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  • What is "elegant" code?

    - by Breton
    I see a lot of lip service and talk about the most "elegant" way to do this or that. I think if you spend enough time programming you begin to obtain a sort of intuitive feel for what it is we call "elegance". But I'm curious. Even if we can look at a bit of code, and say instinctively "That's elegant", or "That's messy", I wonder if any of us really understands what that means. Is there a precise definition for this "elegance" we keep referring to? If there is, what is it? Now, what I mean by a precise definition, is a series of statements which can be used to derive questions about a peice of code, or a program as a whole, and determine objectively, or as objectively as possible, whether that code is "elegant" or not. May I assert, that perhaps no such definition exists, and it's all just personal preference. In this case, I ask you a slightly different question: Is there a better word for "elegance", or a better set of attributes to use for judging code quality that is perhaps more objective than merely appealing to individual intuition and taste? Perhaps code quality is a matter of taste, and the answer to both of my questions is "no". But I can't help but feel that we could be doing better than just expressing wishy washy feelings about our code quality. For example, user interface design is something that to a broad range of people looks for all the world like a field of study that oughtta be 100% subjective matter of taste. But this is shockingly and brutally not the case, and there are in fact many objective measures that can be applied to a user interface to determine its quality. A series of tests could be written to give a definitive and repeatable score to user interface quality. (See GOMS, for instance). Now, okay. is Elegance simply "code quality" or is it something more? Is it something that can be measured? Or is it a matter of taste? Does our profession have room for taste? Maybe I'm asking the wrong questions altogether. Help me out here. Bonus Round If there is such a thing as elegance in code, and that concept is useful, do you think that justifies classifying the field of programming as an "Art" capital A, or merely a "craft". Or is it just an engineering field populated by a bunch of wishful thinking humans? Consider this question in the light of your thoughts about the elegance question. Please note that there is a distinction between code which is considered "art" in itself, and code that was written merely in the service of creating an artful program. When I ask this question, I ask if the code itself justifies calling programming an art. Bounty Note I liked the answers to this question so much, I think I'd like to make a photographic essay book from it. Released as a free PDF, and published on some kind of on demand printing service of course, such as "zazz" or "tiggle" or "printley" or something . I'd like some more answers, please!

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  • Better languages than SQL for stored procedures

    - by Ken Paul
    I'm getting increasingly frustrated with the limitations and verbosity required to actually commit some business logic to stored procedures, using languages such as Transact-SQL or PL/SQL. I would love to convert some current databases to Oracle and take advantage of its support for Java stored procedures, but that option is not available at the moment. What alternatives would you recommend in the way of databases that support stored procedures in other languages?

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  • data structure algorithms for database searching

    - by Ygam
    I was used to the traditional way of doing database searching with the following using wildcards for term searches using where clause for specific data like addresses and names but at other times, I found these common methods to produce code that is so bloated, especially when it comes to complex searches. Are there algorithms out there that you use for complex database searching? I tried to look for some but had a hard time doing so. I stumbled accross the binary search but I can't find a use for it :(

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  • Code Golf: Banknote calculator

    - by paxdiablo
    This question was posted by a C beginner and it was an exercise to calculate, given a dollar value input by the user, the minimum number of bills (or banknotes, depending on your locale) needed to reach that dollar value. So, if the user entered 93, the output would be: $20 bills = 4 $10 bills = 1 $5 bills = 0 $1 bills = 3 Finally succumbing to the phenomenon (it's a slow day here), I thought this would be ripe for a game of Code Golf. For fairness, the input prompt needs to be (note the "_" at the end is a space): Enter a dollar amount:_ I think I've covered all the bases: no identical question, community wiki. I won't be offended if it gets shut down though - of course, I'll never be able to complain about these types of questions again, for fear of being labelled a hypocrite :-) Okay, let's see what you can come up with. Here's a sample run: Enter a dollar amount: 127 $20 bills = 6 $10 bills = 0 $5 bills = 1 $1 bills = 2

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  • What is the worst programming mistake you have made?

    - by George Edison
    Most of us are not perfect. (Well, except Jon Skeet) Have you made a terrible mistake that you would like to share? The idea is that we could all learn from our mistakes and by collecting them together here, we can avoid some common ones and discover some no-so-common ones we may have overlooked. Oh, and this question is CW, of course. Edit: This question is different than http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1928002/what-is-the-worst-programming-mistake-you-have-ever-seen because we are sharing our own mistakes. Edit again: And this one http://stackoverflow.com/questions/130965/what-is-the-worst-code-youve-ever-written is different too - it asks for code. My question does not have that restriction!

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  • Is Polyglot programming important?

    - by Kb
    Trying to learn more about Polyglot programming. What is it exactly and is it important? Look like it is cross platform coding and interoperability across platforms... I found this article by Ted Neward (Thoughtworks) interesting.

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  • Is C# fast enough for games

    - by Matt
    Will a game written in C# have any speed issues after long periods of play, like for 24 hours at a time? I'm specifically talking about a 2D RPG similar to old Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest games. I know that languages like Python will slow down too much, curious how C# would stand.

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  • Why scala not allowing '$' identifier in case statement?

    - by Alex R
    this works as expected scala 3 match { case x:Int = 2*x } res1: Int = 6 why does this fail? scala 3 match { case $x:Int = 2*$x } :1: error: '=' expected but ':' found. 3 match { case $x:Int = 2*$x } ^ scala 3 match { case `$x`:Int = 2*$x } :1: error: '=' expected but ':' found. 3 match { case `$x`:Int = 2*$x } ^ scala 3 match { case `$x` : Int = 2*$x } :1: error: '=' expected but ':' found. 3 match { case `$x` : Int = 2*$x } '$' is supposed to be a valid identifier character, as demonstrated here: scala var y = 1 y: Int = 1 scala var $y = 2 $y: Int = 2 Thanks

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  • Derivative of a Higher-Order Function

    - by Claudiu
    This is in the context of Automatic Differentiation - what would such a system do with a function like map, or filter - or even one of the SKI Combinators? Example: I have the following function: def func(x): return sum(map(lambda a: a**x, range(20))) What would its derivative be? What will an AD system yield as a result? (This function is well-defined on real-number inputs).

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  • Is there an equivalent in Scala to Python's more general map function?

    - by wheaties
    I know that Scala's Lists have a map implementation with signature (f: (A) => B):List[B] and a foreach implementation with signature (f: (A) => Unit):Unit but I'm looking for something that accepts multiple iterables the same way that the Python map accepts multiple iterables. I'm looking for something with a signature of (f: (A,B) => C, Iterable[A], Iterable[B] ):Iterable[C] or equivalent. Is there a library where this exists or a comparable way of doing similar?

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  • Defend zero-based arrays

    - by DrJokepu
    A question asked here recently reminded me of a debate I had not long ago with a fellow programmer. Basically he argued that zero-based arrays should be replaced by one-based arrays since arrays being zero based is an implementation detail that originates from the way arrays and pointers and computer hardware work, but these sort of stuff should not be reflected in higher level languages. Now I am not really good at debating so I couldn't really offer any good reasons to stick with zero-based arrays other than they sort of feel like more appropriate. I am really interested in the opinions of other developers, so I sort of challenge you to come up with reasons to stick with zero-based arrays!

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  • Is it immoral to write crappy code even if readability and correctness is not a requirement?

    - by mafutrct
    There are cases when crappy (i.e. unreadable and buggy) code is not much of a problem. For instance, imagine you need to generate a big text file that mostly follows a simple pattern with a few very complex exceptions. What do you do? You quickly write a simple algorithm and insert the exceptional bits in the output manually to save 4 hours. The code is unreadable, and the output is flawed, but it's still the correct way since it is way faster. But let's get this straight: I hate bad code. I've had to read and work with code that caused my stomach to hurt. I care a lot about good code. And actually, I caught myself thinking that it is immoral to write bad code even though the dirty approach is sometimes superior. I was surprised by myself and found my idea to be very irrational. Did you ever experience this? Should I just get rid of this stupid idea and use the most efficient approach to coding?

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  • Alright, I'm still stuck on this homework problem. C++

    - by Josh
    Okay, the past few days I have been trying to get some input on my programs. Well I decided to scrap them for the most part and try again. So once again, I'm in need of help. For the first program I'm trying to fix, it needs to show the sum of SEVEN numbers. Well, I'm trying to change is so that I don't need the mem[##] = ####. I just want the user to be able to input the numbers and the program run from there and go through my switch loop. And have some kind of display..saying like the sum is?.. Here's my code so far. #include <iostream> #include <iomanip> #include <ios> using namespace std; int main() { const int READ = 10; const int WRITE = 11; const int LOAD = 20; const int STORE = 21; const int ADD = 30; const int SUBTRACT = 31; const int DIVIDE = 32; const int MULTIPLY = 33; const int BRANCH = 40; const int BRANCHNEG = 41; const int BRANCHZERO = 42; const int HALT = 43; int mem[100] = {0}; //Making it 100, since simpletron contains a 100 word mem. int operation; //taking the rest of these variables straight out of the book seeing as how they were italisized. int operand; int accum = 0; // the special register is starting at 0 int counter; for ( counter=0; counter < 100; counter++) mem[counter] = 0; // This is for part a, it will take in positive variables in //a sent-controlled loop and compute + print their sum. Variables from example in text. mem[0] = 1009; mem[1] = 1109; mem[2] = 2010; mem[3] = 2111; mem[4] = 2011; mem[5] = 3100; mem[6] = 2113; mem[7] = 1113; mem[8] = 4300; counter = 0; //Makes the variable counter start at 0. while(true) { operand = mem[ counter ]%100; // Finds the op codes from the limit on the mem (100) operation = mem[ counter ]/100; //using a switch loop to set up the loops for the cases switch ( operation ){ case READ: //reads a variable into a word from loc. Enter in -1 to exit cout <<"\n Input a positive variable: "; cin >> mem[ operand ]; counter++; break; case WRITE: // takes a word from location cout << "\n\nThe content at location " << operand << " is " << mem[operand]; counter++; break; case LOAD:// loads accum = mem[ operand ];counter++; break; case STORE: //stores mem[ operand ] = accum;counter++; break; case ADD: //adds accum += mem[operand];counter++; break; case SUBTRACT: // subtracts accum-= mem[ operand ];counter++; break; case DIVIDE: //divides accum /=(mem[ operand ]);counter++; break; case MULTIPLY: // multiplies accum*= mem [ operand ];counter++; break; case BRANCH: // Branches to location counter = operand; break; case BRANCHNEG: //branches if acc. is < 0 if (accum < 0) counter = operand; else counter++; break; case BRANCHZERO: //branches if acc = 0 if (accum == 0) counter = operand; else counter++; break; case HALT: // Program ends break; } } return 0; } part B int main() { const int READ = 10; const int WRITE = 11; const int LOAD = 20; const int STORE = 21; const int ADD = 30; const int SUBTRACT = 31; const int DIVIDE = 32; const int MULTIPLY = 33; const int BRANCH = 40; const int BRANCHNEG = 41; const int BRANCHZERO = 41; const int HALT = 43; int mem[100] = {0}; int operation; int operand; int accum = 0; int pos = 0; int j; mem[22] = 7; // loop 7 times mem[25] = 1; // increment by 1 mem[00] = 4306; mem[01] = 2303; mem[02] = 3402; mem[03] = 6410; mem[04] = 3412; mem[05] = 2111; mem[06] = 2002; mem[07] = 2312; mem[08] = 4210; mem[09] = 2109; mem[10] = 4001; mem[11] = 2015; mem[12] = 3212; mem[13] = 2116; mem[14] = 1101; mem[15] = 1116; mem[16] = 4300; j = 0; while ( true ) { operand = memory[ j ]%100; // Finds the op codes from the limit on the memory (100) operation = memory[ j ]/100; //using a switch loop to set up the loops for the cases switch ( operation ){ case 1: //reads a variable into a word from loc. Enter in -1 to exit cout <<"\n enter #: "; cin >> memory[ operand ]; break; case 2: // takes a word from location cout << "\n\nThe content at location " << operand << "is " << memory[operand]; break; case 3:// loads accum = memory[ operand ]; break; case 4: //stores memory[ operand ] = accum; break; case 5: //adds accum += mem[operand];; break; case 6: // subtracts accum-= memory[ operand ]; break; case 7: //divides accum /=(memory[ operand ]); break; case 8: // multiplies accum*= memory [ operand ]; break; case 9: // Branches to location j = operand; break; case 10: //branches if acc. is < 0 break; case 11: //branches if acc = 0 if (accum == 0) j = operand; break; case 12: // Program ends exit(0); break; } j++; } return 0; }

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  • What task can I automate in Python that's fun, simple, and useful?

    - by froadie
    I'm trying to learn Python. I'm going to eventually be using it at work, but I don't have an active project in it as of now. I've been reading through some documentation and would like to learn some basics, but I learn best when actually coding. So I'm thinking of attempting a small Python project just to sort of "get my feet wet" in Python. While reading/asking around, I've often heard people say that if you need a Python project you should automate some task you do on your computer on a day-to-day basis. Maybe I'm not so imaginative, but I can't think of anything I'd like to automate... Does anyone have any ideas of something simple, fun, and not too time-consuming that someone can automate to get some basic experience in Python? Something that they would come out of feeling like they accomplished something fun and useful?

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  • Business Objects - Containers or functional?

    - by Walter
    Where I work, we've gone back and forth on this subject a number of times and are looking for a sanity check. Here's the question: Should Business Objects be data containers (more like DTOs) or should they also contain logic that can perform some functionality on that object. Example - Take a customer object, it probably contains some common properties (Name, Id, etc), should that customer object also include functions (Save, Calc, etc.)? One line of reasoning says separate the object from the functionality (single responsibility principal) and put the functionality in a Business Logic layer or object. The other line of reasoning says, no, if I have a customer object I just want to call Customer.Save and be done with it. Why do I need to know about how to save a customer if I'm consuming the object? Our last two projects have had the objects separated from the functionality, but the debate has been raised again on a new project. Which makes more sense? EDIT These results are very similar to our debates. One vote to one side or another completely changes the direction. Does anyone else want to add their 2 cents? EDIT Eventhough the answer sampling is small, it appears that the majority believe that functionality in a business object is acceptable as long as it is simple but persistence is best placed in a separate class/layer. We'll give this a try. Thanks for everyone's input...

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  • How to find two most distant points?

    - by depesz
    This is a question that I was asked on a job interview some time ago. And I still can't figure out sensible answer. Question is: you are given set of points (x,y). Find 2 most distant points. Distant from each other. For example, for points: (0,0), (1,1), (-8, 5) - the most distant are: (1,1) and (-8,5) because the distance between them is larger from both (0,0)-(1,1) and (0,0)-(-8,5). The obvious approach is to calculate all distances between all points, and find maximum. The problem is that it is O(n^2), which makes it prohibitively expensive for large datasets. There is approach with first tracking points that are on the boundary, and then calculating distances for them, on the premise that there will be less points on boundary than "inside", but it's still expensive, and will fail in worst case scenario. Tried to search the web, but didn't find any sensible answer - although this might be simply my lack of search skills.

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  • Generate colors between red and green for a power meter?

    - by Simucal
    I'm writing a java game and I want to implement a power meter for how hard you are going to shoot something. I need to write a function that takes a int between 0 - 100, and based on how high that number is, it will return a color between Green (0 on the power scale) and Red (100 on the power scale). Similar to how volume controls work: What operation do I need to do on the Red, Green, and Blue components of a color to generate the colors between Green and Red? So, I could run say, getColor(80) and it will return an orangish color (its values in R, G, B) or getColor(10) which will return a more Green/Yellow rgb value. I know I need to increase components of the R, G, B values for a new color, but I don't know specifically what goes up or down as the colors shift from Green-Red. Progress: I ended up using HSV/HSB color space because I liked the gradiant better (no dark browns in the middle). The function I used was (in java): public Color getColor(double power) { double H = power * 0.4; // Hue (note 0.4 = Green, see huge chart below) double S = 0.9; // Saturation double B = 0.9; // Brightness return Color.getHSBColor((float)H, (float)S, (float)B); } Where "power" is a number between 0.0 and 1.0. 0.0 will return a bright red, 1.0 will return a bright green. Java Hue Chart: Thanks everyone for helping me with this!

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  • Generate all unique substrings for given string

    - by Yuval A
    Given a string s, what is the fastest method to generate a set of all its unique substrings? Example: for str = "aba" we would get substrs={"a", "b", "ab", "ba", "aba"}. The naive algorithm would be to traverse the entire string generating substrings in length 1..n in each iteration, yielding an O(n^2) upper bound. Is a better bound possible? (this is technically homework, so pointers-only are welcome as well)

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