zabzonk

12 ms·

1. 271.▲
   by zabzonk 8mo ago

   Drivel. I would rather read clanker nonsense than this. And if it turns out that this is clanker generated, then I,m disappointed in the LLM.
2. 272.▲
   by zabzonk 8mo ago

   >I meant the work laptop you are given through working as a SWE. Everywhere i've worked, i was not "given" a computer anymore than I was given a desk, a chair or a network connection. Perhaps "provided" would be
3. 273.▲
   by zabzonk 8mo ago

   if the computer is provided for work, by the company you work for, it is not "yours" limitations on what you can install on such machines can be quite draconian, including forbidding anything that IT Security and similar departmen
4. 274.▲
   by zabzonk 8mo ago

   This was on Windows 3.1. I don't think the version of notepad there had any Unicode support - certainly the one in our training course didn't; I didn't feel up to teaching C, the Windows API _and_ Unicode. It was just a slig
5. 275.▲
   by zabzonk 8mo ago

   Yep. Back when I used to teach Windows programming in C commercially, the course exercise was to replicate notepad. It was surprising how many of its features you could implement in a week-long course, especially as many of our clients were
6. 276.▲
   by zabzonk 8mo ago

   > They know everything, except how to program In my experience, they know nothing, including how to program.
7. 277.▲
   by zabzonk 9mo ago

   I can't find that Burton wrote an autobiography, though there seem to be several well-regarded biographies - have you a link to such a thing?
8. 278.▲
   by zabzonk 9mo ago

   Then why not define "something" as static, which makes the compiler and linker guarantee that you can't do it?
9. 279.▲
   by zabzonk 9mo ago

   i think you replied to the wrong comment
10. 280.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    my point was that f() had been defined static then you can't access it from outside the translation unit it is defined in - in other words, it is "private". i'm afraid i'm unclear what your point is.
11. 281.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    you can access it using extern from anywhere: // a.c int f( int x ) { return x + 1; } // b.c extern int f(int x ); int main() { int y = f(41); } but if f() had been defi
12. 282.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    Be like the Romans - make them all straight lines :-) Of course the Romans didn't give a shit who's property rights they might be violating. I live in Lincolnshire UK, where Roman roads are still used. The last one that got chang
13. 283.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    naming is hard. my advice to junior programmers after i see them agonising over a name - "just call it x or foo for now, you are going to change it later anyway"
14. 284.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    Speaking as someone with over 40 years paid programming experience, I've never understood this "flow" thing. I typically do about half an hours typing, get up and walk around, mooch over to colleague and yack bit, or go to th
15. 285.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    But why does it "feel good", if in fact it does? I tried writing a small utility library using Windows Copilot, just for some experience with the tach (OK, not the highest tech, but I am 73 this year) and found it mildly impressiv
16. 286.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    Isn't this like turboprops (already very efficient) with bigger propellors? I couldn't tell from the article, but quite possibly missed something.
17. 287.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    People posting Excel formulae?
18. 288.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    I think I remember hacking some of the copy-protection out of a version of Tetris using the Borland debugger. I definitely patched mouse support into a Chris Crawford "Battle of the Bulge" game using it (for my rather tricky plat
19. 289.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    That's an episode from "Thunderbirds".
20. 290.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    Source? Every Commodore PET I've ever come across had a metal chassis. Commodore64s and VICs had plastic ones.
21. 291.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    Wireless thermostats are really common in the UK. I don't know about elsewhere. I'm interested how they pair (like Bluetooth) with the boiler. Basically, the thermostat is in a living area and you set the temperature(s) to what yo
22. 292.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    Thanks, and to the other guys. But I am asking about a remote wireless thermostat. How does it know to talk to my boiler, and not her next door's? As I said totally OT, and I do have a couple of good C/H firms I can get in to sor
23. 293.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    That's what he comes out with while using the teleprompter??
24. 294.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    Shouldn't there be some holes?
25. 295.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    Indeed. Two PhD students came to see me when the polytechnic I worked for switched from a Dec10 to two IBM 4381s. [them] How can we get our code to work on the IBM? [me] (examines code) This only looks vaguely like Fortran. [them] Yes, we u
26. 296.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    I think I have only one device that uses AA - my central heating's radio thermostat. This thing has caused me untold hassle, which is only partially down to the batteries, but still... Totally OT, but does anyone have a good link on h
27. 297.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    I wrote a lot of F77 code way back when, including an 8080 simulator similar to that written by Gates and Allen used to build their BASIC for Altair. I don't know what language they wrote theirs in, but mine was pretty readable, just
28. 298.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    Surely few people have a printer these days? I do (a color laser printer) but I'm a bit old school. And yes, my handwriting is, and always has been, dreadful.
29. 299.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    This might be OK for someone using your files (a bit like a header-only library) but not so great for team development.
30. 300.▲
    by zabzonk 9mo ago

    SQLite calls this an "amalgamation". It is easy and convenient for users (not developers) of SQLite code. https://sqlite.org/amalgamation.html