one of my products is 23 years old now since i launched it (started writing it in the late 90's), written in vb6. I sold over 1000 copies back in the day (and even sold a new one a year ago). I still have quite a few users who pay support (and a few who don't) and dont see the need to change or upgrade to my newer version coz it does everything they want and they are comfortable with it. my newer version was launched 2010 and is a net framework product, so i suppose 13yo for that is getting quite aged these days, but again i have loads of customers on it. I am a compulsive 'commenter' (always have been) since the 70's, even though the code is never likely to be seen by anyone else, and now i'm in my 60's (and still coding), the grey matter aint as sharp as it once was there's a definate advantage when i need to make mods, and imho code that aint documented aint complete. GL

I use a microsoft wired ergonomic keyboard, it's great quality and took a little getting used to for a month or so because of the shape, but now i wouldnt swap back to an old 'flat' type. GL

I took a real good look at python and still use it with my Raspberry PI's but i dont really like it, it's like turning the clock back to the late 70's/early 80's with interpreted basic and i too dont like the whitespace thing, but i would take a bit of an issue with basic, especially VB.NET as although i code mainly in c# now, most of my major projects over the past 40 years have been in basic and basic like languages, many obsolete now, and sure, you can see some horrific code, but with discipline you can also write great code, and it aint that too disimilar to c# for a lot of tasks anyway. IMHO the art of the programmer counts for more than the language per-se. GL

i'm a self employed team of one, 60yo this year, been programming for a living for 40+years and feel i'm writing some of the best code of my life, ive learned more new languages and technologies (to me) over the last 2 years including xamarin, python, blazor, net core, & unity to name a few. The only slightly negative i'm finding is that i need to refer back more and more to projects for syntax and snippets as i just can't keep it all in my head anymore, there's just too much of it, but it's no biggie really, but i still look back fondly on the days when the word PC's hadnt been invented, with MS-DOS and character based systems ruling the landscape, when a programmer could actually learn almost everything they needed. I can't remember the words geek or nerd existing then, you were a 'computer wizard' and people assumed you had a brain like a planet as the word 'computer' struck fear into so many heart's - ahhh nostalgia aint what it used to be, but i'm rambling on like some kind of old man... GL

I know where you are coming from but would think *it depends* on what you are working on. some projects and cases may merit it and some not, and although i dont work in embedded would assume that it's less important. however as a 'business app guy' i find it great, however if i really looked at it i probably don't need it as much as i think i do, but it's the way i roll now and i quite like it :) GL

when i was last a wage slave some 30 years ago, most of the legacy code i had to maintain was bogus - is that the same thing?

The bergens ate all the good trolls

'artists interpretation' is just BS for 'no he didnt do his homework and we need a story to cover it up so we dont look like the idiots we obviously are'. everytime i hear lies and BS from people or companies that try to pathetically convince you of something other than what you know is true, it just makes me even more cynical, and there's so much of it about !!

My experience of any report generator over the past 40ish years is to forget them. from a programming side they are hard and time consuming to write & document, and come up with anything that an end user can learn or use easily, (and most dont want to have to learn anything new anyway). I now take one of two methods when my systems don't give a user exactly what then want or they have a 'special' requirement. firstly i offer a service to write the report for them as an add-on or integrated option to an existing format and try to keep the price down, and secondly (and more popular) is to write a csv output dumping all the data they need, whereby they can use excel to re-jig it as they want, as most companies have people familiar with it. a lesser used option is for people to do it themselves either in sql server or access for example and i will assist in explaining schema's, but that's very few. I also dont like to use 3rd party add-ons as you not only have to learn and support them, which can be time consuming for little reward, but give you a great deal of pain updating, maintaining licences or whatever. GL

Hi i've only just just been playing with a 16 pin LCD1602 display on my raspberry pi yesterday, and im connecting it via I2C as it only needs 2 wires (+ gnd & 5v) but i do know you need I2C and SPI enabled for it to work. i use an adafruit python library, and it's all is pretty simple. i dont know arduino boards or how to do this on them, but maybe this snippet of info will help - btw i watched a few youtube video's for tutorials. GL

go more bluetooth/wifi wherever posible for one. I'm moving home and office soon and replacing as many wired devices (mouse/keyboad/speakers) as i can. I'm hiding cat6 cabling for the various network points behind walls/skirting boards, and mounting the ethernet switch to the wall under the desk. I'm reducing the length of each patch cables wherever possible to the minimum, and fitting extra power points in flush wall plates rather than use extension leads. The one cabled option i'm sticking with is for the internet as i dont like wifi for this. You won't totally eliminate it all but every bit helps. PS: avoid trying to combine an Alexa echo dot with speaker, it constantly and randomly says 'playing from ' and you can't switch it off. I will soon hurl mine at the wall and say 'play from that' lol. GL

very good

Im a computer programmer, i dont need to make a conscious effort

No - does that make me a control freak?

IMHO Early returns can simplify code and help remove 'blanket cases' rather than have deep nested logic which can be hard to read at first glance. Ive done this for getting on for 4 decades and it's never hurt me or the code ive written, and as for 'horribly messy code', if it's done right then i disagree

IME the best you can hope for from any code converter is as a teaching tool, using it on small snippets. to expect one language in and another out with minimum intervention is fantasy im afraid. GL

Hi Richard Thanks for the reply but upto a week or two ago it was all working as it always had in versions of VS2005 to VS2015, you could tick the 'match case' checkbox and all others, but now you just see the text 'match case' with no checkbox. at first glance i dont have the down arrows showing the options but will study the links you kindly supplied to see if i can figure anything out. ive gradually got more peed off with microsoft over the years for making lots of stuff stop working, and changing things for no good reason, and ive been using their products since 1982. grrr regards Bob

Hi when selecting the find and replace dialog box in the VS2015 IDE i no longer have the check box's to select things like "Match Case", "Match whole word" etc. just the text, ive searched for hours on the web and nothing has shown up, with this driving me mad - has anyone else had this as it seems to have happened recently and i have no idea how to fix it. any help appreciated Thanks Bob

Thanks for the info - i was considering upgrading from 2015 but wont bother now, at least for a while. Bob.

Thornik wrote:

VS2017 just suxx, it's full of stupid bugs and it's for Win8+ only. Who needs that?? I use Win7 and it's more than enough for any app development. Even Android programs can be written using Win7! But not for Microsoft... they push that Spyindows and fail. Double fail when they count developers as a stupids who will follow 'em.Win7+VS2015 - that's latest stable point. Everything beyond just cr@pware from Monstersoft.

i bought a video genie which was a TRS-80 type computer with an internal cassette tape drive in 1978, joy of joys at the speed and simplicity to load my programs :)