Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!bywater!arnor!shed.watson.ibm.com!sck From: sck@arnor.uucp Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech Subject: Re: Modern computer uses (was Re: What's Wrong with ARP!!!!) Message-ID: <1990Nov21.150230.23580@arnor.uucp> Date: 21 Nov 90 15:02:30 GMT References: <1990Nov20.161846.24152@msuinfo.cl.msu.edu> Sender: news@arnor.uucp (NNTP News Poster) Reply-To: sck@shed.watson.ibm.com (SC Kennedy) Organization: IBM T. J. Watson Research Center Lines: 70 In article <1990Nov20.161846.24152@msuinfo.cl.msu.edu>, dailey@frith.uucp (Chris Dailey) writes: |> In article ggk@tirith.UUCP (Gregory Kritsch) writes: |> >cedman@golem.ps.uci.edu (Carl Edman) writes: |> >>In article ggk@tirith.UUCP (Gregory Kritsch) writes: |> >> cedman@golem.ps.uci.edu (Carl Edman) writes: |> >> >In article <90318.162021DXB132@psuvm.psu.edu> DXB132@psuvm.psu.edu writes: |> >> So, whats your point? It probably took 2 minutes to do the cr-lf |> >> program, and 5 for the clock. And if they don't work, it'll take |> >> another 2 minutes to find out why not. |> |> A simple trade-off. Is taking 2 minutes to do a cr/lf program with an |> object size of 500,000 bytes better than taking 1/2 hour with a size of |> a 5,000 bytes? That all depends on the architecture that you are working on. If you have a machine that has 12 terabytes of memory, it is much more cost-effective to write code that is large but easier to write, because the cost of keeping that machine up and running is much greater than the cost of a 16 k machine. (note: I'm not saying that this is the case for workstations > but for larger systems, this is sometimes the rule.) |> |> >>What I am complaining about ? |> >[...] I'm 18 years old, |> [...] I'm only 21, Age, really doesn't matter. It only depends when you started to learn computing. I am only 23, yet I have been in computers for 14+ years. The question is not how old you are but, what language and architecture you learned on. |> |> >>graphics or composed sounds. No, digitized sounds and graphics. Maybe |> >>with a few hours of programming you could write a program which |> >>generates the same sounds in a few kBytes. But , who cares ? Put it in |> >>the digitizer and generate a Mbyte sample, it is so much easier. |> > |> >I dunno, I always imagined that theres a neato half way point. Ie to do |> >sound, you digitize instruments and then have code to vary the volume, |> [...] |> |> But digitizing in any form takes up gobs of memory. That was the |> point. People use digitized sounds as a norm instead of trying to |> create a comparable sound pattern that takes up a lot less memory. |> Once again, you must answer the question, is it more economical to spend many man-years of coding, to save a few Kb. On a machine with limited resources such as our beloved C=64, yes. But, on a machine that is more robust, like the Amiga, No. (note: I'm not advocating sloppy coding. But, I am saying that one should think before they write code.) |> |> >Programs have become larger. Fundamental reason |> > #1: machine op code doubled in size a few years ago (from 8 bits to 16). |> > #2: The user has given up on cryptic commands. |> > #3: The programmer started to realize there was an actual user, not just the program. |> #4: People have more space, and feel freer to waste it. 5: The overhead of having to deal with a graphical environment. 6: The evolution of computers from simple adding machines to the workstations & super-computers we use today. (As the level of technology increases so does the required knowledge until the point where no one knows it all. As shown by the auto industry: in 1910, one person designed an entire car, now one person can't design the entire car becuase their scope of knowledge has been decreased while their depth has proportionally increased. Similarly, the vast diversity of the computer field which does not allow one person to know everything about an architecture. When I was a C=64 coder I knew almost every inch of tha t machine, I knew that values of every register, the location of each bit. Now, on my Amiga and RIOS I have trouble remebering what my own code is doing much less what the operating system is doing.) |> >I hope this isn't too philosophical for this newsgroup... |> No complaints by me. A little diversion is good for the soul. |> > Gregory Kritsch | University of Waterloo |> Chris Dailey dailey@(frith.egr|cpsin.cps).msu.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Scott C. Kennedy (sck@shed.watson.ibm.com) | (QP06 @ PACE.bitnet.com) High Performance Computing Environment | Computer Science Dept. I.B.M. Thomas J. Watson Research Facility | Pace University ------------------------------------------------------------------------