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Why XKCD sucks today

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  • J Jeremy Falcon

    CDP1802 wrote:

    This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a f***ing golf cart.

    :thumbsup:

    Jeremy Falcon

    L Offline
    L Offline
    Lost User
    wrote on last edited by
    #17

    That's from something like 'If programming languages were cars' article which was among the news here a while ago. But I find it fitting. A golf cart is just as much a car as JavaScript is a programming language.

    The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
    This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
    "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

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    • L Lost User

      That's from something like 'If programming languages were cars' article which was among the news here a while ago. But I find it fitting. A golf cart is just as much a car as JavaScript is a programming language.

      The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
      This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
      "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

      J Offline
      J Offline
      Jeremy Falcon
      wrote on last edited by
      #18

      Ironically, I like JavaScript a lot. However, I tend to hear a lot of people act like it's the answer to cancer these days and it makes me laugh. Some of the people where are work are comparing to Assembly in terms of speed for instance because of libs like asm.js[^]. And yet, it's still a script. Not sure why people don't get that.

      Jeremy Falcon

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      • J Jeremy Falcon

        Ironically, I like JavaScript a lot. However, I tend to hear a lot of people act like it's the answer to cancer these days and it makes me laugh. Some of the people where are work are comparing to Assembly in terms of speed for instance because of libs like asm.js[^]. And yet, it's still a script. Not sure why people don't get that.

        Jeremy Falcon

        L Offline
        L Offline
        Lost User
        wrote on last edited by
        #19

        I really don't like any functional languages, but that's just my personal preference. I think they are not easy to debug and at some point it always becomes hard to determine, wether or not this mess of code and data in a variable is correct or not. As an interpreter, it's not only slow, but also notices errors only at runtime. Since the parser can get out of step after a typo, you must not only test whatever you changed, but also everything that comes after it. I really prefer to have a compiler filter out this kind of stuff before anything runs. And a performance like assembly? Laughable. How can an interpreter which has to parse and interpret every line each time it is encountered ever hope to come close to the native machine code? Such nonsense can only be claimed by people who have never tried or understood what assembly or machine code are all about. Even in the old days some people never really understood the overhead involved with parsing, interpreting and then executing a single line of a higher level language.

        The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
        This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
        "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

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        • L Lost User

          I really don't like any functional languages, but that's just my personal preference. I think they are not easy to debug and at some point it always becomes hard to determine, wether or not this mess of code and data in a variable is correct or not. As an interpreter, it's not only slow, but also notices errors only at runtime. Since the parser can get out of step after a typo, you must not only test whatever you changed, but also everything that comes after it. I really prefer to have a compiler filter out this kind of stuff before anything runs. And a performance like assembly? Laughable. How can an interpreter which has to parse and interpret every line each time it is encountered ever hope to come close to the native machine code? Such nonsense can only be claimed by people who have never tried or understood what assembly or machine code are all about. Even in the old days some people never really understood the overhead involved with parsing, interpreting and then executing a single line of a higher level language.

          The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
          This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
          "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

          J Offline
          J Offline
          Jeremy Falcon
          wrote on last edited by
          #20

          CDP1802 wrote:

          And a performance like assembly? Laughable. How can an interpreter which has to parse and interpret every line each time it is encountered ever hope to come close to the native machine code? Such nonsense can only be claimed by people who have never tried or understood what assembly or machine code are all about. Even in the old days some people never really understood the overhead involved with parsing, interpreting and then executing a single line of a higher level language.

          It can't. That's why I laugh at such hyped-up claims. Script kiddies these days. :laugh:

          Jeremy Falcon

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          • J Jeremy Falcon

            CDP1802 wrote:

            And a performance like assembly? Laughable. How can an interpreter which has to parse and interpret every line each time it is encountered ever hope to come close to the native machine code? Such nonsense can only be claimed by people who have never tried or understood what assembly or machine code are all about. Even in the old days some people never really understood the overhead involved with parsing, interpreting and then executing a single line of a higher level language.

            It can't. That's why I laugh at such hyped-up claims. Script kiddies these days. :laugh:

            Jeremy Falcon

            L Offline
            L Offline
            Lost User
            wrote on last edited by
            #21

            During my studies, the professor started the first lecture about assembly programming with claiming that compilers 'nowadays' do a better job than the average assembly programmer. I made a comment about not comparing myself to the average and he thought that I was a bit arrogant. Later we had many interesting talks, after he heard that I had about 18 years experience of machine code and assembly programming at that time.

            The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
            This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
            "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

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            • C Colin Mullikin

              The comic is a tribute to Rowdy Roddy Piper...

              The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative. -Winston Churchill America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between. -Oscar Wilde Wow, even the French showed a little more spine than that before they got their sh*t pushed in.[^] -Colin Mullikin

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              Gary Wheeler
              wrote on last edited by
              #22

              Well, at least there's two of us who got it :rolleyes:.

              Software Zen: delete this;

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              • L Lost User

                Am I the only one who fails to understand what it means most of the time? I feel stupid every time I read it and can't figure it out, but I can't stop reading the damned thing either. The other site that explains it doesn't really help, since it no longer is funny once explained. A comic shouldn't require the reader to have a &#$&! PhD in nuclear physics to understand it. For instance, WTF is he on about in today's one? (or yesterday's, whichever it is). grumble grumble...

                Sander RosselS Offline
                Sander RosselS Offline
                Sander Rossel
                wrote on last edited by
                #23

                Guerrilla Coder wrote:

                A comic shouldn't require the reader to have a &#$&! PhD in nuclear physics to understand it

                Unless the comic's intended audience is nuclear physicists :) Today's is pretty funny (and I didn't study physics) :laugh: That said, I don't understand them either half of the time, which is why I usually don't read XKCD ;)

                Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need. Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

                Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. — Edsger W. Dijkstra

                Regards, Sander

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                • L Lost User

                  Am I the only one who fails to understand what it means most of the time? I feel stupid every time I read it and can't figure it out, but I can't stop reading the damned thing either. The other site that explains it doesn't really help, since it no longer is funny once explained. A comic shouldn't require the reader to have a &#$&! PhD in nuclear physics to understand it. For instance, WTF is he on about in today's one? (or yesterday's, whichever it is). grumble grumble...

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                  9082365
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #24

                  Doctor, doctor, it hurts when I do this. Well don't do it then!

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                  • L Lost User

                    Am I the only one who fails to understand what it means most of the time? I feel stupid every time I read it and can't figure it out, but I can't stop reading the damned thing either. The other site that explains it doesn't really help, since it no longer is funny once explained. A comic shouldn't require the reader to have a &#$&! PhD in nuclear physics to understand it. For instance, WTF is he on about in today's one? (or yesterday's, whichever it is). grumble grumble...

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                    Brad Stiles
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #25

                    It's not always intended to be funny, per se. Sometimes the intent, at least what I get from it, is to make one stop and think, or appreciate something a little more. He also from time to time just pays tribute to someone or something that is important to him. Many are a visual, math or other pun, and can take some thought to "get", and while I'll freely admit I don't always get what he's trying to say, I still read it every day. :)

                    Currently reading: "The Prince", by Nicolo Machiavelli

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                    • L Lost User

                      Am I the only one who fails to understand what it means most of the time? I feel stupid every time I read it and can't figure it out, but I can't stop reading the damned thing either. The other site that explains it doesn't really help, since it no longer is funny once explained. A comic shouldn't require the reader to have a &#$&! PhD in nuclear physics to understand it. For instance, WTF is he on about in today's one? (or yesterday's, whichever it is). grumble grumble...

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                      Sydney Fixie
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #26

                      Can you send the link to XKCD cartoon you mentioned? It's already tomorrow here (Sydney) and I don't think "today's" comic (http://xkcd.com/1561/) needs a PhD. Btw, and on topic, http://comicsidontunderstand.com/wordpress/ is well worth a read if you've never seen it. Bill has been analysing obscure comics online since 1997.

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                      • L Lost User

                        Am I the only one who fails to understand what it means most of the time? I feel stupid every time I read it and can't figure it out, but I can't stop reading the damned thing either. The other site that explains it doesn't really help, since it no longer is funny once explained. A comic shouldn't require the reader to have a &#$&! PhD in nuclear physics to understand it. For instance, WTF is he on about in today's one? (or yesterday's, whichever it is). grumble grumble...

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                        bleahy48
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #27

                        I wish you would specifically reference which one you are talking about and then we could explain it to you.

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                        • L Lost User

                          Am I the only one who fails to understand what it means most of the time? I feel stupid every time I read it and can't figure it out, but I can't stop reading the damned thing either. The other site that explains it doesn't really help, since it no longer is funny once explained. A comic shouldn't require the reader to have a &#$&! PhD in nuclear physics to understand it. For instance, WTF is he on about in today's one? (or yesterday's, whichever it is). grumble grumble...

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                          Andrew Rissing
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #28

                          http://xkcd.com/ wrote:

                          Warning: this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors).

                          :D

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                          • L Lost User

                            Am I the only one who fails to understand what it means most of the time? I feel stupid every time I read it and can't figure it out, but I can't stop reading the damned thing either. The other site that explains it doesn't really help, since it no longer is funny once explained. A comic shouldn't require the reader to have a &#$&! PhD in nuclear physics to understand it. For instance, WTF is he on about in today's one? (or yesterday's, whichever it is). grumble grumble...

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                            Chuck OHalloran
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #29

                            I regularly find them quite funny, on occasion they are even hilarious.

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                            • L Lost User

                              Am I the only one who fails to understand what it means most of the time? I feel stupid every time I read it and can't figure it out, but I can't stop reading the damned thing either. The other site that explains it doesn't really help, since it no longer is funny once explained. A comic shouldn't require the reader to have a &#$&! PhD in nuclear physics to understand it. For instance, WTF is he on about in today's one? (or yesterday's, whichever it is). grumble grumble...

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                              Weston Miller
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #30

                              I always thought this one was pretty funny... https://xkcd.com/149/[^]

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                              • L Lost User

                                Am I the only one who fails to understand what it means most of the time? I feel stupid every time I read it and can't figure it out, but I can't stop reading the damned thing either. The other site that explains it doesn't really help, since it no longer is funny once explained. A comic shouldn't require the reader to have a &#$&! PhD in nuclear physics to understand it. For instance, WTF is he on about in today's one? (or yesterday's, whichever it is). grumble grumble...

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                                patbob
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #31

                                Its like most jokes.. if you don't have the background, its not funny. The water phase diagram is hilarious.. except he missed the supercritical fluid/Simon Cowell regions. And I'm still trying to figure where ice 9 and polywater fit (probably next to the polly-want-a-cracker region). And no, you don't need a PhD, just a good basis in science for that one.

                                We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.

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                                • L Lost User

                                  Am I the only one who fails to understand what it means most of the time? I feel stupid every time I read it and can't figure it out, but I can't stop reading the damned thing either. The other site that explains it doesn't really help, since it no longer is funny once explained. A comic shouldn't require the reader to have a &#$&! PhD in nuclear physics to understand it. For instance, WTF is he on about in today's one? (or yesterday's, whichever it is). grumble grumble...

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                                  SeattleC
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #32

                                  I love XKCD! There, I said it. I love XKCD because it's so intensely geeky. If not everybody gets the joke, that's ok. I love XKCD because unlike 99% of the internet, it's not about lolcats, Justin Bieber, or how drunk somebody got last friday. People who don't get XKCD should go watch Nyan Cat on youtube. OK Nyan Cat isn't funny, but maybe the suggested links will be. Please don't ruin the tiny remaining piece of the internet that is funny to the kind of people who *built* the internet, rather than the kind of people who spend their lives on it now.

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                                  • L Lost User

                                    Am I the only one who fails to understand what it means most of the time? I feel stupid every time I read it and can't figure it out, but I can't stop reading the damned thing either. The other site that explains it doesn't really help, since it no longer is funny once explained. A comic shouldn't require the reader to have a &#$&! PhD in nuclear physics to understand it. For instance, WTF is he on about in today's one? (or yesterday's, whichever it is). grumble grumble...

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                                    firegryphon
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #33

                                    Mostly they just make me smile. I do understand them, but most of them do require a passing familiarity with advanced topics physics, chemistry or engineering. The bubblegum bit is obviously an homage to Roddy Piper in They Live. Today's requires that you know what a phase diagram is and understand that not all water ice is the same as some crystalline structures aren't possible without certain temperatures and pressures. Since VI is also the initials of Vanilla Ice, he stretched it to conclude that far greater rock bands require even higher pressures. Both are humorous, but I wouldn't break out in laughter.

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                                    • F firegryphon

                                      Mostly they just make me smile. I do understand them, but most of them do require a passing familiarity with advanced topics physics, chemistry or engineering. The bubblegum bit is obviously an homage to Roddy Piper in They Live. Today's requires that you know what a phase diagram is and understand that not all water ice is the same as some crystalline structures aren't possible without certain temperatures and pressures. Since VI is also the initials of Vanilla Ice, he stretched it to conclude that far greater rock bands require even higher pressures. Both are humorous, but I wouldn't break out in laughter.

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                                      TRK3
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #34

                                      "David Bowie & Queen" is specifically a reference to the song Under_Pressure[^] which they recorded together in 1981.

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                                      • L Lost User

                                        Am I the only one who fails to understand what it means most of the time? I feel stupid every time I read it and can't figure it out, but I can't stop reading the damned thing either. The other site that explains it doesn't really help, since it no longer is funny once explained. A comic shouldn't require the reader to have a &#$&! PhD in nuclear physics to understand it. For instance, WTF is he on about in today's one? (or yesterday's, whichever it is). grumble grumble...

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                                        raildude
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #35

                                        when it says "No flame wars" -- doesn't that mean you can't say "XKCD sucks"? ;P

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                                        • L Lost User

                                          During my studies, the professor started the first lecture about assembly programming with claiming that compilers 'nowadays' do a better job than the average assembly programmer. I made a comment about not comparing myself to the average and he thought that I was a bit arrogant. Later we had many interesting talks, after he heard that I had about 18 years experience of machine code and assembly programming at that time.

                                          The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
                                          This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
                                          "I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.

                                          B Offline
                                          B Offline
                                          bwilhite
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #36

                                          You guys don't seem to understand how modern javascript interpreters work.

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