We’re approaching the limits of computer power – we need new programmers • Hacker News Board

Re: We’re approaching the limits of computer power – we need new programmers

#261

Post by dbtx » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 3:27 AM UTC

thomascgalvin wrote: post #202

mikehollinger wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I challenge you to find a C “boot camp.” In fact doesn’t this point to a gap in the marketplace? Where are my “IOT ALL THE THINGS / 5G / Edge” bootcamps? Where are the “leetcode” challenges that talk about proper sampling rates for an 8-bit A/D converter, or implementing a closed loop PID in a 16-bit architecture? I suspect that that’s what the Grandparent comment is commenting on — there’s so much talking about the…

> I challenge you to find a C “boot camp.” C isn't a language that lends itself to bootcamp-stye learning. With Javascript, you can get something on-screen in a few minutes, and even if you make mistakes, you will normally see something . It's a more forgiving environment. With C, a small error prevents compilation at all, and it's going to be a relatively long time before you're ready to progress past the "printing…

> it's less rewarding than Javascript.

This varies with goals, attitudes, background, bias, etc. Besides, if you know a little C, you can livecode over at glslsandbox or shadertoy and be immediately rewarded.

> It isn't the kind of thing you tackle because you need hirable job skills by the end of the month.

No, not really. This also roughly says "JS doesn't necessarily require lots of experience" which is not much of a plus, as someone already pointed out.

Re: We’re approaching the limits of computer power – we need new programmers

#262

Post by codeisawesome » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 4:55 AM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #219

Daishiman wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with K&R is that is useless for building actual, working C applications. Even being up to date with the language's specs means very little as getting every different library up and running in each platform is a fairly high barrier, much more so than other platforms.

The companion Kernighan and Pike is very good on building full Unix command line utilities. But yes, the platform learning process of getting to hello world can be remarkably hard.

I never thought of "The UNIX Programming Environment" and "The C Programming Language" as companion books. Thanks for opening my eyes to that.

Re: We’re approaching the limits of computer power – we need new programmers

#263

Post by codeisawesome » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 5:03 AM UTC

majewsky wrote: post #36

ledauphin wrote: post #10

I just don't buy this. I cut my teeth as a HPC programmer working with C and writing no-lock algorithms. There will always be a need for that, but realistically the vast majority of software being developed is simply not performance-critical. It's designed to work at human speed. Advances in language, compiler, and runtime implementations will continue to keep up with any growth in the need for performant application…

> It's designed to work at human speed. It would be great if most applications worked at human speed. Instead we have web applications taking 5 seconds to load what is basically 3 records from a small database.

I reckon humans can actually go MUCH faster than what their software allows today. I often feel frustrated by software on my various devices that make me wait around for non-network operations even though I pay a premium often for top of the line devices. Those little micro-frictions really mess with my mood.

Re: We’re approaching the limits of computer power – we need new programmers

#264

Post by codeisawesome » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 5:24 AM UTC

pdimitar wrote: post #244

luord wrote: post #193

There were several good points both for and against the article in this comment section. I was pleasantly surprised, usually the threads caused by posts like this turn into "static typing vs dynamic typing" or "functional vs object oriented" flamewars. As for my own opinion: yes, optimization is key, but we gotta remember not to make it premature. Take advantage of the fast hardware to actually create something; once…

Literally every experienced programmer would like to do this. But when you get to that last stage the shot-callers are like "nah, it's fine" and you never get to the optimisation. I've seen many products die simply because customers get frustrated with laggy or buggy experience and leave. By the time the businessmen wake up, it's usually too late.

Which means that Business Analysts need to save the world by proving to the shot-callers things similar to what Amazon found (a few ms of lag in the site load caused $$$ of revenue loss). The ever improving Observability stack combined with strong analytics on the client-side can make this possible. Perhaps regulation around Climate Effects (or carbon taxes on inefficient software) might also bring about an industry-wide change of attitudes (and incentives).

Re: We’re approaching the limits of computer power – we need new programmers

#265

Post by pdimitar » Wed, Jan 29, 2020, 12:42 AM UTC

codeisawesome wrote: post #264

pdimitar wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Literally every experienced programmer would like to do this. But when you get to that last stage the shot-callers are like "nah, it's fine" and you never get to the optimisation. I've seen many products die simply because customers get frustrated with laggy or buggy experience and leave. By the time the businessmen wake up, it's usually too late.

Which means that Business Analysts need to save the world by proving to the shot-callers things similar to what Amazon found (a few ms of lag in the site load caused $$$ of revenue loss). The ever improving Observability stack combined with strong analytics on the client-side can make this possible. Perhaps regulation around Climate Effects (or carbon taxes on inefficient software) might also bring about an industry-…

Trouble is, most businessesmen I worked with would give you a blank stare if you tell them they need a business analyst.