This is not a programming question... ;)
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Vikram Punathambekar wrote: Lemme guess, are you a VB user? Being from India myself, I can confidently make this statement: The VB users (I won't call them programmers) here are useless. No offense, pls define a programmer for me and how programmers who use VB are not programmers but users.
Just saw your pic...cool.:cool: Where do you live? Madras? Mumbai? Bangalore? Vikram. ----------------------------- 1. Don't ask unnecessary questions. You know what I mean? 2. Avoid redundancy at all costs. 3. Avoid redundancy at all costs. "Do not give redundant error messages again and again." - A classmate of mine, while giving a class talk on error detection in compiler design.
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Ok... i'm not a big fan of VB, but i've gotta say - the details are readily available. Both on MSDN, and on the hundreds of VB q/a sites out there, every aspect of VB i've ever touched is documented in some way. Most certainly, the size of data types is well known, and should be found easily in a search of MSDN (yes, i've done this several times and never felt the need to even bookmark it, it was found fast enough). Now, you may become sickened or confused upon learning the details, as they range from obvious to obviously obfuscated, but they are available.
- Shog9 -
I'd show a smile but I'm too weak I'd share with you, could I only speak
Any serious VB-er should read Hardcore Visual Basic. It's out of print, but it's availabl online. Where's that link? Shows how little I've used VB recently. Anyway, it's available in full online.
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." - Jesus
"An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind." - Mahatma Gandhi -
Ok... i'm not a big fan of VB, but i've gotta say - the details are readily available. Both on MSDN, and on the hundreds of VB q/a sites out there, every aspect of VB i've ever touched is documented in some way. Most certainly, the size of data types is well known, and should be found easily in a search of MSDN (yes, i've done this several times and never felt the need to even bookmark it, it was found fast enough). Now, you may become sickened or confused upon learning the details, as they range from obvious to obviously obfuscated, but they are available.
- Shog9 -
I'd show a smile but I'm too weak I'd share with you, could I only speak
Agreed, but the manner in which it is presented leads to the conclusion that "yes there's all this funky stuff that happens, but you don't need to know about it, in the meantime, look at this pretty dialog box!" I've seen a similar phenomenon with the first iMac, one was purchased by the secretary at work, and when attepting to access the net all that was required was the IP of the dns, but you had to sit through a 10 minute audio visual presentation in order to enter the IP... What annoys me most is that these things are made very simple to use, whether you like it or not, it's like it's being pitched at the lowest common denominator.
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Marc Clifton wrote: it's because VB programmers don't themselves know the answers to these basic (no pun intended) questions. And if you tell them, they'll look at you with a blank stare and ask "what's a bit???". I would not generalize all VB programmers. You ask most of the VB developers in india, i am sure you will be surprised to see their competence in the language. Cheers, Venkatraman Kalyanam Chennai - India "Being Excellent is not a skill, it is an attitude"
Venkatraman wrote: You ask most of the VB developers in india, i am sure you will be surprised to see their competence in the language. Er, I have a slightly (only slightly) different experience. I was surprised too. But not in the same way that you were probably talking about. :)
Regards,Rohit Sinha
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.
- Mother Teresa -
Marc Clifton wrote: it's because VB programmers don't themselves know the answers to these basic (no pun intended) questions. And if you tell them, they'll look at you with a blank stare and ask "what's a bit???". I would not generalize all VB programmers. You ask most of the VB developers in india, i am sure you will be surprised to see their competence in the language. Cheers, Venkatraman Kalyanam Chennai - India "Being Excellent is not a skill, it is an attitude"
Venkatraman wrote: would not generalize all VB programmers. :) I have had both good and bad experiences with VB programmers. THE BAD :( As I said before, the fact that it is easy to create a simple VB app attracts people who would not be able to do much programming in other languages like C++. These people tend to be ignorant and somewhat lazy. They will take very bad shortcuts to avoid having to get "down-and-dirty" to get a more complex job done. I've seen a program, for instance, where the programmer used the API to refresh the screen every 3 seconds because they couldn't be bothered to make sure their control re-drew itself properly. And there is thousands of pages of code on planet source code and other VB sites that is hardly to be qualified as code. THE GOOD :) However, that is not the whole story. Many serious programmers like VB for the ability to get the job done quickly. They understand the various programming concepts and the OS they work on. They take the bother to read up on what is relevant to the project they are working on. They write high-quality code, and they can produce apps that match or rival those written in C++. VB Classic is a language with many limitations. VB .NET still has a few limitations, but nevertheless is an excellent language and worthy of respect. It is fully OO and can do anything needed to produce an excellent desktop app. I prefer C# myself, but I would never call VB .NET programmers stupid just because they are VB .NET programmers. Take a look at these sites: http://www.vbaccelerator.com/[^] http://www.domaindlx.com/e_morcillo/[^] http://www.vbsmart.com/[^] http://www.mvps.org/btmtz/[^] http://www.vbclarity.com/[^]
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I did look at MSDN, no need for sarcasm. Your condescending attitude is exactly what I was talking about in regard to VB websites. I used the advances search to look for "long data type capacity maximum value" restricting the search to visual basic 6.0 and .NET. It returned nothing useful. I do not have anything against VB programmers, or the language itself, I was merely commenting on the fact that most VB related websites use language which seems to indicate that VB programmers should be shielded from any technical details relating to the language...
I would tend to agree that the 'nasty details' in VB documentation are hidden - the way I looked in MSDN to find out this information was to llok in the language reference...only to find that there was no built-in data type reference in the index....Still, a bit of lateral thinking takes you to the Dim statement (oh, how apt...) and theres a link to a Data Type Summary from there. Not as obvious as it could be. I did the same thing for Visual C++ and a similar data type summary comes under 'Basic Concepts' in the index.... Stuart Dootson 'Java, Basic, who cares - it's all a bunch of tree-hugging hippy cr*p'
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I would tend to agree that the 'nasty details' in VB documentation are hidden - the way I looked in MSDN to find out this information was to llok in the language reference...only to find that there was no built-in data type reference in the index....Still, a bit of lateral thinking takes you to the Dim statement (oh, how apt...) and theres a link to a Data Type Summary from there. Not as obvious as it could be. I did the same thing for Visual C++ and a similar data type summary comes under 'Basic Concepts' in the index.... Stuart Dootson 'Java, Basic, who cares - it's all a bunch of tree-hugging hippy cr*p'
I always wished they would tell you exactly what's going on under the covers - there's always more than one way of doing things, and if you know exactly what's going on, you can be more efficient. Of course, many things are easy to guess.
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." - Jesus
"An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind." - Mahatma Gandhi -
jdunlap wrote: I use what gets the job done. Which at present is mostly C# ... You lucky bugger! I've managed to pick up a few .NET contracts which wanted a C# implementation, but for the most part they are few and far between. Whilst I have nothing against VB programmers, knowing a few who are actually very good and do well at other languages too - I've done VB myself, though I'm probably not very good at it - I can't help but post the comments of one VB guy who really thought he was the apex of all programmers. On firing up VS.NET and starting a VB.NET windows project, he claimed it was broken ... "it's f**cked up - there are no .bas files" :omg:
Even about a year and a half after the release of .NET, I found that people really didn't know what it was. "It has no variant! I would never use a language without variants!" "If there's going to be a 'OrElse' or an 'AndAlso' then ther might as well be a 'ThenAgain' and a 'MaybeNot'." and more...
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." - Jesus
"An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind." - Mahatma Gandhi -
Venkatraman wrote: would not generalize all VB programmers. :) I have had both good and bad experiences with VB programmers. THE BAD :( As I said before, the fact that it is easy to create a simple VB app attracts people who would not be able to do much programming in other languages like C++. These people tend to be ignorant and somewhat lazy. They will take very bad shortcuts to avoid having to get "down-and-dirty" to get a more complex job done. I've seen a program, for instance, where the programmer used the API to refresh the screen every 3 seconds because they couldn't be bothered to make sure their control re-drew itself properly. And there is thousands of pages of code on planet source code and other VB sites that is hardly to be qualified as code. THE GOOD :) However, that is not the whole story. Many serious programmers like VB for the ability to get the job done quickly. They understand the various programming concepts and the OS they work on. They take the bother to read up on what is relevant to the project they are working on. They write high-quality code, and they can produce apps that match or rival those written in C++. VB Classic is a language with many limitations. VB .NET still has a few limitations, but nevertheless is an excellent language and worthy of respect. It is fully OO and can do anything needed to produce an excellent desktop app. I prefer C# myself, but I would never call VB .NET programmers stupid just because they are VB .NET programmers. Take a look at these sites: http://www.vbaccelerator.com/[^] http://www.domaindlx.com/e_morcillo/[^] http://www.vbsmart.com/[^] http://www.mvps.org/btmtz/[^] http://www.vbclarity.com/[^]
jdunlap wrote: These people tend to be ignorant and somewhat lazy You forgot arrogant. Some people I know treat VB like everything. They err... treat C++ and C++ programmers with contempt. But I guess there are nice ones too. Vikram. ----------------------------- 1. Don't ask unnecessary questions. You know what I mean? 2. Avoid redundancy at all costs. 3. Avoid redundancy at all costs. "Do not give redundant error messages again and again." - A classmate of mine, while giving a class talk on error detection in compiler design.
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Ravish wrote: pls define a programmer for me Simple...VB users are not programmers. But that's just my 2 cents. Like I said, I'm just a student and my statements are largely based on my personal experiences with my fellow-blokes* , which admittedly isn't much. If I find the truth to be otherwise, I'll change my mind-it's open. * - Those fellows can't even write a program to swap two numbers without using a third varible in C. Neither can they write a function to swap two variables. And they've finished THREE years in BE CSE, at a college that's supposed to be very good. Like I said, my experience isn't much...so I might be wrong. Vikram. ----------------------------- 1. Don't ask unnecessary questions. You know what I mean? 2. Avoid redundancy at all costs. 3. Avoid redundancy at all costs. "Do not give redundant error messages again and again." - A classmate of mine, while giving a class talk on error detection in compiler design.
Vikram Punathambekar wrote: Those fellows can't even write a program to swap two numbers without using a third varible in C. Neither can they write a function to swap two variables. It is more a reflection of those fellows intellect. The truth is in all my projects I never wrote any funda algo or swap two numbers etc. No linked list nothing. Just lots of straight forward if/ else constructs , switch case, DB access code. Truth is VB being a RAD (Remove Analysis and Design) tool doesnot encourage people to learn how stuff works. So you find lot of ignorant people who can do VB and they are not VB programmers just as people who can use printf function are not C programmers. Common refrain among IT managers is systems developed in VB is easy to maintain .Reason being you can easily find people who know VB. Truth is any medium sized VB project is very difficult(even difficult than C++) to maintain unless the original team were a very disciplined lot. On a side note, I am currently in Chennai. But did my Eng at GCT CBE .
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Why is it so hard to find out technical details of visual basic related material? I ask this because of the following: I've got some software to test here at work, it's written in VB X| :( I needed to find out the maximum capacity of the int and long data types, knowing that they were probably different to the C++ ones I'm used to (and they are I eventually discovered) Using google to search for '+"visual basic" +long +"data type" maximum capacity size' returned nothing of any use Thought about it for a bit and used google to search for the following '+"visual basic" how big can a long be" and bingo! :rolleyes: Is it a reflection of the perception of VB programmers that they must be protected from knowing the underlying structure of the language? I haven't got a witty signature.... :((
The age old, and overhyped debate about VB versus <insert another language here> resurfaces yet again. Why do people insist on bringing this up, when there is no right or wrong answer to what is best? - It's like saying 'which is better, red or blue?' From a software design and engineering perspective, the choice of language is determined by the requirements of the application (e.g. you wouldn't use VB for an embedded application in a mobile phone) From a project management perspective the choice of language is determined by: 1) the existing skill base and headcount, 2) deadlines and timescales. If you have an office full of VB developers and need an app developed in 6 months, you're not going to specify 'C++' as the development tool. Take a look at the contract job market out there; All the large companies who are developing database front-ends are doing so in VB because it's the best tool for the job. All the companies who are developing 3D graphics engines are doing so in C++ because it's the best tool for the job. Comparing VB to C++/Delphi/C# is a no-win argument. VB is a valid a programming language as any other out there, it's in widespread use. And like any language a lot depends on the skill level of the developer. Just as it's possible to write bad code in VB, it's equally possible to write bad code in C++. John. www.silveronion.com[^]
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Vikram Punathambekar wrote: Those fellows can't even write a program to swap two numbers without using a third varible in C. Neither can they write a function to swap two variables. It is more a reflection of those fellows intellect. The truth is in all my projects I never wrote any funda algo or swap two numbers etc. No linked list nothing. Just lots of straight forward if/ else constructs , switch case, DB access code. Truth is VB being a RAD (Remove Analysis and Design) tool doesnot encourage people to learn how stuff works. So you find lot of ignorant people who can do VB and they are not VB programmers just as people who can use printf function are not C programmers. Common refrain among IT managers is systems developed in VB is easy to maintain .Reason being you can easily find people who know VB. Truth is any medium sized VB project is very difficult(even difficult than C++) to maintain unless the original team were a very disciplined lot. On a side note, I am currently in Chennai. But did my Eng at GCT CBE .
Ravish wrote: It is more a reflection of those fellows intellect. Possible. Like I said, I'm kinda raw. Ravish wrote: Truth is VB does not encourage people to learn how stuff works. But programmers should know how things work. Ravish wrote: people who can use printf function are not C programmers. LOL. Agreed. Ravish wrote: Truth is any medium sized VB project is very difficult(even difficult than C++) to maintain you're actually speaking against VB now. Ravish wrote: I am currently in Chennai Where in Madras? Ravish wrote: did my Eng at GCT CBE Always nice to meet a fellow Coimbatorean :rose: . I'm studyin' at KCT, but I'm now in B'lore for internship. Vikram. ----------------------------- 1. Don't ask unnecessary questions. You know what I mean? 2. Avoid redundancy at all costs. 3. Avoid redundancy at all costs. "Do not give redundant error messages again and again." - A classmate of mine, while giving a class talk on error detection in compiler design.
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Venkatraman wrote: You ask most of the VB developers in india, i am sure you will be surprised to see their competence in the language. Er, I have a slightly (only slightly) different experience. I was surprised too. But not in the same way that you were probably talking about. :)
Regards,Rohit Sinha
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.
- Mother TeresaReference:i am sure you will be surprised to see their competence in the language Rohit Sinha wrote: I have a slightly (only slightly) different experience Would that slight difference be by any chance an "in" before the word competence? ;P Vikram. ----------------------------- 1. Don't ask unnecessary questions. You know what I mean? 2. Avoid redundancy at all costs. 3. Avoid redundancy at all costs. "Do not give redundant error messages again and again." - A classmate of mine, while giving a class talk on error detection in compiler design.
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Ravish wrote: pls define a programmer for me Simple...VB users are not programmers. But that's just my 2 cents. Like I said, I'm just a student and my statements are largely based on my personal experiences with my fellow-blokes* , which admittedly isn't much. If I find the truth to be otherwise, I'll change my mind-it's open. * - Those fellows can't even write a program to swap two numbers without using a third varible in C. Neither can they write a function to swap two variables. And they've finished THREE years in BE CSE, at a college that's supposed to be very good. Like I said, my experience isn't much...so I might be wrong. Vikram. ----------------------------- 1. Don't ask unnecessary questions. You know what I mean? 2. Avoid redundancy at all costs. 3. Avoid redundancy at all costs. "Do not give redundant error messages again and again." - A classmate of mine, while giving a class talk on error detection in compiler design.
Vikram Punathambekar wrote: Those fellows can't even write a program to swap two numbers without using a third varible in C I can't immediately think of a way either. But , errr.. . so what!! . Get off your high horse, Vikram. I'm sure each one of them is infinitely better than you at something, just like you may be better than they are at swapping variables in C. ;) BW "I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific." - Lily Tomlin
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Vikram Punathambekar wrote: Those fellows can't even write a program to swap two numbers without using a third varible in C I can't immediately think of a way either. But , errr.. . so what!! . Get off your high horse, Vikram. I'm sure each one of them is infinitely better than you at something, just like you may be better than they are at swapping variables in C. ;) BW "I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific." - Lily Tomlin
brianwelsch wrote: Get off your high horse :wtf: ? I'm sitting on a chair. You been drinking too much? ;P Ok, joking apart, I agree that swapping two numbers without using a third varible in C isn't the ultimate test for proficiency. brianwelsch wrote: I'm sure each one of them is infinitely better than you at something Undoubtedly. They have a life, which I don't. :-O . No, I wasn't bragging...just the heat of the moment. brianwelsch wrote: I can't immediately think of a way either. Here's one:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
int x=5,y=7;
cout<In fact, you can replace ^ with any commutative operator, like + and * .
Vikram.
- Don't ask unnecessary questions. You know what I mean?
- Avoid redundancy at all costs.
- Avoid redundancy at all costs.
"Do not give redundant error messages again and again." - A classmate of mine, while giving a class talk on error detection in compiler design.
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brianwelsch wrote: Get off your high horse :wtf: ? I'm sitting on a chair. You been drinking too much? ;P Ok, joking apart, I agree that swapping two numbers without using a third varible in C isn't the ultimate test for proficiency. brianwelsch wrote: I'm sure each one of them is infinitely better than you at something Undoubtedly. They have a life, which I don't. :-O . No, I wasn't bragging...just the heat of the moment. brianwelsch wrote: I can't immediately think of a way either. Here's one:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
int x=5,y=7;
cout<In fact, you can replace ^ with any commutative operator, like + and * .
Vikram.
- Don't ask unnecessary questions. You know what I mean?
- Avoid redundancy at all costs.
- Avoid redundancy at all costs.
"Do not give redundant error messages again and again." - A classmate of mine, while giving a class talk on error detection in compiler design.
Vikram Punathambekar wrote: Here's one: just figured this one out, too...
x = 5 ; y = 7
x = x + y 5 + 7 = 12
y = y - x 7 - 12 = -5
x = X + y 12 + (-5) = 7
y = y * (-1) (-5) * (-1) = 5:) BW "I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific." - Lily Tomlin
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brianwelsch wrote: Get off your high horse :wtf: ? I'm sitting on a chair. You been drinking too much? ;P Ok, joking apart, I agree that swapping two numbers without using a third varible in C isn't the ultimate test for proficiency. brianwelsch wrote: I'm sure each one of them is infinitely better than you at something Undoubtedly. They have a life, which I don't. :-O . No, I wasn't bragging...just the heat of the moment. brianwelsch wrote: I can't immediately think of a way either. Here's one:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
int x=5,y=7;
cout<In fact, you can replace ^ with any commutative operator, like + and * .
Vikram.
- Don't ask unnecessary questions. You know what I mean?
- Avoid redundancy at all costs.
- Avoid redundancy at all costs.
"Do not give redundant error messages again and again." - A classmate of mine, while giving a class talk on error detection in compiler design.
You do know this method is slower than using an intermediate variable. Has been since I first heard of it ten years ago.
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Vikram Punathambekar wrote: Here's one: just figured this one out, too...
x = 5 ; y = 7
x = x + y 5 + 7 = 12
y = y - x 7 - 12 = -5
x = X + y 12 + (-5) = 7
y = y * (-1) (-5) * (-1) = 5:) BW "I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific." - Lily Tomlin
In fact, you can use * and / instead of + and -. At first, I used to use + and - . Then I found the bitwise OR ( ^ ) was better and more elegant- you need to use only a single operator, and moreover, while everybody knows what + and - do, not everyone knows what ^ does. Yes, I kinda like being different, though I don't know if it's something to be proud of. :-O Cheers, Vikram. ----------------------------- 1. Don't ask unnecessary questions. You know what I mean? 2. Avoid redundancy at all costs. 3. Avoid redundancy at all costs. "Do not give redundant error messages again and again." - A classmate of mine, while giving a class talk on error detection in compiler design.
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You do know this method is slower than using an intermediate variable. Has been since I first heard of it ten years ago.
Joe Woodbury wrote: this method is slower Oh, I didn't know that- never actually tested it. Thx. But then, the question was not to swap two numbers in the least time, but to do it without using a third variable. For all practical purposes, I use a temp variable. It's just that there's more than one way to do it. Vikram. ----------------------------- 1. Don't ask unnecessary questions. You know what I mean? 2. Avoid redundancy at all costs. 3. Avoid redundancy at all costs. "Do not give redundant error messages again and again." - A classmate of mine, while giving a class talk on error detection in compiler design.