It's becoming more common, as the relative cost of assertion checking falls, to leave it (and debugging information) in the executable. Don't fall into the trap of assuming that "debug" and "release" have specific and concrete meanings; they're just random terms that by default mean "compile with a couple of settings that turn on or off things like symbol inclusion, optimization, etc." As to why the C: path is there, remember that ASSERT is usually just a macro, and it uses __FILE__ and __LINE__ to notate the location. So, you're seeing the path of the source files on the developer's build box. Tim Lesher <tim@lesher.ws> www.lesher.ws WinDev: the Windows Developers' Mailing List

I side with Barry on this one. Note that M-W lists it as a noun. Barry noted its incorrect use as a verb. Note also that every verb in the preceding paragraph is also a noun. ;-) Tim Lesher tim@lesher.ws www.lesher.ws WinDev: the Windows Developers' Mailing List

Your point is well-taken, although it flies in the face of your signature. ;-) The dialog in question is the MS C Runtime assertion failure dialog, which says "ASSERTION FAILED!". Plus, the people in question were programmers... it's not as if they didn't know better--they did, it's just a point of grammar. It's a pet peeve. Laugh. Tim Lesher tim@lesher.ws www.lesher.ws WinDev: the Windows Developers' Mailing List

Argh. That was going to be my Pet Peeve of the Week for next week. Oh, well. I've got plenty more. Tim Lesher tim@lesher.ws www.lesher.ws WinDev: the Windows Developers' Mailing List

Oh, come on, don't get so picky about your users. You assume it was a user and not another programmer who should know better... Oh, and in case any current coworkers are reading, no, this wasn't at my current job... Tim Lesher tim@lesher.ws www.lesher.ws WinDev: the Windows Developers' Mailing List

I heard recently that the most dangerous job in the U.S. is that of an elephant handler. Rather timely; just a few weeks ago an elephant at the local zoo decided it was no longer fond of one of the zookeepers, and squashed him like a grape. Tim Lesher tim@lesher.ws www.lesher.ws WinDev: the Windows Developers' Mailing List

You know what I hate? When people butcher the word "assert" when describing program behavior.

Other: "I was running some tests this weekend, and the server asserted." Me: "Of course it did." *goes back to work* Other: "Umm, isn't that a problem?" Me: "No, there are assert statements in our code. They're used for error checking when the error is not something that can be handled by normal error-handling code, and should never happen in the wild." Other: "Well, the server crashed after that." Me: "Oh, you mean an assertion failed."

To assert means to affirm something. In programming, an assertion is a statement of assumptions. It's not an error. A failed assertion is an error. Don't tell me that a program asserted. Tell me that an assertion failed. Tim Lesher tim@lesher.ws www.lesher.ws WinDev: the Windows Developers' Mailing List

Of course, the joke would have been even funnier had the original writer (I assume it wasn't Kant) could spell Condoleezza, or at least Google for "National Security Rice" to check. Hmm... National Security Rice... there has to be a trademark in there somewhere... ;-) Tim Lesher <tim@lesher.ws> www.lesher.ws WinDev: the Windows Developers' Mailing List

I agree that WMP streams look and sound better than equivalent Real streams, but I have to say that from my experience with Steve Gibson, I'm inclined to disbelieve anything GRC posits... Tim Lesher http://www.lesher.ws

I wanted to check with my physical therapist/wife before replying, but she concurred with what I thought: you CAN sprain your toe. A sprain is a partial tear in the ligaments of a joint; your toe has ligaments. However, when I described your symptoms, she said it's either a very bad sprain or a fracture. The local sport med center has some information online. Tim Lesher http://www.lesher.ws

You are sayink that like it is bad thing. Tim Lesher http://www.lesher.ws

I don't know for a fact, but I think that in the US, we're somewhat desensitized to comments and jokes like this by our cultural insistence on open speech. I recall being shocked the first time I read that in Germany, for example, it's illegal to display or own historical propaganda from World War II. I also was shocked the first time I read that a non-USian was shocked to find out that it's not illegal to say or write racist, anarchist, and seditious things in the US. In other words, we expect that some people will say fairly nasty things, and demand that they be allowed to say them. I'm not saying that this is somehow superior to other points of view (there are plenty of cases you could make that we go too far with it), or that those in other nations don't have the same opinions, but I think it might help to explain it. Tim Lesher http://www.lesher.ws

And the coolest part is that if you rot13 it, it's legal PERL. ;-) Tim Lesher http://www.lesher.ws

Now does everyone see why experienced programmers say that C-style casts are inherently unsafe? ;-) Congratulations. Tim Lesher http://www.lesher.ws

Historically, monarchs have a pretty dismal record. How did you come to this conclusion? AFAIK Hitler wasn't a monarch, and neither was Stalin, nor is Sadam Husein. What a wonderful illustration of a logical fallacy. It's similar to this exchange: "Cars have four wheels." "How did you come to this conclusion? My chair has four wheels, and it's not a car." Tim Lesher http://www.lesher.ws

I don't know if Emacs has specialized C# colorizing yet, but if it doesn't, wait ten minutess... it will. Emacs... the One True Editor. :) Tim Lesher http://www.lesher.ws

If that description scares you, never, EVER, under ANY circumstances, have children. Tim Lesher http://www.lesher.ws

My (extremely) scant knowledge of developing for Linux leads me to believe that it's near impossible to make any money developing software for Linux due to many of the developers tools and libraries being based on GPL so I want to get educated from a commercial perspective. Not true. Just because the tools (I'm assuming you're talking about the GCC compiler) are GPLe'd, doesn't mean the compiled product is. Lots of people (including me) are using gcc for closed-source, commercial programming. Also note that the GCC C Runtime is NOT under GPL; it's under the "Lesser GPL" or LGPL, which explicitly allows you to redistribute without source. A bigger problem might be the abundance of free and open-source competitors to whatever you're writing, but that's another issue. Tim Lesher http://www.lesher.ws

This is like one big Jerry Sienfeld show with guests. And Kramer is the central figure. Hmm... I read that the first time as "one big Jerry Springer show." It made more sense that way, BTW. :cool: Tim Lesher http://www.lesher.ws

But there is no problem pressing the space key even if the tabkey produces *drumroll* tabs. Correct, but Dev Studio auto-indents the arguments for you, and if you have tabs as your default, it uses a mixture of spaces and tabs. Of course, the error may be relying on Dev Studio's auto indent. It also butchers long for statements if you break after each semicolon. And the argument that spaces take up more disk space than tabs? Geez, what a non-starter! Where did you get that from? I never said that, and i never would say so..... You didn't, but it was mentioned in the thread, and I couldn't be bothered to go back and put it after the right response... :-) Tim Lesher http://www.lesher.ws