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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostScript#The_language http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostScript#The_language PostScript is Turing-complete.
by nextstep 13y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostScript#The_language http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostScript#The_language
PostScript is Turing-complete.
- Danieru 13y agoI think that is what haberman meant. Back on topic: The reason for PDF's existence is to be a non-turing complete subset of postscript. Features like direct indexing to a page are why Linux has switched to PDF as the primary interchange format.
- nkurz 13y agoJoin me on my crusade to eliminate the use of 'former' and 'latter' in any writing unless the goal is obfuscation. It's error prone, almost always requires rereading, and never is the clearest choice. Here's my attempt at a clearer version: "Take Postscript vs PDF. Postscript is Turing-complete and therefore you cannot jump to an arbitrary page or even know how many pages the document has without running the entire thing first."
- haberman 13y agoThat's like campaigning to eliminate pronouns. "Former" and "latter" are just like "it", except they are for when you mentioned two things. Repeating the proper noun doesn't achieve the goal of emphasizing the fact that you're referring to something you just mentioned.
- nkurz 13y agoPronouns are fine. Substituting 'the first' and 'the second' would be an improvement. It's specifically 'former' and 'latter' that should be deprecated. I'd be interested in seeing a study comparing readers' comprehensions of the various phrasings. What cost in clarity would you be willing to pay?
- johnminniton 13y agoDid you even read his comment? That is precisely what he said! "Take PDF vs PostScript. The latter is Turing-complete"