Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!nrl-cmf!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ut-sally!utah-cs!utah-gr!uplherc!sp7040!wsccs!bill
From: bill@wsccs.UUCP (Bill Housley)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: The development tools (was: Configuration Management)
Message-ID: <313@wsccs.UUCP>
Date: 13 Mar 88 01:55:52 GMT
References: <497@aimt.UUCP> <5257@well.UUCP> <2984@metavax.UUCP> <2673@ihlpe.ATT.COM>
Lines: 40

In article <2673@ihlpe.ATT.COM>, daryl@ihlpe.ATT.COM (Daryl Monge) writes:
> Lets see more discussion on things to be IMPROVED.
> 	- Better syntax directed editing (>emacs has now)
> 	- Improved syntactic and semantic compiler recovery
> 	- Use of object oriented languages (C++ !)
> 	- object oriented data bases for those object oriented languages.
> 	- More powerful compiler compilers
> 	- Better debugging
> 	- Automation of regression testing
> 	- Conversion of specification into code.
> 
Add to your list:
	- More modern user interface

Now I know that some of you are saying "That should be discussed else
where, not on comp.software-eng".  But a system "... for programmers..."
should also be "...for users..." somewhere, otherwise we're all just a 
bunch of geeks writing games for ourselves to play, on systems nobody
else understands or wants to.  I take the attitude "UNIX (user
interface) sucks, but it's so widly used that I guess I'd better learn
it and use it anyway".  I agree with you, if this is the small systems
(my emphisis) multi-user operating system of the future, let's fix it so
it acts like it.  Otherwise, we'll have another MS-DOS out there
pissing off users on tomorrow's super machines and they'll say "Why are
we using this $#%%&$@(}^@#^ criptic %&*@#!*^ machine!!?" (because to users
the terms hardware and software are synonomus with '...this flipping
silly machine I'm using...).  To which us the programmer will respond
"Because it's the best 'machine' for ME to do MY job on".  To which a
dozen pencils, paper weights, coffee cups and other assorted office
furniture responds "THUD! WHAK! SMACK! SMASH!" on your head.
 


Kirk: But this planet is destroying it's self around us!!!
Kruge: Invigerating, isn't it!!

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Disclaimer: These opinions are my own, not those of my wife who neither
selects, sensurs, understands, nor cares about what I write here.-