How did we write code without the Internet?
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This is one place where virtual machines really come in handy. It's such a shame that the IT gestapo where I work won't let me use VirtualBox (which is free) and refuse to give me a license for the sanctioned VM package.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Yes, we had 200 lbs of reference manuals, and life was simpler. I just finished a whole bunch of googling to figure out how to bulk copy an archaic Access DBF file into SQL Server, using .NET 7. My comments in the code show some of the depth of the rabbit hole.
// Need to download the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable for the 64 bit version of the Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB driver.
// Unless you already have the 32 bit version installed, you can't have both, so you would have to uninstall any 32 bit apps, in my case, Visio and FrontPage!
// This appears to work, from SO: use the provider to “Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;” in connection string.
// But it doesn't because the DBF files are so old, so we're back to using Jet.OLEDB and building the importer app as a 32 bit (x86) app.
// And I finally can import the data!And yes, I still use FrontPage for article writing and I'll be damned if I'm going to uninstall it and Visio 2010 to install the 64 bit Jet drivers, so now my importer app is in x86 mode. And stunningly, the .NET
SqlBulkCopything is working perfectly.Latest Articles:
A Lightweight Thread Safe In-Memory Keyed Generic Cache Collection Service A Dynamic Where Implementation for Entity Framework -
Yes, we had 200 lbs of reference manuals, and life was simpler. I just finished a whole bunch of googling to figure out how to bulk copy an archaic Access DBF file into SQL Server, using .NET 7. My comments in the code show some of the depth of the rabbit hole.
// Need to download the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable for the 64 bit version of the Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB driver.
// Unless you already have the 32 bit version installed, you can't have both, so you would have to uninstall any 32 bit apps, in my case, Visio and FrontPage!
// This appears to work, from SO: use the provider to “Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;” in connection string.
// But it doesn't because the DBF files are so old, so we're back to using Jet.OLEDB and building the importer app as a 32 bit (x86) app.
// And I finally can import the data!And yes, I still use FrontPage for article writing and I'll be damned if I'm going to uninstall it and Visio 2010 to install the 64 bit Jet drivers, so now my importer app is in x86 mode. And stunningly, the .NET
SqlBulkCopything is working perfectly.Latest Articles:
A Lightweight Thread Safe In-Memory Keyed Generic Cache Collection Service A Dynamic Where Implementation for Entity Framework -
I currently work with someone who's officially retired, but sticks around because his software is VB6 and dBase and nobody knows how that stuff works. He's currently converting everything to SQL Server, despite not knowing how SQL Server works (I don't know how he does it). After that I get to rewrite his software to .NET (he already ported two application to .NET Framework 2, obviously he doesn't know how that works either). Not particularly looking forward to inheriting that one :sigh:
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We wrote it much better back then. Now we have internet, we have to find out everything ourselves as nothing gets documented, go to code project and other sites to ask other users how things work. Before the internet, everything was properly documented, so we didn't need those forums. So the answer is that it is much harder now than it was before the internet.
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Yes, we had 200 lbs of reference manuals, and life was simpler. I just finished a whole bunch of googling to figure out how to bulk copy an archaic Access DBF file into SQL Server, using .NET 7. My comments in the code show some of the depth of the rabbit hole.
// Need to download the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable for the 64 bit version of the Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB driver.
// Unless you already have the 32 bit version installed, you can't have both, so you would have to uninstall any 32 bit apps, in my case, Visio and FrontPage!
// This appears to work, from SO: use the provider to “Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;” in connection string.
// But it doesn't because the DBF files are so old, so we're back to using Jet.OLEDB and building the importer app as a 32 bit (x86) app.
// And I finally can import the data!And yes, I still use FrontPage for article writing and I'll be damned if I'm going to uninstall it and Visio 2010 to install the 64 bit Jet drivers, so now my importer app is in x86 mode. And stunningly, the .NET
SqlBulkCopything is working perfectly.Latest Articles:
A Lightweight Thread Safe In-Memory Keyed Generic Cache Collection Service A Dynamic Where Implementation for Entity FrameworkBooks and Writing Code without the Internet WOW this tag line brought back a fond memory I would like to share! I was at a medical conference with my Palm Pilot and this fellow ask me how I liked it. Told him it was GREAT and that I was trying to learn to write code for it. His reply sent me in a tail spin. Not only was he a Practicing Physician he said he had written a book for NS Basic would you like a copy Holly Bat Wings YES YES so after I calmed down I ask him how much ? No it is a gift. I then explained I worked at the Grand Canyon with a physician that wrote a book "Death and Dying in the Grand Canyon" He got excited and ask where to buy a copy. NO NO I will have a copy sent to you Yes I miss the Book Culture
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Like you, I used a lot of manuals... That being said, from everything I have seen during my long career and my current involvement with my profession, I am coming to the conclusion that the Internet has made most things worse for all of us; especially how management treats us professionals and the way most companies now treat their customers. Combine this with all the criminality that is now ever present on the Internet and we have a "perfect storm" of dysfunction which is increasingly getting worse...
Steve Naidamast Sr. Software Engineer Black Falcon Software, Inc. blackfalconsoftware@outlook.com
Steve Naidamast wrote:
how management treats us professionals and the way most companies now treat their customers.
Hmmm.... IBM was considered the gold standard. If you worked for them then anyone else would hire you. For IBM 1. You had to wear a suit. There was no such thing as business casual at that company. And was not for a long time. 2. They used what is basically an apprentice system for programmers. 3. Any programmer hired started at the first level by typing the code created by others into card decks. I believe you did that for about 2 years before you could move up. 4. IBM was sued and lost due to the way they treated their contractors. That lawsuit established much of what is considered standard for how contractors are treated now. Not just in programming but across all industries. For companies buying computers IBM was consider the gold standard also. Anything else except IBM was considered not as good regardless of how it worked. The IBM PC was considered a throw away by the company itself. IBM invested in it solely because they considered it a toy but their customers were demanding that as an option. That by itself was both the biggest blunder by the company (because they did not take it seriously) and probably realistically allowed the computer revolution that exists now or at least it would have slowed it down. The blunder was in not restricting the license to MS-DOS.
Steve Naidamast wrote:
Combine this with all the criminality that is now ever present
Crime has nothing to do with what you are stating. It always exists and always will. Prime example of a scam that lack of computers allowed (and lack of communication networks) was depicted in the movie "Catch Me If You Can"
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atverweij wrote:
We wrote it much better back then.
Well that must explain why we are on TLS 1.3 now. Because SSL and the previous versions of TLS were "better".
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Books and Writing Code without the Internet WOW this tag line brought back a fond memory I would like to share! I was at a medical conference with my Palm Pilot and this fellow ask me how I liked it. Told him it was GREAT and that I was trying to learn to write code for it. His reply sent me in a tail spin. Not only was he a Practicing Physician he said he had written a book for NS Basic would you like a copy Holly Bat Wings YES YES so after I calmed down I ask him how much ? No it is a gift. I then explained I worked at the Grand Canyon with a physician that wrote a book "Death and Dying in the Grand Canyon" He got excited and ask where to buy a copy. NO NO I will have a copy sent to you Yes I miss the Book Culture
Choroid wrote:
Yes I miss the Book Culture
That however is personal and not the industry. "826 million physical books were sold in 2021, a growth of 8.9% over the prior year. Trade paperbacks sold 450,000 print units." How Many Books Are Published Each Year? [2022 Statistics] - Toner Buzz[^] "The total number of new book titles released annually is around 4 million" https://wordsrated.com/number-of-books-published-per-year-2021/#:~:text=The%20total%20number%20of%20new,are%20considered%20to%20be%20produced.[^] The number of titles published has grown significantly over time. Following is just in the US and just for fiction titles. The Writer Mo Ibrahim: Over 50,000 Fiction Books Published Per Year in the US![^] It has never been easier to self-publish. Nor even cheaper to get started. At one point only the wealthy or those backed by wealthy sponsor could have afforded even a minimum print run for self-publishing. And there virtually no way to sell it once you did. Now it is very easy. How Much Does it Cost to Self Publish a Book - Written Word Media[^]
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You completely miss the point. Before the internet there was no such thing as SSL or TLS.
atverweij wrote:
You completely miss the point.
Ah...you mean when the only source for learning Fortran was by reading the CDC Manual that was chained to the desk in the Operations center? Of course one could buy it for about $200 or so which was, adjusting for inflation, about $925 now. That was the only source for learning it. And it was not written for learning. Or slightly later...When I learned C++ there were only two books originally available. Stroustrup's book and then the other wasn't even for C++ but rather for Objective C. The Ellis book came out about then also but those were the only books at all. Might note also that I worked in a book store then, so I did in fact have resources that the vast majority of people did not. Yet now when I search for "C++ Programming" in Amazon I see pages of results. So no I don't think that the documentation now is worse than it was then.
