efficiency. As a percentage, fewer people understand or take into account the lower level details. It is not just about new tech. After all, I can write all my code in RISC-V assembler. And I can manually allocate memory and manipulate pointers in C#. It is just not what people normally do these days.

blub 7mo ago

I worked on Windows programs similar to WinAmp, which had custom drawing, skins with custom shapes, etc. Usually written directly in WinAPI, VCL (C++ Builder, not Delphi) or a combination. It was a matter of having access to the right (although limited) resources such as Petzold’s book, Codeproject and experimentation. There was no big rush, no start-up hustler mentality and most importantly hardware resources mattered a lot and it was a point of pride to create efficient software. The development culture of present time is the opposite of that: developers are drowning in documentation, the default solution is technically inferior and the hustler mentality’s dominating.