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Born programmer?

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  • I Indivara

    Overheard today (kids talking in the back seat) Elder: What number is the lowest floor in the building? (referring to place we just left) Younger: Zeroth floor Elder: No it is the first floor! Younger: No, zeroth floor! (this goes on for some time) Younger is 5. :)

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    Daniel Pfeffer
    wrote on last edited by
    #9

    In past lives, one was a C programmer, the other was a Fortran programmer. :)

    If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

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    • L Lost User

      Indivara wrote:

      The ones below the ground are B1, B2 etc, increasing downwards.

      As does any modern hospital. I was wondering why there was a sudden need of a character-prefix. Where do the buttons prefixed with C lead to?

      Indivara wrote:

      My point was that kids don't usually count from zero (unless they were C programmers in a previous incarnation?)

      It is not a point of from "where" to start counting, as to count "what is". Youngest is right. Go stand outside. That's 0 floors. You are at "level 0". Yes, build a floor, we'll call that one. Dig, and we'll call it -1. The latter is counting, but the first is merely a statement of what is if you go outside - 0 floors!

      Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

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      Mark_Wallace
      wrote on last edited by
      #10

      Eddy Vluggen wrote:

      Where do the buttons prefixed with C lead to?

      The Coffee machines, of course.

      I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

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      • I Indivara

        Overheard today (kids talking in the back seat) Elder: What number is the lowest floor in the building? (referring to place we just left) Younger: Zeroth floor Elder: No it is the first floor! Younger: No, zeroth floor! (this goes on for some time) Younger is 5. :)

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        Kenneth Haugland
        wrote on last edited by
        #11

        I think I have spotted the problem here. The elder programs in Excel while the younger programs in C# :D

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        • L Lost User

          Indivara wrote:

          The ones below the ground are B1, B2 etc, increasing downwards.

          As does any modern hospital. I was wondering why there was a sudden need of a character-prefix. Where do the buttons prefixed with C lead to?

          Indivara wrote:

          My point was that kids don't usually count from zero (unless they were C programmers in a previous incarnation?)

          It is not a point of from "where" to start counting, as to count "what is". Youngest is right. Go stand outside. That's 0 floors. You are at "level 0". Yes, build a floor, we'll call that one. Dig, and we'll call it -1. The latter is counting, but the first is merely a statement of what is if you go outside - 0 floors!

          Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

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          Lost User
          wrote on last edited by
          #12

          The casement?

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          • I Indivara

            Overheard today (kids talking in the back seat) Elder: What number is the lowest floor in the building? (referring to place we just left) Younger: Zeroth floor Elder: No it is the first floor! Younger: No, zeroth floor! (this goes on for some time) Younger is 5. :)

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            PIEBALDconsult
            wrote on last edited by
            #13

            The problem is that many people associate the word "first" with the number "one" and think that the two concepts are the same when they are not, they are distinct concepts. In your children's case; I suspect that both are correct.

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            • L Lost User

              Indivara wrote:

              The ones below the ground are B1, B2 etc, increasing downwards.

              As does any modern hospital. I was wondering why there was a sudden need of a character-prefix. Where do the buttons prefixed with C lead to?

              Indivara wrote:

              My point was that kids don't usually count from zero (unless they were C programmers in a previous incarnation?)

              It is not a point of from "where" to start counting, as to count "what is". Youngest is right. Go stand outside. That's 0 floors. You are at "level 0". Yes, build a floor, we'll call that one. Dig, and we'll call it -1. The latter is counting, but the first is merely a statement of what is if you go outside - 0 floors!

              Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

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              Indivara
              wrote on last edited by
              #14

              It gets worse actually Mezzanine is M. Roof is R or RF. Basement is B or BF when only one level is underground. Platform is P, except when it is Parking. Sometimes the car park floors are closer together and get separate numbers P1 onwards, which correspond to different floor numbers of the building. And sometimes they are labelled in Japanese, making a ride on the elevator more adventurous. :D

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              • I Indivara

                Overheard today (kids talking in the back seat) Elder: What number is the lowest floor in the building? (referring to place we just left) Younger: Zeroth floor Elder: No it is the first floor! Younger: No, zeroth floor! (this goes on for some time) Younger is 5. :)

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                Marc Clifton
                wrote on last edited by
                #15

                He has clearly developed a healthy disdain for VB (but probably doesn't know it yet.) ;) Marc

                Imperative to Functional Programming Succinctly Contributors Wanted for Higher Order Programming Project! Learning to code with python is like learning to swim with those little arm floaties. It gives you undeserved confidence and will eventually drown you. - DangerBunny

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                • I Indivara

                  Overheard today (kids talking in the back seat) Elder: What number is the lowest floor in the building? (referring to place we just left) Younger: Zeroth floor Elder: No it is the first floor! Younger: No, zeroth floor! (this goes on for some time) Younger is 5. :)

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                  Kiriander
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #16

                  It gets weirder: Some countries have different way to count floors. In Russia, the ground floor is the first floor. So a building with 3 floors has floors 1 to 3. In Germany, the ground floor is called the ground floor and the second floor is called the first floor. So a three-floor building would have floors 0 (ground) to 2. At least, there's a word for "above-ground floor" which I use.

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                  • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                    It's probably the imperial system - it rots the brain you know! :laugh:

                    Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

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                    xiecsuk
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #17

                    Come on Griff, there is nothing wrong with the Imperial system of measurement. 12 inches in a foot 3 feet in a yard 1760 yards in a mile Makes perfect sense to me.

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                    • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                      Eddy Vluggen wrote:

                      Where do the buttons prefixed with C lead to?

                      An alternate dimension.

                      Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

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                      xiecsuk
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #18

                      Or the crematorium?? But then that is an alternate dimension!!

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                      • I Indivara

                        Overheard today (kids talking in the back seat) Elder: What number is the lowest floor in the building? (referring to place we just left) Younger: Zeroth floor Elder: No it is the first floor! Younger: No, zeroth floor! (this goes on for some time) Younger is 5. :)

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                        obs123
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #19

                        It should be obvious - Array index (in most of the cases) starts normally from 0. That explain a lot! :)

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                        • L Lost User

                          0 is ground level. A floor is above ground level, and anything else is wrong. If 1 was ground floor, 0 would be in the ground. Then it would stop making sense to even count negative.

                          Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

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                          maze3
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #20

                          a floor is a floor. A floor is the walking surface of a room or vehicle. if you have 2 floors is your list, I mean building! How many items in your Building? 2 floors. And so the first floor in your building is the [0] item, no, i mean [0] floor. As such it is Ground Floor. And the 2nd item in your building is the 1st Floor. See, simple.

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                          • I Indivara

                            Overheard today (kids talking in the back seat) Elder: What number is the lowest floor in the building? (referring to place we just left) Younger: Zeroth floor Elder: No it is the first floor! Younger: No, zeroth floor! (this goes on for some time) Younger is 5. :)

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                            ngoj
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #21

                            I don't think this is about floors, look at the title again. And, yes of course, you can not learn coding unless you were born programmer. Zero floor approach is a good sign, the younger kid is the one of us!

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                            • X xiecsuk

                              Or the crematorium?? But then that is an alternate dimension!!

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                              Magrat
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #22

                              Actually you'd enter the 'Twilight Zone'.

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                              • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                                Eddy Vluggen wrote:

                                Where do the buttons prefixed with C lead to?

                                An alternate dimension.

                                Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...

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                                Alister Morton
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #23

                                The cellars? Much more gothic than the basements.

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                                • I Indivara

                                  It gets worse actually Mezzanine is M. Roof is R or RF. Basement is B or BF when only one level is underground. Platform is P, except when it is Parking. Sometimes the car park floors are closer together and get separate numbers P1 onwards, which correspond to different floor numbers of the building. And sometimes they are labelled in Japanese, making a ride on the elevator more adventurous. :D

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                                  Lost User
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #24

                                  Too confusing, I'll be taking the stairs.

                                  Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

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                                  • I Indivara

                                    Overheard today (kids talking in the back seat) Elder: What number is the lowest floor in the building? (referring to place we just left) Younger: Zeroth floor Elder: No it is the first floor! Younger: No, zeroth floor! (this goes on for some time) Younger is 5. :)

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                                    den2k88
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #25

                                    In Italy gorund floor is 0, then there are first, second and so on.

                                    GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver When I was six, there were no ones and zeroes - only zeroes. And not all of them worked. -- Ravi Bhavnani

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                                    • K Kiriander

                                      It gets weirder: Some countries have different way to count floors. In Russia, the ground floor is the first floor. So a building with 3 floors has floors 1 to 3. In Germany, the ground floor is called the ground floor and the second floor is called the first floor. So a three-floor building would have floors 0 (ground) to 2. At least, there's a word for "above-ground floor" which I use.

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                                      den2k88
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #26

                                      Useful, as it answers the real question: how many flights of stairs I have to climb? 0, 1, 2.

                                      GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver When I was six, there were no ones and zeroes - only zeroes. And not all of them worked. -- Ravi Bhavnani

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                                      • X xiecsuk

                                        Come on Griff, there is nothing wrong with the Imperial system of measurement. 12 inches in a foot 3 feet in a yard 1760 yards in a mile Makes perfect sense to me.

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                                        Kirk 10389821
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #27

                                        IF we had 12 toes and 12 Fingers... THEN this Imperial System would make sense! Worse, 11 and 12 should be NAMED: One-Teen, and Two-Teen, but NO, the TEENS did not start until 13. It is NO WONDER we are dead last in math :-)

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                                        • K Kirk 10389821

                                          IF we had 12 toes and 12 Fingers... THEN this Imperial System would make sense! Worse, 11 and 12 should be NAMED: One-Teen, and Two-Teen, but NO, the TEENS did not start until 13. It is NO WONDER we are dead last in math :-)

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                                          James Curran
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #28

                                          Kirk 10389821 wrote:

                                          IF we had 12 toes and 12 Fingers... THEN this Imperial System would make sense! It is NO WONDER we are dead last in math

                                          IF we had 12 toes and 12 Fingers... Math would be easy. 10 can be divided by 2 and 5 only. 12 can be divided by 2,3,4 and 6.

                                          Truth, James

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