"JavaScript is horrible." > function byNum(a,b) {return +a>+b} undefined > [5, 10, 1].sort(byNum) [1, 5, 10] No, it's not.
that looks pretty horrible if you ask me
Software in 2014
71–80 of 265 posts
Re: Software in 2014
#72I think this paints a rather meagre picture of software development in 2014: > More or less everything is expected to talk HTTP, and it’s really easy to make things talk HTTP. A lot of things that shouldn't talk HTTP are expected to just because there's an army of programmers who don't know better. Also, it's actually hard to make things talk HTTP, partly due to HTTP itself. However, much of this complexity is hidden…
> In what freezing fucking hell is a dual-core, 1 GHz computer with gigabytes of RAM and tens of gigabytes of storage and 3D acceleration that can fit in my pocket memory-starved and CPU-starved?
Those CPU don't have as much cache memory (which is vital for a CPU to be fast), are very low powered, and not cooled by any fan. Even my $50 nokia can do 3D, 3D acceleration doesn't mean it's a fast device. CPU frequency doesn't mean it's a muscly device either. You'll always need power for fast computing, and multithreading without adapted programming paradigm lead you nowhere. Those chips are very much different than your desktop's.
Many things are already preoptimized on the kernel level, but it doesn't change the fact that even html and javascript parsers, which parse text, will be slower on those devices. If you make an app for a smartphone, you can't really have even one third of the expectations you have on a desktop or laptop computer. Optimizing will be mandatory, and that's a huge disadvantage because most developers are not trained for that.
Not to mention the bogus "optimizing is evil" knuth quote. Performance will bite you on mobile software.
Re: Software in 2014
#73"It’s a pity some people still build important apps in PHP..." Getting real tired of seeing these baseless statements from so called software professionals. Here is an off-the-top-of-my-head list of features of modern day PHP: * yield * event * pthreads - yeap, real threads. * closures (including support for $this) * consistent hashing api * "finally" added to try-catch * empty() now supports expressions, rather than…
Should I be impressed? Mess on top of existing mess. :(
Re: Software in 2014
#74I think this paints a rather meagre picture of software development in 2014: > More or less everything is expected to talk HTTP, and it’s really easy to make things talk HTTP. A lot of things that shouldn't talk HTTP are expected to just because there's an army of programmers who don't know better. Also, it's actually hard to make things talk HTTP, partly due to HTTP itself. However, much of this complexity is hidden…
> Browsers are fine as long as you use them for what they are meant to be used A lot of people now want to use their browser for far more than that and browser technologies are evolving accordingly. I'd suggest it's been quite a while since browsers were meant to be used for nothing more than browsing html files.
So true. Browser were meant to display page, the day javascript was introduced, nobody would have really imagined to see 3D webgl games running on the monster that is v8.
Re: Software in 2014
#75It’s a pity some people still build important apps in PHP and Spring PHP/Spring only sucks if you dont know how to use. Functional Programming is getting a foothold on the mainstream, because if you care about performance you care about concurrency Since when FP is high performance and better concurrency support? Pick the right tool please.
>Since when FP is high performance and better concurrency support?
FP is a huge step forward for concurrent development. The availability of immutable and (especially) persistent data structures is a key point in getting a concurrent application to work well. One of the core points behind FP is to reduce (or even remove) side effects in software development. Those side effects are what make concurrent development hell and unmaintainable. By logic, using FP makes concurrent development easier to handle.
As for performance, it's not that obvious whether or not FP is better or worse than other paradigms. Had you asked me ten years ago then the answer would've been obvious (it'd be worse) but interpreters, compiler development, type systems and all that jazz has improved a lot in the recent years.
Re: Software in 2014
#76I think this paints a rather meagre picture of software development in 2014: > More or less everything is expected to talk HTTP, and it’s really easy to make things talk HTTP. A lot of things that shouldn't talk HTTP are expected to just because there's an army of programmers who don't know better. Also, it's actually hard to make things talk HTTP, partly due to HTTP itself. However, much of this complexity is hidden…
> Browsers are fine as long as you use them for what they are meant to be used: browsing HTML files
Fully agree. I do web development since 1999, besides many other types of projects.
On those days, it was a new world to discover.
Nowadays, I jump of joy every time I am asked to work in native UIs, instead of fighting against the Frankenstein that is the HTML/CSS/JavaScript mess.
Re: Software in 2014
#77I agree the client side situation is a mess, but I think its getting better. The biggest problem is the conflict of interest between the major browser makers in that they are also handheld device makers. They have every incentive to keep the browser dumb in order to keep devs using java/objc and staying on their platform. Firefox is really the only thing that has the influence and power to "save us" (obviously barrin…
> They have every incentive to keep the browser dumb in order to keep devs using java/objc and staying on their platform.
It's IE6 all over again :(
Re: Software in 2014
#78"It’s a pity some people still build important apps in PHP..." Getting real tired of seeing these baseless statements from so called software professionals. Here is an off-the-top-of-my-head list of features of modern day PHP: * yield * event * pthreads - yeap, real threads. * closures (including support for $this) * consistent hashing api * "finally" added to try-catch * empty() now supports expressions, rather than…
I'm not a real programmer. I throw together things until it works then I move on. The real programmers will say "Yeah it works but you're leaking memory everywhere. Perhaps we should fix that." I’ll just restart Apache every 10 requests. -- Rasmus Lerdorf
I agree, but that can't really work on the long term...
Re: Software in 2014
#79"It’s a pity some people still build important apps in PHP..." Getting real tired of seeing these baseless statements from so called software professionals. Here is an off-the-top-of-my-head list of features of modern day PHP: * yield * event * pthreads - yeap, real threads. * closures (including support for $this) * consistent hashing api * "finally" added to try-catch * empty() now supports expressions, rather than…
I'm not a real programmer. I throw together things until it works then I move on. The real programmers will say "Yeah it works but you're leaking memory everywhere. Perhaps we should fix that." I’ll just restart Apache every 10 requests. -- Rasmus Lerdorf
lucky php has very clever people doing clever things with it - see hhvm for a recent great thing for PHP.
Re: Software in 2014
#80I think this paints a rather meagre picture of software development in 2014: > More or less everything is expected to talk HTTP, and it’s really easy to make things talk HTTP. A lot of things that shouldn't talk HTTP are expected to just because there's an army of programmers who don't know better. Also, it's actually hard to make things talk HTTP, partly due to HTTP itself. However, much of this complexity is hidden…
I just can't believe, not one thread on HN starts with an "i agree totally" reply.