Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!netcomsv!jls From: jls@netcom.COM (Jim Showalter) Newsgroups: comp.object Subject: Re: Functions without side effects (was Old confusion) Message-ID: <1991Jun24.191448.11100@netcom.COM> Date: 24 Jun 91 19:14:48 GMT References: <1991Jun19.173 <1991Jun21.013944.23970@netcom.COM> <4174@ssc-bee.ssc-vax.UUCP> <1991Jun23.023559.7391@netcom.COM> Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services UNIX System {408 241-9760 guest} Lines: 39 >I don't think jls is going to be overly fond of these conventions... Actually, this is good stuff. You're not the kind of C programmer who is causing the problems. >I spend quite a bit of time making sure that >my code is good enough to be used and maintained instead of replaced. Some of >the people I work with do not take such care. Thousands and thousands of lines >of code implement services of whose wonders I shall never partake because of >the total and complete lack of external documentation. Indeed, and this is the tragedy. Someone a few months ago made an excellent point about there being two kinds of programmers--those who write code for OTHERS, and those who ignore the fact that their code may have clients and may need to be maintained after they've been hit by a bus. The latter type are the ones who cost their employers lots and lots of money. >Yeah, pretty bad. `ls', `dbx', `cat', `cd', `tr', `mv', `rm', ..., they should >all be spelled out. HERETIC! ;-) >But because >it is powerful, it is very easy to construct less dangerous, more intuitive >environments for those who wish or require it. Indeed. However, this presupposes that an organization is willing to live with the overhead of having a sort of peripatetic toolsmith wandering around doing customizations for the great unwashed. This is okay, but you do need to factor in the cost of this if you want to do an honest accounting of the productivity of UNIX. For what it's worth, my brother took a class in UNIX and concluded that it "is a lot like MS-DOS, only harder to use"... -- *** LIMITLESS SOFTWARE, Inc: Jim Showalter, jls@netcom.com, (408) 243-0630 **** *Proven solutions to software problems. Consulting and training on all aspects* *of software development. Management/process/methodology. Architecture/design/* *reuse. Quality/productivity. Risk reduction. EFFECTIVE OO usage. Ada/C++. *