In 1989 I Asked The Dumbest Question Ever, But...
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Karl Shifflett wrote:
Maybe we should cut some of the less experienced developers just a little slack...
Hmmm....First off, I don't think there is dumb question. It is the the circumstance under which the question is asked. I am sure if someone popped his head to the lounge today and asked, "hey guys, I am learning this stuff, can you explain to me "what is compile?", you will see an enthusiastic crowed showering him/her with helpful answers.:cool: of course the question needs to be posted on the right forum. On the other hand, if some one screams at the top of their voice, "I NEED ...." well you know what you going to get. :wtf: So, it is not the question per se, it is the attitude and the context under which the question is framed. In your case the question was of that of curiosity. In fact your action clearly demonstrated it when you went back home. ;)
/* I can C */ // or !C Yusuf
I think we have a consensus today. :cool:
Cheers, KarlMy Blog | Mole's Home Page | How To Create Screen Capture Videos For Your ArticlesJust a grain of sand on the worlds beaches.
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I think we have a consensus today. :cool:
Cheers, KarlMy Blog | Mole's Home Page | How To Create Screen Capture Videos For Your ArticlesJust a grain of sand on the worlds beaches.
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BTW, what is compile? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Karl Shifflett wrote:
I think we have a consensus today.
I'd rough morning today... thank you for making my day.... :)
/* I can C */ // or !C Yusuf
Glad I could be a part in your day. :) May the rest be trouble free:cool:
Cheers, KarlMy Blog | Mole's Home Page | How To Create Screen Capture Videos For Your ArticlesJust a grain of sand on the worlds beaches.
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BTW, what is compile? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Karl Shifflett wrote:
I think we have a consensus today.
I'd rough morning today... thank you for making my day.... :)
/* I can C */ // or !C Yusuf
Yusuf wrote:
BTW, what is compile?
That's when you take the source code for your COM objects, print it out onto hard copy, and pile all the dead trees together.
Otherwise [Microsoft is] toast in the long term no matter how much money they've got. They would be already if the Linux community didn't have it's head so firmly up it's own command line buffer that it looks like taking 15 years to find the desktop. -- Matthew Faithfull
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Fellow Lounger's, In 1989 I purchased the book, Learn QuickBasic. It came with a code editor. You could type in your code and run the program. After I learned the language, I wanted to use Btrieve as my record manager. So I got the Btrieve manual and read the instructions for using their libraries. But I couldn't figure out how to use the libraries with the Learn QuickBasic editor. So, I called up Novell tech support. The lady I spoke with told me to link their library in when I compile my application. My question to her was, "
what is compile?" Some would have burned me on the front lawn for such a stupid question. But sometimes (not always) it is a matter of experience, training and context. You see, Learn QuickBasic didn't compile, it ran inside the editor. So from a Learn QuickBasic perspective, it was a valid question. End Result That day I went back to the store and purchased QB 4.5 and learned how to link in libraries and compile an application. Just a year later, Novell came out with Extended Operations for Btrieve. All their examples were in C. Novell couldn't figure out how to tell their QB 4.5 and BC7 customers, how to use the new Extended Operations feature, because Extended Operations required using C UNIONS. UNIONS are not in QB 4.5 or BC7. A very short time after this came out, I was invited to Novell's class on Extended Operations, they even waived my entrance fee. I got to the class and the room was filled with C programmers. After attending the first day of class and learning about UNIONS, I went back to my room and figured out how to do this in QB 4.5 and BC7. In fact the solution was so simple; just use an LSET statement to move the returned data into another data structure. You could also use $BCopy but Novell only wanted standard QB 4.5 statements. Novell wrote their documentation, I got credit and everyone moved on. And this from the guy who asked the dumbest question ever, "what is compile?" Maybe we should cut some of the less experienced developers just a little slack...Cheers, KarlMy Blog | Mole's Home Page | How To Create Screen Capture Videos For Your ArticlesJust a grain of sand on t
Notice that the key point in this is that a question caused you to dig deeper, learn more, and challenge yourself. When a less experienced developer (and to a certain point, I'm one of them!) shows these traits, pick them up and hug them and nurture them as much as you can, because the talent to learn how to program and to do it well is so much more important than the "talent" to just bang away on a keyboard all day. If I met a developer who asked me, "what is compile?" and I told them what it means, and their eyes lit up and you could see the possibilities dawning on them, I would do everything within my means to encourage and help them grow. But if I met a developer who said, "tell me what compile does" and I told them and they shrugged and copied/pasted my words into their report that's due in two days and never bothered with it again unless it came up on a test, I would do my best to railroad them out of the profession as quickly as possible.
Please don't bother me... I'm hacking right now. Don't look at me like that - doesn't anybody remember what "hacking" really means? :sigh:
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Notice that the key point in this is that a question caused you to dig deeper, learn more, and challenge yourself. When a less experienced developer (and to a certain point, I'm one of them!) shows these traits, pick them up and hug them and nurture them as much as you can, because the talent to learn how to program and to do it well is so much more important than the "talent" to just bang away on a keyboard all day. If I met a developer who asked me, "what is compile?" and I told them what it means, and their eyes lit up and you could see the possibilities dawning on them, I would do everything within my means to encourage and help them grow. But if I met a developer who said, "tell me what compile does" and I told them and they shrugged and copied/pasted my words into their report that's due in two days and never bothered with it again unless it came up on a test, I would do my best to railroad them out of the profession as quickly as possible.
Please don't bother me... I'm hacking right now. Don't look at me like that - doesn't anybody remember what "hacking" really means? :sigh:
Robert, You hit the nail on the head, bulls-eye, etc. :cool: Something they should teach in school, attitude and hunger will take you anywere you want to go. I'm speaking at a local high school soon on the computer field. I think I'll go back through this Lounge posting, and put together a hand out for the students. Maybe call it, "What is really important" or "Model This!" Have a great day.
Cheers, KarlMy Blog | Mole's Home Page | How To Create Screen Capture Videos For Your ArticlesJust a grain of sand on the worlds beaches.
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Karl Shifflett wrote:
RTFM (Read The Free Manual)
Not quite what I learned it stood for! :-D
------------------------------------ I try to appear cooler, by calling him Euler.
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There was a dude on IRC today talking about a problem he said he'd spent half a day on, I took the 3 key words from his question and popped them into google ... out pops the answer as result 1 ... *sigh* Edit: I suppose the answer might poop out of google :P but I changed it to pops as I intended it to be lol
modified on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 9:28:10 AM
A lot of the answers from Google (and others) are pooped out...
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Fellow Lounger's, In 1989 I purchased the book, Learn QuickBasic. It came with a code editor. You could type in your code and run the program. After I learned the language, I wanted to use Btrieve as my record manager. So I got the Btrieve manual and read the instructions for using their libraries. But I couldn't figure out how to use the libraries with the Learn QuickBasic editor. So, I called up Novell tech support. The lady I spoke with told me to link their library in when I compile my application. My question to her was, "
what is compile?" Some would have burned me on the front lawn for such a stupid question. But sometimes (not always) it is a matter of experience, training and context. You see, Learn QuickBasic didn't compile, it ran inside the editor. So from a Learn QuickBasic perspective, it was a valid question. End Result That day I went back to the store and purchased QB 4.5 and learned how to link in libraries and compile an application. Just a year later, Novell came out with Extended Operations for Btrieve. All their examples were in C. Novell couldn't figure out how to tell their QB 4.5 and BC7 customers, how to use the new Extended Operations feature, because Extended Operations required using C UNIONS. UNIONS are not in QB 4.5 or BC7. A very short time after this came out, I was invited to Novell's class on Extended Operations, they even waived my entrance fee. I got to the class and the room was filled with C programmers. After attending the first day of class and learning about UNIONS, I went back to my room and figured out how to do this in QB 4.5 and BC7. In fact the solution was so simple; just use an LSET statement to move the returned data into another data structure. You could also use $BCopy but Novell only wanted standard QB 4.5 statements. Novell wrote their documentation, I got credit and everyone moved on. And this from the guy who asked the dumbest question ever, "what is compile?" Maybe we should cut some of the less experienced developers just a little slack...Cheers, KarlMy Blog | Mole's Home Page | How To Create Screen Capture Videos For Your ArticlesJust a grain of sand on t
Tracking back from my hebrew programming community: http://www.fresh.co.il/vBulletin/showthread.php?p=2707970#post2707970[^]
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Fellow Lounger's, In 1989 I purchased the book, Learn QuickBasic. It came with a code editor. You could type in your code and run the program. After I learned the language, I wanted to use Btrieve as my record manager. So I got the Btrieve manual and read the instructions for using their libraries. But I couldn't figure out how to use the libraries with the Learn QuickBasic editor. So, I called up Novell tech support. The lady I spoke with told me to link their library in when I compile my application. My question to her was, "
what is compile?" Some would have burned me on the front lawn for such a stupid question. But sometimes (not always) it is a matter of experience, training and context. You see, Learn QuickBasic didn't compile, it ran inside the editor. So from a Learn QuickBasic perspective, it was a valid question. End Result That day I went back to the store and purchased QB 4.5 and learned how to link in libraries and compile an application. Just a year later, Novell came out with Extended Operations for Btrieve. All their examples were in C. Novell couldn't figure out how to tell their QB 4.5 and BC7 customers, how to use the new Extended Operations feature, because Extended Operations required using C UNIONS. UNIONS are not in QB 4.5 or BC7. A very short time after this came out, I was invited to Novell's class on Extended Operations, they even waived my entrance fee. I got to the class and the room was filled with C programmers. After attending the first day of class and learning about UNIONS, I went back to my room and figured out how to do this in QB 4.5 and BC7. In fact the solution was so simple; just use an LSET statement to move the returned data into another data structure. You could also use $BCopy but Novell only wanted standard QB 4.5 statements. Novell wrote their documentation, I got credit and everyone moved on. And this from the guy who asked the dumbest question ever, "what is compile?" Maybe we should cut some of the less experienced developers just a little slack...Cheers, KarlMy Blog | Mole's Home Page | How To Create Screen Capture Videos For Your ArticlesJust a grain of sand on t
Hear hear. I'm (in gamer terms anyway) a total newb with a lot of languages. I have a very (very) general understanding of VB and C++, a little more in-depth knowledge of PHP, ASP and ASP.net, and pretty strong understanding of Javascript. I do web design, so the next logical step is to head into web development and make entire interactive applications, rather than just front ends. I'm more than a little frustrated, though with the number of brick walls I receive when I ask for tips and troubleshooting. I don't get it from everyone (by the way, thank you to all of you who've helped me grow so far) but I'd say about 75% of the people who even respond to my questions tend to have a very negative "if you can't do it now, you'll never be able to. Just give up" attitude towards me. I just want to thank you and everyone else out there with that attitude of cutting some slack for the new guys. As long as the guy asking you for help is actually trying to learn (rather than just copying your code), it can be pretty rewarding to help out. That goes for anything, not just programming. -joequincy (there's only one)
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Fellow Lounger's, In 1989 I purchased the book, Learn QuickBasic. It came with a code editor. You could type in your code and run the program. After I learned the language, I wanted to use Btrieve as my record manager. So I got the Btrieve manual and read the instructions for using their libraries. But I couldn't figure out how to use the libraries with the Learn QuickBasic editor. So, I called up Novell tech support. The lady I spoke with told me to link their library in when I compile my application. My question to her was, "
what is compile?" Some would have burned me on the front lawn for such a stupid question. But sometimes (not always) it is a matter of experience, training and context. You see, Learn QuickBasic didn't compile, it ran inside the editor. So from a Learn QuickBasic perspective, it was a valid question. End Result That day I went back to the store and purchased QB 4.5 and learned how to link in libraries and compile an application. Just a year later, Novell came out with Extended Operations for Btrieve. All their examples were in C. Novell couldn't figure out how to tell their QB 4.5 and BC7 customers, how to use the new Extended Operations feature, because Extended Operations required using C UNIONS. UNIONS are not in QB 4.5 or BC7. A very short time after this came out, I was invited to Novell's class on Extended Operations, they even waived my entrance fee. I got to the class and the room was filled with C programmers. After attending the first day of class and learning about UNIONS, I went back to my room and figured out how to do this in QB 4.5 and BC7. In fact the solution was so simple; just use an LSET statement to move the returned data into another data structure. You could also use $BCopy but Novell only wanted standard QB 4.5 statements. Novell wrote their documentation, I got credit and everyone moved on. And this from the guy who asked the dumbest question ever, "what is compile?" Maybe we should cut some of the less experienced developers just a little slack...Cheers, KarlMy Blog | Mole's Home Page | How To Create Screen Capture Videos For Your ArticlesJust a grain of sand on t
I can't remember the last time I compiled an app. In my programming career I've picked and used languages that don't need the developer to compile; Visual Basic, VBScript in ASP, C# in ASP.NET and now Ruby on Rails and JavaScript. And to be honest even the times I have used C++ and other languages that need a compile for the app. to run I've done it through an IDE like VS that makes "compiling" so simple that most of the details are hidden. With all those kids growing up coding web-sites I imagine "what is compile?" could become a frequent question.
regards, Paul Watson Ireland & South Africa
Fernando A. Gomez F. wrote:
At least he achieved immortality for a few years.
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Fellow Lounger's, In 1989 I purchased the book, Learn QuickBasic. It came with a code editor. You could type in your code and run the program. After I learned the language, I wanted to use Btrieve as my record manager. So I got the Btrieve manual and read the instructions for using their libraries. But I couldn't figure out how to use the libraries with the Learn QuickBasic editor. So, I called up Novell tech support. The lady I spoke with told me to link their library in when I compile my application. My question to her was, "
what is compile?" Some would have burned me on the front lawn for such a stupid question. But sometimes (not always) it is a matter of experience, training and context. You see, Learn QuickBasic didn't compile, it ran inside the editor. So from a Learn QuickBasic perspective, it was a valid question. End Result That day I went back to the store and purchased QB 4.5 and learned how to link in libraries and compile an application. Just a year later, Novell came out with Extended Operations for Btrieve. All their examples were in C. Novell couldn't figure out how to tell their QB 4.5 and BC7 customers, how to use the new Extended Operations feature, because Extended Operations required using C UNIONS. UNIONS are not in QB 4.5 or BC7. A very short time after this came out, I was invited to Novell's class on Extended Operations, they even waived my entrance fee. I got to the class and the room was filled with C programmers. After attending the first day of class and learning about UNIONS, I went back to my room and figured out how to do this in QB 4.5 and BC7. In fact the solution was so simple; just use an LSET statement to move the returned data into another data structure. You could also use $BCopy but Novell only wanted standard QB 4.5 statements. Novell wrote their documentation, I got credit and everyone moved on. And this from the guy who asked the dumbest question ever, "what is compile?" Maybe we should cut some of the less experienced developers just a little slack...Cheers, KarlMy Blog | Mole's Home Page | How To Create Screen Capture Videos For Your ArticlesJust a grain of sand on t
I think this is a great post. I'm not an expert developer, just a beginner really, but I do know a thing or two about knowledge (having studied epistemology in grad school). For all those who see Google as the perfect repository of knowledge...it's not always that simple. Have you considered that in some cases the person asking the question may not even have enough knowledge to know the answer when he/she sees it? I also think it's wrong to assume that said person did not do a search, especially if they know at least a little about what they're talking about. Also consider that to even do an effective level of search you have to have a certain level of knowledge of what you're looking for. It's possible that someone has just stumbled into a completely new domain of knowledge and isn't even aware of it. Or maybe they need a fresh pair of eyes...we've probably all had an experience where we were looking for something that was right under our noses, we just didn't see it for whatever reason... I'm not saying there aren't lazy people out there who would rather just waste your time. Try teaching remedial algebra in college sometime ;P . Just don't assume right off the bat that the person asking the question is one of those people. Just for the record...I personally always exhaust all other resources before asking anywhere, usually spending hours if not days or longer looking...so if I ever post a 'dumb' question, please keep that in mind :-D . BW
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But in this day and age you would have used google to research what "compile" is, a lot of the time it is not the lack of experience that deserves the scorn but the lack of effort. Yes less experienced developers need to be encouraged and nurtured and most experienced developers do have a fairly arrogant attitude at times*, but answering a question that could be found with a couple of minutes on google is wasting both your own and the askers time. Still that was a cracking story and definitely has a point as to making sure your open to new developers and will to help them grow. Got my 5 :) *I think this comes from the fact that you have to believe in yourself and your abilities, I know personally that if I thought I was doing a substandard job then I wouldn't want to do that job anymore.
originSH wrote:
and most experienced developers do have a fairly arrogant attitude at times
I hear what you're saying but I would be more likely to say that most developers who 'think' they're experienced (ie think they know everything) do have a fairly arrogant attitude. In my experience, the guys that I turn to on a regular basis because they enormous amounts of experience are polite, helpful, and treat me as an intellectual equal. I think the majority of the responses that are in the realm of "Why are you wasting my time with that question?" probably stem from not wanting to show that in fact they can't answer it satisfactorily. I always think its funny how some programmers spend time telling people not to post stupid questions as its a waste of their time to respond (LOL spot the irony). Totally agree with the comment about lack of research though. I have a couple of guys I used to work with who ring occasionally for advice. I put their question into Google if I can't answer them off the top of my head and low and behold a working solution. :)
The only thing unpredictable about me is just how predictable I'm going to be.
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Hear hear. I'm (in gamer terms anyway) a total newb with a lot of languages. I have a very (very) general understanding of VB and C++, a little more in-depth knowledge of PHP, ASP and ASP.net, and pretty strong understanding of Javascript. I do web design, so the next logical step is to head into web development and make entire interactive applications, rather than just front ends. I'm more than a little frustrated, though with the number of brick walls I receive when I ask for tips and troubleshooting. I don't get it from everyone (by the way, thank you to all of you who've helped me grow so far) but I'd say about 75% of the people who even respond to my questions tend to have a very negative "if you can't do it now, you'll never be able to. Just give up" attitude towards me. I just want to thank you and everyone else out there with that attitude of cutting some slack for the new guys. As long as the guy asking you for help is actually trying to learn (rather than just copying your code), it can be pretty rewarding to help out. That goes for anything, not just programming. -joequincy (there's only one)
Joe, Thanks for your response. I see that you just joined Code Project. I think you will find a great group of develoers here, willing to help. For our Code Project Forums; Chris has posted a great guide at the top of each forum, "How To Get An Answer To Your Question." When followed by a developer seeking assistance, this really helps out.
Cheers, KarlMy Blog | Mole's Home Page | How To Create Screen Capture Videos For Your ArticlesJust a grain of sand on the worlds beaches.
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I can't remember the last time I compiled an app. In my programming career I've picked and used languages that don't need the developer to compile; Visual Basic, VBScript in ASP, C# in ASP.NET and now Ruby on Rails and JavaScript. And to be honest even the times I have used C++ and other languages that need a compile for the app. to run I've done it through an IDE like VS that makes "compiling" so simple that most of the details are hidden. With all those kids growing up coding web-sites I imagine "what is compile?" could become a frequent question.
regards, Paul Watson Ireland & South Africa
Fernando A. Gomez F. wrote:
At least he achieved immortality for a few years.
Paul, It was that Learn QuickBasic editor. It just had a "Run" command. You actually had to be inside the editor to run your program. We have come a long way baby!
Cheers, KarlMy Blog | Mole's Home Page | How To Create Screen Capture Videos For Your ArticlesJust a grain of sand on the worlds beaches.
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I think this is a great post. I'm not an expert developer, just a beginner really, but I do know a thing or two about knowledge (having studied epistemology in grad school). For all those who see Google as the perfect repository of knowledge...it's not always that simple. Have you considered that in some cases the person asking the question may not even have enough knowledge to know the answer when he/she sees it? I also think it's wrong to assume that said person did not do a search, especially if they know at least a little about what they're talking about. Also consider that to even do an effective level of search you have to have a certain level of knowledge of what you're looking for. It's possible that someone has just stumbled into a completely new domain of knowledge and isn't even aware of it. Or maybe they need a fresh pair of eyes...we've probably all had an experience where we were looking for something that was right under our noses, we just didn't see it for whatever reason... I'm not saying there aren't lazy people out there who would rather just waste your time. Try teaching remedial algebra in college sometime ;P . Just don't assume right off the bat that the person asking the question is one of those people. Just for the record...I personally always exhaust all other resources before asking anywhere, usually spending hours if not days or longer looking...so if I ever post a 'dumb' question, please keep that in mind :-D . BW
BW, Thank you for your input, you bring up some good points.
Cheers, KarlMy Blog | Mole's Home Page | How To Create Screen Capture Videos For Your ArticlesJust a grain of sand on the worlds beaches.
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BTW, what is compile? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Karl Shifflett wrote:
I think we have a consensus today.
I'd rough morning today... thank you for making my day.... :)
/* I can C */ // or !C Yusuf
Yusuf wrote:
BTW, what is compile?
I think this should have been properly posted on the programming forum. a) If posted on 'C' forums = dumb question. b) If posted on Basic or Scripts forums = good question, but likely not be will answer Forth-coming the. ;) But not to hurt the feelings of a Newbie, I'll provide the answer here. You start with individual pieces of Crap*. You then ComPile the Crap into one big heap. The ComPile then attracts and begins accumulating bugs. After you pile plenty of Crap onto the ComPile, ComPost can begin where the bugs come faster than they can be removed. Each addition of Crap increases the number of bugs, which ends up being critical to the process (endothermic reaction - generates heat). The ComPosting process terminates by loading the ComPiled Crap onto a Crap Processing Unit (CPU), which invariably identifies the bugs for the removal process. A process of recursive Crapping, ComPiling and ComPosting begins. ComPosting agitates the ComPile until you add or remove Crap eventually killing off most of the bugs. If done properly, the Crap is now ComPlete and usable. So, in short, ComPile is the beginning process of turning Crap into something useful. Note that all Crap does not need ComPiled. Visually, some specialized Crap basically ComPiles and ComPosts itself during the Crap creation process, and is therefore known as Basic Visual Crap. *Crap = Creative Reincarnation of Algorithmic Procedures. Note, there are tools designed to help the process, called ComPilers, ComPosters, and deBuggers, but to fully appreciate the process, you should learn to do this by hand. A variety of super-tools, called IDEs (Iterative Debugging Environment) are available to speed along the generation and subsequent removal of bugs. Note, the "C" is capitalized because C is king of all Crap. HTH :rose: Oh, and please feel free to ask more stupid questions. We don't judge here, only entertain.
Gary
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Fellow Lounger's, In 1989 I purchased the book, Learn QuickBasic. It came with a code editor. You could type in your code and run the program. After I learned the language, I wanted to use Btrieve as my record manager. So I got the Btrieve manual and read the instructions for using their libraries. But I couldn't figure out how to use the libraries with the Learn QuickBasic editor. So, I called up Novell tech support. The lady I spoke with told me to link their library in when I compile my application. My question to her was, "
what is compile?" Some would have burned me on the front lawn for such a stupid question. But sometimes (not always) it is a matter of experience, training and context. You see, Learn QuickBasic didn't compile, it ran inside the editor. So from a Learn QuickBasic perspective, it was a valid question. End Result That day I went back to the store and purchased QB 4.5 and learned how to link in libraries and compile an application. Just a year later, Novell came out with Extended Operations for Btrieve. All their examples were in C. Novell couldn't figure out how to tell their QB 4.5 and BC7 customers, how to use the new Extended Operations feature, because Extended Operations required using C UNIONS. UNIONS are not in QB 4.5 or BC7. A very short time after this came out, I was invited to Novell's class on Extended Operations, they even waived my entrance fee. I got to the class and the room was filled with C programmers. After attending the first day of class and learning about UNIONS, I went back to my room and figured out how to do this in QB 4.5 and BC7. In fact the solution was so simple; just use an LSET statement to move the returned data into another data structure. You could also use $BCopy but Novell only wanted standard QB 4.5 statements. Novell wrote their documentation, I got credit and everyone moved on. And this from the guy who asked the dumbest question ever, "what is compile?" Maybe we should cut some of the less experienced developers just a little slack...Cheers, KarlMy Blog | Mole's Home Page | How To Create Screen Capture Videos For Your ArticlesJust a grain of sand on t
When I was learning Java (web deployed applets) many years ago, I would periodically ask questions on usenet in the java group. I was routinely harassed and insulted by the participants. Unfortunetly, the search engines where just becomming popular and they indexed usenet. Some of my posts from 10 years ago and the evil java programmers replies are still there under my real name. However I did get the answers to what I thought were difficult questions on usenet, that were not in the documentation or not to be had by the then new search engines. I will work very hard to answer my questions before I post on usenet or on this board, I had to suffer it, it's part of the initiation.
MrPlankton
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Fellow Lounger's, In 1989 I purchased the book, Learn QuickBasic. It came with a code editor. You could type in your code and run the program. After I learned the language, I wanted to use Btrieve as my record manager. So I got the Btrieve manual and read the instructions for using their libraries. But I couldn't figure out how to use the libraries with the Learn QuickBasic editor. So, I called up Novell tech support. The lady I spoke with told me to link their library in when I compile my application. My question to her was, "
what is compile?" Some would have burned me on the front lawn for such a stupid question. But sometimes (not always) it is a matter of experience, training and context. You see, Learn QuickBasic didn't compile, it ran inside the editor. So from a Learn QuickBasic perspective, it was a valid question. End Result That day I went back to the store and purchased QB 4.5 and learned how to link in libraries and compile an application. Just a year later, Novell came out with Extended Operations for Btrieve. All their examples were in C. Novell couldn't figure out how to tell their QB 4.5 and BC7 customers, how to use the new Extended Operations feature, because Extended Operations required using C UNIONS. UNIONS are not in QB 4.5 or BC7. A very short time after this came out, I was invited to Novell's class on Extended Operations, they even waived my entrance fee. I got to the class and the room was filled with C programmers. After attending the first day of class and learning about UNIONS, I went back to my room and figured out how to do this in QB 4.5 and BC7. In fact the solution was so simple; just use an LSET statement to move the returned data into another data structure. You could also use $BCopy but Novell only wanted standard QB 4.5 statements. Novell wrote their documentation, I got credit and everyone moved on. And this from the guy who asked the dumbest question ever, "what is compile?" Maybe we should cut some of the less experienced developers just a little slack...Cheers, KarlMy Blog | Mole's Home Page | How To Create Screen Capture Videos For Your ArticlesJust a grain of sand on t
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Dalek Dave wrote:
Not quite what I learned it stood for!
must be a slow morning, I almost spewed coffee when I saw "free" and I did when I saw yours. Not quite how I learned it either. Of course it reminds me of the Air TV version of Blue-Thunder and their quickly redubbed version of "JAFO" which no longer even sounds like the actor when it is dubbed over... :laugh: as if poor dubbing doesn't point out exactly what was edited and what the word most likely is.... :laugh:
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
My personal favorites are Fubar and Snafu, the later of which I used for years before knowing it was an acronym and what it meant. Heck I used it as a kid cause my dad (a Navy man) used it and he didn't even try to correct me, which is amazing considering I got my mouth washed out with soup for saying freaking and friggin' because they were alternates for the F word.