Author Archives: Wyrd Smythe

Rule #4: Comment As You Go!

05 Monday Oct 2015

Posted by in CS101

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

There is a common tendency, as we crank out code, to think that we’ll come back later and write some really good comments — comments that future reviewers will view with admiration for their clarity, completeness, and humor. But if we’re honest we have to admit: Later never comes. We never go back and write those great comments. Often, we don’t write any comments at all other than some placeholder we might dash off at the time.

Which is why Rule #4: Comment as You Go!

Continue reading →

My Ideal System v.1

27 Saturday Jun 2015

Posted by in Fun, Opinion

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

I got into software in the late 1970s, so my first couple of decades involved lots of low-level systems and designs. My world had a lot of assembly code, interrupt handlers, and driver routines. I can’t say I miss living in that realm, but it’s still fun to revisit sometimes.

A rare place that still happens is when I get to thinking about how I might design an operating system should I ever chose to (these days a dubious and foolish choice, at best).

Continue reading →

HTML is not a programming language!

22 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by in CS101

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

A webpage is a text document written in HTML. This document may also contain CSS and/or JavaScript, but it’s basically an HTML text document. You could write one — including the CSS and JavaScript — using just a pencil and paper.

Despite not needing a computer to write, all three are computer languages — they are languages used by, understood by, computers (and trained humans). However only one of those (JavaScript) is a programming language.

This is a brief explanation of which is which and why.

Continue reading →

I Have a Spelling Checker

27 Friday Jun 2014

Posted by in Fun

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

These days it seems like spell checkers exist in almost everything. Word processing software has had them a long time, although in the early days you had to invoke the spell check function. These days software  handily underlines misspelled words in real-time (with sometimes an advanced function we can invoke).

It always struck me as pretty lame how people (well, let’s be honest: managers) would present PowerPoint documents in important meetings with the red jagged “you misspelled this” underline sprinkled throughout their document.  What exactly did they think that meant?

But enough about managers. It’s Friday and time for some fun, so here’s an old, old poem about spelling checkers…

Continue reading →

Getting to the Next Hill

23 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by in CS101

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Last week I took my car in for scheduled service, and when I asked how long it might take, the guy said it was specified as one-and-a-half hours of labor. He could do that because there are thousands upon thousands of data points where a competent mechanic has performed that exact service, so there is a very clear idea how long it takes.

But ask a researcher how long it will take to find what they’re looking for, and the answer is usually, “I have no idea. I’ll know after I find it.” The path a researcher follows is usually new and unexplored, so it’s impossible to predict how long the path actually is.

Creating new software is much more like research than auto service, because it involves traveling unknown ground. Despite this, software development managers often act as if new development is predictable.

It often isn’t!

Continue reading →

Musical Interlude

20 Friday Jun 2014

Posted by in Fun

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s Friday again, so it’s time to get casual and have some fun. Today I have a pair of songs for computer programmers. These files have been occupying bits on my hard drive for many, many years. I’m releasing them to the Wild World Web so they can live free!

You know the tunes, so sing along to the new words…

Continue reading →

Computer programming is hard!

16 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by in CS101, Opinion

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

Computer Programming is hard! It’s at least as hard as what commercial architects do, and I will argue that it’s as intellectually difficult as what doctors and lawyers do.

Many people think it’s easy, because they know some nine-year-old who “programs,” but there’s a difference between fooling around with the computer and building good software applications.

Continue reading →

The Tale of the Pea Sea

13 Friday Jun 2014

Posted by in Fun

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

It’s Finally Friday again, so it’s time for a little fun. This is a piece I’ve had living in my files since 1995. That makes it pretty out-of-date, but it’s such a classic that it’s worth preserving and giving another airing. It does require remembering the lore of the computer middle ages (the 1980s).

The copy I have is from a USENET post © by Sean Sengenberger. It’s not entirely clear whether he (or possibly, she) just posted a piece found online or if Sean actually wrote it. (Some folks back then explicitly copyrighted their posts.) In any event, credit given where credit is due.

Without further ado, I give you…

Continue reading →