Poll: Do you know C? • Hacker News Board

Re: Poll: Do you know C?

#11

Post by qjz » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 1:36 PM UTC

DanielStraight wrote: post #3

stray wrote: post #2

There should be an option for "C was my first programming language and I used it exclusively for years - many years ago".

It seems like this could be either the second or third option, depending on how well you still know it. Perhaps the second if you still know it well and the third if you've gotten really rusty in it. I can add the option if this doesn't make sense in your case.

The problem is that it you are attempting to measure two different things with the same question: depth of knowledge and frequency of usage. It's possible that someone knows C quite well, but no longer (or never) uses it.

It's similar to offering 3 options for Marital Status: Single, Married or Divorced. It's impossible to interpret the results in any meaningful way (Divorced and single? Divorced and remarried? Is it important that I've ever been divorced? Or do you just want to know if I'm currently married or not?). It's better to separate these questions.

Re: Poll: Do you know C?

#12

Post by CedriK » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 1:36 PM UTC

I know C(#), it counts right? ;)

Re: Poll: Do you know C?

#13

Post by derrida » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 1:37 PM UTC

C is the language I use when I just want to sit down and enjoy "resonating with the computer". Python, Java etc feel like I am "working", or "cheating" as the case may be in Python. With C you are conscious of the memory of the computer and the lovely datastructures you are forming on top of it and the whole elaborate dance. I hear that Lisp programmers get a similar feeling but I am not close to seeing that yet.

Re: Poll: Do you know C?

#14

Post by akheron » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 1:38 PM UTC

antirez wrote: post #7

As a first reaction I thought, well, more than 50% of HNers fluent with C, the average age should be pretty high probably. But then I realized that actually the average HN age is probably around 25 (from other pools I saw here), so I guess, there are still a lot of fresh programmers learning C. I really hope so. I love higher level programming languages and spent a lot of time with Tcl, Scheme, FORTH, Joy, Ruby, and…

I'm 26 and know C very well. I use it at work and for hobby projects. Still, Python is my main language.

Re: Poll: Do you know C?

#15

Post by phpnode » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 1:38 PM UTC

C is the third most widely known language on HN behind javascript and python. Source: http://hackernewsers.com/skills/index.html

Re: Poll: Do you know C?

#16

Post by DanielStraight » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 1:39 PM UTC

qjz wrote: post #11

DanielStraight wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like this could be either the second or third option, depending on how well you still know it. Perhaps the second if you still know it well and the third if you've gotten really rusty in it. I can add the option if this doesn't make sense in your case.

The problem is that it you are attempting to measure two different things with the same question: depth of knowledge and frequency of usage. It's possible that someone knows C quite well, but no longer (or never) uses it. It's similar to offering 3 options for Marital Status: Single, Married or Divorced. It's impossible to interpret the results in any meaningful way (Divorced and single? Divorced and remarried? Is it…

I was more trying to provide a 1-5 type scale with some guidelines on how to vote. The sentences in the options should be ORed together more so than ANDed.

What if I added a phrase to option two: "Or I learned C extensively at one point, remember most of it, but don't use it regularly anymore" and to option three: "Or I learned C extensively at one point, but have forgotten most of it and don't use it anymore?"

Re: Poll: Do you know C?

#17

Post by derrida » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 1:39 PM UTC

Vivtek wrote: post #6

I used C exclusively for ten years - then I fell in love with Perl and never really looked back. Garbage collection was my downfall.

That is interesting, whyy do you say that garbage collection was your downfall?

Re: Poll: Do you know C?

#18

Post by bartonfink » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 1:39 PM UTC

antirez wrote: post #7

As a first reaction I thought, well, more than 50% of HNers fluent with C, the average age should be pretty high probably. But then I realized that actually the average HN age is probably around 25 (from other pools I saw here), so I guess, there are still a lot of fresh programmers learning C. I really hope so. I love higher level programming languages and spent a lot of time with Tcl, Scheme, FORTH, Joy, Ruby, and…

Well, it seems the old stigma against multi-language systems is fading. Even 5 years ago, it was more or less "the rule" that you chose one language for a project and you had to live with whatever trade-offs that choice left you with. Now, people are more willing to accept that you can write much of your system in a language designed for programmer convenience and only write the bottlenecks in a more performance-oriented language.

Re: Poll: Do you know C?

#19

Post by cperciva » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 1:40 PM UTC

larrik wrote: post #5

I used to know it very well. Now, not as much. Even when I wrote C++, I basically wrote "C, with classes."

Why write C-with-classes if you can just write C-with-structures-and-function-pointers instead?

Re: Poll: Do you know C?

#20

Post by simk318 » Thu, Apr 07, 2011, 1:41 PM UTC

During college days i have used lots of C for different projects but its been few years i haven't touched C, I think i have forgotten pointer and stuffs need to review