Comments on: #

By: John Small Berries

John Small Berries — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:12:37 +0000

“It doesn’t work on Linux or MacOS unless it is paired with Mono, another Microsoft environment attempting to spread their .Net framework.”

Actually, Mono is an open-source project, sponsored by Novell, which attempts to provide platform-independence from the Microsoft stranglehold by letting .NET applications run on other operating systems without recompiling them. But close enough.

By: Morris Keesan

Morris Keesan — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:08:42 +0000

Dyfsunctional #24 (just noticed the spelling of your handle, by the way), those of us who play non-fixed-pitch instruments (e.g. woodwinds, brass, strings, almost anything that’s not a keyboard or percussion instrument) are often very aware [but not very conscious] of the harmonic/melodic function of a given note, and will tend to shade/bend a note up or down slightly without changing the actual fingering (e.g. the third of a major triad is properly played very slightly lower than its well-tempered equivalent).

But this only applies in tonal music. In pure 12-tone atonal music, C# and Db really are the same note.
+++++++++++++++++++
Kevin A (#26), the guy certainly looks like a programmer to me. And I also write ++i in preference to i++ when I’m not using the value of the expression, but this is a habit I developed when I was using a compiler that would actually generate an extra instruction or two to save the previous value of i, even when it wasn’t being used. Any modern compiler will generate exactly the same code for the two operations, even without an optimization step.

By: Powers

Powers — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:30:14 +0000

Dysfunctional @24 - Yes, I thought I allowed for that caveat while not going into excessive detail. But I guess it doesn’t matter what I do; either I leave out a critical caveat and get corrected by someone even more pedantic than I, or I’m forced into overly long phrases in a futile attempt at precision.

By: Mark in Boston

Mark in Boston — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:23:09 +0000

These cartoons appear in the “for Dummies” books. Was this from “C# for Dummies”?

By: Kevin A

Kevin A — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:10:50 +0000

While programmers are often dressed casually, I’m amused that the speaker, the guy on the left, has a musician kind of look. (If the beard doesn’t do it, note that he’s wearing sunglasses.)

Also, I’m fairly sure that’s the bank of computers his right hand is on ( photo of a similar looking server: http://o6z.com/dedicated/ )

(At first I thought the speaker/techie was the hunched over guy looking at the computer screen, since that’s a common portrayal.)

WW: Maybe so, but I ain’t trustin’ no opteemizer to fix what I shouldn’t-a been doin’ in the first place.

By: John Bledsoe

John Bledsoe — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 22:50:00 +0000

Very LOL for me! Obviously C# (C Sharp) is a computer language, but the joke is that they’re trying to use it on a B Flat (Be Flat) server. Got the joke instantly.

BTW - I haven’t seen a new Fifth Wave comic for a few weeks now. Anyone know why? Something happen to Rich Tennant or did he just decide to quit publishing the comic?

By: Dyfsunctional

Dyfsunctional — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:59:34 +0000

FWIW, C sharp and D flat are not the same note; they’re termed “enharmonic equivalents” of each other. In equal temperament (the modern, Western system) they sound at the same frequency, and are indistinguishable from one another in terms of their sound. From the musician’s perspective, however, they serve different purposes depending on the key signature, the chord, and the prevailing melodic/harmonic motion. Sometimes the choice of note name is arbitrary (indeed, often the correct name, or “spelling,” is eschewed for the less confusing alternative), but most of the time a C sharp is a C sharp and a D flat is a D flat.

By: Winter Wallaby

Winter Wallaby — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:31:07 +0000

I’m used to using ++a to save the extra register instructions.

Assuming this is a standalone expression, your compiler should optimize that out.

By: Kevin A

Kevin A — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:48:54 +0000

Morris Keesan - Nicely done.
I’m thankful for the 6 years I could hold the image. I’ll mourn, but I’ll know I’m better off. (I’d never written it down like that before.)

(I’m used to using ++a to save the extra register instructions. So while I knew, I forgot. If I get old and start calling the language “sharpsie”, I may refer the puzzled to you.)

By: Morris Keesan

Morris Keesan — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:24:59 +0000

Kevin A #20:
Of course, if you know too much about C, or if you look too closely at the metaphor, it all starts to fall apart,
because the value of the expression “C++” is exactly the same as the value of the expression “C”.
It’s just that “C” is greater after you evaluate it.

And (C++)++ is not a valid expression, because (C++) is not an lvalue.

Further discussion at this level of neepery should probably move to comp.lang.c .