I just graduated

No Face said:
Where did you read this?
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A lot of the Kaboomers I have known who majored in computer science and programming back in the computer stone age that was the 1970s to mid-1980s have told me they became obsolete in 15-20 years, depending on how hard they worked to stay current on their knowledge. On the other hand, computer engineers were able to stick at it until relatively close to retirement age.

I don't know how the industry works these days, seeing as how we don't have punch cards and no one owns a computer built by IBM...
 
Threedee said:
A lot of the Kaboomers I have known who majored in computer science and programming back in the computer stone age that was the 1970s to mid-1980s have told me they became obsolete in 15-20 years, depending on how hard they worked to stay current on their knowledge. On the other hand, computer engineers were able to stick at it until relatively close to retirement age.

I don't know how the industry works these days, seeing as how we don't have punch cards and no one owns a computer built by IBM...
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Well, in the 1980s you mostly worked with assembly, C was considered too slow. These days, we work in C++ when we want to be fast, and often are just fine with Java. You have to know OOP and other paradigms. But this stuff really isn't that difficult to keep up with, IMO.
 
You can really see a lot of antiquated coding practices in some of my professors code. My compilers professor provided us with base code for our compiler written in Python, an incredibly modern and simplified language, but it was full of non-descriptive variable names like codeinx that seem to be made by someone being charged per letter, and it was also full of globals. No one in their right mind would program like this today, they're more likely to make stupidly descriptive variable names and avoid any and all globals as if their life depended on it.
 
I imagine the feeling I have now as I listen to Watermark talk about programming is very similar to when people listen to me talk about guns.
 
Chapel The Evergreen said:
I imagine the feeling I have now as I listen to Watermark talk about programming is very similar to when people listen to me talk about guns.
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Variable name: A name of a variable. For instance, in C

int x = 3;

int is the kind of variable, 3 is the value being assigned to the variable, x is the name. Oldskool programmers would write names like this:

int tmp = tmpctrllr.crrtmp;

Modern programmers would make variable names like this:

int theCurrentTemperatureReadingFromTheTemperatureGuage = theClassThatControlsTheTemperatureGuage.aMethodThatRetrievesTheCurrentTemperatureGaugeReading;

Clearly, the second example is much preferable.

Global: A kind of variable accessible from any part of the program. This is bad practice, because you don't want a function in some obscure part of the program modifying the value of a variable that might be being used elsewhere, in a function, a class, or the main part of the program (the main part is the part that starts running when the program launches, from which all the other classes and functions used in the program are first called).

You've just been skooled.
 
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No Face said:
Variable name: A name of a variable. For instance, in C

int x = 3;

int is the kind of variable, 3 is the value being assigned to the variable, x is the name. Oldskool programmers would write names like this:

int tmp = tmpctrllr.crrtmp;

Modern programmers would make variable names like this:

int theCurrentTemperatureReadingFromTheTemperatureGuage = theClassThatControlsTheTemperatureGuage.aMethodThatRetrievesTheCurrentTemperatureGaugeReading;

Clearly, the second example is much preferable.

Global: A kind of variable accessible from any part of the program. This is bad practice, because you don't want a function in some obscure part of the program modifying the value of a variable that might be being used elsewhere, in a function, a class, or the main part of the program (the main part is the part that starts running when the program launches, from which all the other classes and functions used in the program are first called).

You've just been skooled.
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All I read was moon man speak.
 
Chapel The Evergreen said:
All I read was moon man speak.
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I'm sorry, I can't start any further in the basics of programming than the concept of assigning values to variables. The absurdly long variable name was supposed to be a joke, btw. In practice, I was critscizing ancient, extremely brief and non-descriptive variables as much as modern, unnecessarily wordy ones.
 
No Face said:
I'm sorry, I can't start any further in the basics of programming than the concept of assigning values to variables. The absurdly long variable name was supposed to be a joke, btw. In practice, I was critscizing ancient, extremely brief and non-descriptive variables as much as modern, unnecessarily wordy ones.
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Yeah, I don't understand much about computers and have no real desire to learn about them, as they anger me. The only programming language I 'know' is G&M.
 
No Face said:
Meh, learning more computer science would take away from time that I could spend learning all the languages in the world and studying history.
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Um... They do have classes in those in places called "schools" and "universities"... They are amazing places. Languages are easy for me though, I wouldn't spend too much money on those.
 
Look at my calculator app in C#:

Code: 
public partial class MainWindow : Window{
    public MainWindow(){
        InitializeComponent(); }


    private void First_PreviewTextInput(object sender, TextCompositionEventArgs e){
        Regex regex = new Regex("^[.][0-9]+$|^[0-9]*[.]{0,1}[0-9]*$");
        String text = (sender as TextBox).Text.Insert((sender as TextBox).SelectionStart, e.Text);
        e.Handled = !regex.IsMatch(text); }


    private Func<double,double, double> opOfType(String operationName){
        switch(operationName){
            case "times": return (x, y) => y*x;
            case "divide": return (x, y) => y/x;
            case "plus": return (x, y) => y+x;
            case "minus": return (x, y) => y-x;
            default: return (x,y) => -1;}}


    private void op_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e){
        if(First.Text=="" || Second.Text==""){
            MessageBox.Show("Need numbers in both textboxes.");
            return;}
        Button opButton = e.OriginalSource as Button;
        Func<double,double,double> operation = opOfType(opButton.Name);
        double firstNum = Convert.ToDouble(First.Text);
        double secondNum = Convert.ToDouble(Second.Text);
        double outNum = operation(firstNum, secondNum);
        Output.Text = Convert.ToString(outNum);}


    private void clear_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e){
        First.Text="";
        Second.Text="";
        Output.Text="";}
}

My goal here was to use obscure features such as lambda functions as well as an indent style that makes you want to slap me. I was laughing as I submitted it to my poor professor, who now has to dig through this.
 
I got all cross-eyed when I was writing the crap for the thanks/groans...

variables got way too repetitive.
 
congrats watermark.


I still remember when you confessed you had just turned 18 after posting here a couple of years.
 
Damocles said:
Um... They do have classes in those in places called "schools" and "universities"... They are amazing places. Languages are easy for me though, I wouldn't spend too much money on those.
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My uni has one Chinese class, no Ancient Greek class, and it's selection of history courses is really pathetic, they really don't offer any subjects that interest me or that I haven't learned of before. I'd much rather just get history classes off the internet and pursue language learning using my own methods. I've always been kind of suspicious of language classes in typical classroom settings since I spent two years parsing French grammar in high school, made A's, and came out unable to speak a work of French (alright, I know "Je", that's about it). I know far more Ancient Greek and Chinese with just a few months of inconsistent practice on my own than I learned French in all those years of French.
 
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