Why VB is popular in America!
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I realized this as I was explaining the 1s floor vs 2nd floor differences[^] between UK and American english. In the UK (and India, Australia) floors are 0-indexed. The ground floor is 0, the first floor above ground is 1, and so on. The basement is usually -1. In the US (and I believe Canada too), floors are 1-indexed. The ground floor is 1, the next floor is 2 and so on. I don't think negative numbering is used for sub-ground levels. May explain why a lot of the C/C++ aficionados are European. While VB and BASIC are essentially American inventions.
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
Well, much like VB itself, our elevators are not designed for programmers... :-D
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I realized this as I was explaining the 1s floor vs 2nd floor differences[^] between UK and American english. In the UK (and India, Australia) floors are 0-indexed. The ground floor is 0, the first floor above ground is 1, and so on. The basement is usually -1. In the US (and I believe Canada too), floors are 1-indexed. The ground floor is 1, the next floor is 2 and so on. I don't think negative numbering is used for sub-ground levels. May explain why a lot of the C/C++ aficionados are European. While VB and BASIC are essentially American inventions.
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
if you are on the ground floor, isn't that floor 1? and the floor above you would be floor 2? most hospitals have the base floor as floor 1 and the G is the garage. My reasoning is that how can you be on floor 0? it makes no sense...to me at least. Then again, I'm just a silly American who started off programming with VB. :-D
Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) -
PIEBALDconsult wrote:
The guys might, but the language doesn't.
The language culture encourages it.
Dim a as int(10) means a 11-item array indexed from 0 to 10.int a[10]means a 10-item array indexed from 0 to 9. Can't change that. People can always work around this (but that's not the point here).Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
The language culture encourages it.
DimWhen I started programming, I learned with VB but always took notice of the "Dim" statement. It always reminded me of "dim witted". :)
Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) -
Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
VB guys who'd use 1-based indexing
The guys might, but the language doesn't. One could just as easily use 1-based indexing in C/C++.
But then you smell of FORTRAN and have to publish a book about numerical methods. :rolleyes:
If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler. -- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
This is going on my arrogant assumptions. You may have a superb reason why I'm completely wrong. -- Iain Clarke
[My articles] -
harold aptroot wrote:
VB doesn't skip 13 though
Are you saying VB pre-dates Christianity? :rolleyes:
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
Romans didn't know
0as well multithreading, I believe.If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler. -- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
This is going on my arrogant assumptions. You may have a superb reason why I'm completely wrong. -- Iain Clarke
[My articles] -
if you are on the ground floor, isn't that floor 1? and the floor above you would be floor 2? most hospitals have the base floor as floor 1 and the G is the garage. My reasoning is that how can you be on floor 0? it makes no sense...to me at least. Then again, I'm just a silly American who started off programming with VB. :-D
Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011)Slacker007 wrote:
if you are on the ground floor, isn't that floor 1? and the floor above you would be floor 2?
In the US, yes. In the UK, India, Australia that'd be floor-0 and the floor above is floor-1.
Slacker007 wrote:
Then again, I'm just a silly American who started off programming with VB.
And here I am, an Indian origin dude living in America (also started with Basic, GWBASIC though not VB) wondering how you can substract 3 from 2. What is all this negative integer stuff anyway? I don't get it. :-D
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
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Romans didn't know
0as well multithreading, I believe.If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler. -- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
This is going on my arrogant assumptions. You may have a superb reason why I'm completely wrong. -- Iain Clarke
[My articles]CPallini wrote:
Romans didn't know
0as well multithreading, I believe.:laugh:
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
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That's easy. The rest of the world likes C languages, so we have to like VB just to be obstinate. :laugh:
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I realized this as I was explaining the 1s floor vs 2nd floor differences[^] between UK and American english. In the UK (and India, Australia) floors are 0-indexed. The ground floor is 0, the first floor above ground is 1, and so on. The basement is usually -1. In the US (and I believe Canada too), floors are 1-indexed. The ground floor is 1, the next floor is 2 and so on. I don't think negative numbering is used for sub-ground levels. May explain why a lot of the C/C++ aficionados are European. While VB and BASIC are essentially American inventions.
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
In Russia, array indexes you!
"... having only that moment finished a vigorous game of Wiff-Waff and eaten a tartiflet." - Henry Minute "...who gives a tinker's cuss?" - Dalek Dave
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I realized this as I was explaining the 1s floor vs 2nd floor differences[^] between UK and American english. In the UK (and India, Australia) floors are 0-indexed. The ground floor is 0, the first floor above ground is 1, and so on. The basement is usually -1. In the US (and I believe Canada too), floors are 1-indexed. The ground floor is 1, the next floor is 2 and so on. I don't think negative numbering is used for sub-ground levels. May explain why a lot of the C/C++ aficionados are European. While VB and BASIC are essentially American inventions.
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
I don't get your point. VB.NET is base zero only. Classic VB used base zero by default although you could set an option to make it base one. I've always thought base zero was stupid for any language that doesn't make pointers and arrays synonamous. Personally though I'd like to see most languages let you pick the base so this argument is ended and because there are occasional times when numbers other than zero or 1 would be handy. In fact most languages before C and a few that came after that weren't influenced by C had this feature but this is one area that computer science has gone backwards IMHO due mostly to the influence of C.
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I realized this as I was explaining the 1s floor vs 2nd floor differences[^] between UK and American english. In the UK (and India, Australia) floors are 0-indexed. The ground floor is 0, the first floor above ground is 1, and so on. The basement is usually -1. In the US (and I believe Canada too), floors are 1-indexed. The ground floor is 1, the next floor is 2 and so on. I don't think negative numbering is used for sub-ground levels. May explain why a lot of the C/C++ aficionados are European. While VB and BASIC are essentially American inventions.
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
I'm passing this on to all my mates back home :D
cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP
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I don't get your point. VB.NET is base zero only. Classic VB used base zero by default although you could set an option to make it base one. I've always thought base zero was stupid for any language that doesn't make pointers and arrays synonamous. Personally though I'd like to see most languages let you pick the base so this argument is ended and because there are occasional times when numbers other than zero or 1 would be handy. In fact most languages before C and a few that came after that weren't influenced by C had this feature but this is one area that computer science has gone backwards IMHO due mostly to the influence of C.
mikemarquard wrote:
I don't get your point. VB.NET is base zero only. Classic VB used base zero by default although you could set an option to make it base one
Okay, the original post was meant as humor (hence the joke icon). That said, it's also a CodeProject meme from a few years ago where some of us (mostly John, CG and myself) would joke about C/C++ guys 0-indexing in real life vs VB guys who'd use 1-based indexing.
Dim a as int(10)means a 11-item array indexed from 0 to 10.int a[10]means a 10-item array indexed from 0 to 9. So typically Basic devs would just treat it as a 10-item collection indexed from 1 to 10 (ignoring the 0th element).Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
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I don't get your point. VB.NET is base zero only. Classic VB used base zero by default although you could set an option to make it base one. I've always thought base zero was stupid for any language that doesn't make pointers and arrays synonamous. Personally though I'd like to see most languages let you pick the base so this argument is ended and because there are occasional times when numbers other than zero or 1 would be handy. In fact most languages before C and a few that came after that weren't influenced by C had this feature but this is one area that computer science has gone backwards IMHO due mostly to the influence of C.
mikemarquard wrote:
let you pick the base
Untested:
public partial class Array<T>
{
protected T[] array ;public Array ( int BaseIndex , int Capacity ) { this.BaseIndex = BaseIndex ; this.array = new T \[ Capacity \] ; return ; } public virtual int BaseIndex { get ; private set ; } public virtual int Capacity { get { return ( this.array.Length ) ; } } public virtual T this \[ int Index \] { get { return ( this.array \[ Index + this.BaseIndex \] ) ; } set { this.array \[ Index + this.BaseIndex \] = value ; return ; } }}
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I would think that is only the case in those building. Like in my sisters apartment building she lives on floor 3. You go to the elevator and press 3 or walk up the stairs till you see 3. If someone told you level 4, well they are... How to a put this delicately. "An idiot". I have stayed in hotels that have Lobby as the main. In fact there are no rooms on the main floor (conference rooms etc, but no sleeping rooms). These in particular define the "1st" floor as that above the lobby. If the conceirge tells you, "Your room is on floor 3" and you press three but really he meant 2 (cause he thinks of the lobby as 1), he should be fired or atleast given a good lashing. However, with that said there are plenty of hotels (in particual motels are this way) that have the "1st" floor defined as the ground level. Just have to be observant I think. I do see how getting a "1st" floor room might end up confusing in the states. Because in some cases it is ground and some not. So one thinks its ground and goes looking for the room and then realizes they are on the "G" level or "L" level. But any other level you need to use stairs or an elevator regardless so you quickly realize where you are and where you need to be.
Computers have been intelligent for a long time now. It just so happens that the program writers are about as effective as a room full of monkeys trying to crank out a copy of Hamlet.
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So is there a concept of story (number of floors) in the UK? Such as a three-story building (3 floors). How often does floor overrun happen in the UK?
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if you are on the ground floor, isn't that floor 1? and the floor above you would be floor 2? most hospitals have the base floor as floor 1 and the G is the garage. My reasoning is that how can you be on floor 0? it makes no sense...to me at least. Then again, I'm just a silly American who started off programming with VB. :-D
Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) -
mikemarquard wrote:
let you pick the base
Untested:
public partial class Array<T>
{
protected T[] array ;public Array ( int BaseIndex , int Capacity ) { this.BaseIndex = BaseIndex ; this.array = new T \[ Capacity \] ; return ; } public virtual int BaseIndex { get ; private set ; } public virtual int Capacity { get { return ( this.array.Length ) ; } } public virtual T this \[ int Index \] { get { return ( this.array \[ Index + this.BaseIndex \] ) ; } set { this.array \[ Index + this.BaseIndex \] = value ; return ; } }}
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Huh?! Should I be worried about american predator drones dropping bombs to liberate me from the tyranny of C languages? *waves a white flag with VB on it*
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Yes but when anyone says first floor here we always mean the ground floor. This confuses Brits and Aussies, and some Indians as well.
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
And some Brazilians
"To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems" - Homer Simpson
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I realized this as I was explaining the 1s floor vs 2nd floor differences[^] between UK and American english. In the UK (and India, Australia) floors are 0-indexed. The ground floor is 0, the first floor above ground is 1, and so on. The basement is usually -1. In the US (and I believe Canada too), floors are 1-indexed. The ground floor is 1, the next floor is 2 and so on. I don't think negative numbering is used for sub-ground levels. May explain why a lot of the C/C++ aficionados are European. While VB and BASIC are essentially American inventions.
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
I don't get your point. VB uses zero based indices. VB6 had the flexibility to allow you to define what the number was the initial index in an array is - perhaps that is what is confusing you. Also, VB was very popular in Europe. You are right that VB is an American creation - as are most good things. :) Americans (from the traditional American culture) do focus on getting the job done with excellence in the shortest time possible. VB was created to do that, and certainly allowed that level of productivity. Even to this day, I prefer VB.NET to C#, although I've spent over 10 years developing in C#. Unfortunately, many Americans have adopted a neo-European culture, and programmers I know liek that do prefer C/C++/Java to VB, even though it is less productive.