Is programming dead?

Grok Headline matches for Is programming dead?

Dead, Dead, Dead. Someday Soon We'll All
Be Dead.

Dead, Dead, Dead. Someday Soon We'll All
Be Dead. 12/02/2003 10:13 PM
I had a 120gig SATA Hard drive in my G5. It died. Dead blocks all over. My last full backup...

""Pat isn't with God,'' he said. "He's f
-- ing dead. He wasn't religious. So
thank you for your thoughts, but he's f
-- ing dead.''"

""Pat isn't with God,'' he said. "He's f
-- ing dead. He wasn't religious. So
thank you for your thoughts, but he's f
-- ing dead.''" 05/05/2004 09:39 AM

Dead pixels instead of dead trees

Dead pixels instead of dead trees 12/22/2004 01:49 AM

I love books, I love browsing stacks, I love libraries, I love Powell's in Portland, I like collecting books, I always have a stack nearby to read, I love looking through picture books, and I love books even though I didn't really become much of a reader until the end of my college years (I never read for fun until then). Plunging into the Internet fed my book addiction further, as I had to read dozens of computer classics to get up to speed and stay ahead of the curve. Every computer desk I've had until recently was flanked by bookshelves loaded with titles.

Earlier this year, I remember hearing Cory Doctorow give a talk about how ebooks were going to rule the world and folks would abandon the printed page for the laptop screen. I thought it was a good talk, but I felt the thesis was a bit ahead of its time. There's really no comparison between curling up with a book and a blanket in front of a fireplace, versus trying to read thousands of words on a screen.

Last weekend I was doing some house cleaning and I kept finding stacks of books. A stack next to the reading chairs. A stack on the coffee table. A stack beside my bed. All these stacks contained books I bought in 2004, but never read. Some, I got halfway through, but even more I got maybe ten pages in. A few I never even cracked open.

When I think back to the last three books I enjoyed, they were all heard on my iPod, while on a road trip. I can't recall the last book I finished in my hands.

I'm going to take a holiday trip soon to a fairly remote location where there's not much to do besides read. I'm going to sit and read the only book I've wanted to read this year, and I have a feeling it might just be one of the last dead tree books I read for a long time.

As much as I didn't agree with Cory back during his E-tech talk, I'm finally realizing it's coming true in my own life. I read thousands of words everyday on my monitors and I rarely take time to read anything on the printed page, and there's no sign of reversal on that trend. The scariest thing for the bookfan inside me is that I don't think it's bad thing, either.

Long live the ebook. Long live the audiobook. So long, dead trees.

Dead Like Me - Dead or Alive?

Dead Like Me - Dead or Alive? 02/01/2005 09:59 PM
In television these days, there is hardly a show that doesn’t have the blood flowing or the boobies showing. It is hard to find a show that makes it on wit alone. Till a few weeks ago, I thought I had found the saving grace with Showtime’s original show, Dead Like Me. I guess a few executives didn’t share my opinion. The fight is far from over though. In the past shows would have died…

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C++ GUI Programming with Qt 3

C++ GUI Programming with Qt 3 01/28/2004 02:35 PM

Day by Day Programming

Day by Day Programming 09/02/2004 04:08 AM
...while working on the WSX update, added the following to the code: else if (...) { // [application name removed] engineers deserve a 3 liter (that is about 101 fl. oz. for you Americans) // enema filled with stainless needles and glicerine for their programming and error validation ...

Programming PHP

Programming PHP 12/02/2002 01:17 PM
Coauthored by the father of PHP himself, this book is a good introduction to the language, and a fairly good introduction to surrounding technologies. If you need a good starting book, this could be the one.

Literate Programming in XML

Literate Programming in XML 12/18/2002 12:08 PM
At XML 2002 Norm Walsh has presented his implementation of Literate Programming in XML, available as part of his DocBook stylesheets.

programming note

programming note 11/12/2003 11:31 PM
The two entries that follow were written this afternoon during a big old Thunderstorm. We've been without power for about...

The Qu Programming Language 1.01

The Qu Programming Language 1.01 09/16/2004 09:22 PM
A full-featured object oriented programming language.

The Qu Programming Language 1.00

The Qu Programming Language 1.00 09/06/2004 02:40 PM
A full-featured object oriented programming language.

Need a Programming Project?

Need a Programming Project? 02/06/2003 10:45 AM
Need a Programming Project? It has always seemed to me that the skills of a technical person increase in direct proportion to the projects they tackle. Now that makes sense of course. You work more and tackle harder projects and then you get better. Pretty simple, right? Actually no. What happens when you don't have a project? For example, you might work as a systems administrator and not realyl have the opportunity to write code for work. Or your current code at work might be in a maintenance mode and you might no longer be learning. Or you might want to learn a new language. What then? Where can you find a project? My recommendation -- look at the vast world of "abandonware". That's right, abandonware -- the vast treasure trove of open source projects that have been started, some code has been released and then .... nothing. All too often we start a project, write some code, register it with source forge, get going and then RLH or Real Life Happens. You lose a job or get a new job or meet a girl (or guy; hey I'm politically correct) or whatever. And what happens is the Source Forge servers just keep hosting the files in the hope that either the original owner will return or someone new might start to care again. And, as long as the open source license model allows you, you can take those files, and start your own project. Yes I know that none of us want to start from someone else's code. And that we all can do it better. So what? In the long run what matters, as it always does, is actually shipping. If starting from someone else's foundation gets you there faster -- and you a) can work with it and b) it isn't a disaster -- then does it really matter? One thing that I've seen with a lot of open source projects is that they seem to die what I call "the death of the framework". I.e. the person or team spends so much time getting the framework setup that they get so exhausted by the time the application level code gets started, they just don't have the energy. By coming into an existing framework and being able to focus (mostly) on the application, you can avoid this type of issue. So how do you find some abandonware to start from? Well you want to begin at either Source Forge or Freshmeat and then look at the Software Map which lets you view by Application, by Language, Development Status, etc. I started here with an Alpha development status (6998 projects). And then since I work mostly in PHP, I added that as a filter bringing me to here (5867 projects). And then I selected Topic and then Communications to get here (1201 projects). Now assuming that I wanted to really write a php communications project from someone else's abandonware, I would start to examine this list of projects until I found a starting point. Since Source Forge puts the most active projects at the beginning of the list, drill into the middle of it to find something that isn't being actively extended. Download the code, evaluate it and get started. Note: I think that there may be an issue with the Source Forge filtering mechanism. As I examined the last list of resumes, it clearly had entries that didn't have all the specified criteria despite the appearance of working. No matter but I think you get the basic concept -- you don't have to start from scratch and abandonware is a great way to boost your skills.

TCL/TK Programming Environment

TCL/TK Programming Environment 07/31/2004 08:56 AM
Version 1.01 released

Pair Programming

Pair Programming 10/29/2003 12:12 AM

I've spent a few hours over the last two days pair programming with Adrian. We're working on a pretty huge project at the moment, and we've just started work on the coding phase, overlapping the design phase. I had tried pair programming a few times before with some success, but this time in particular the benefits of the approach were crystal clear. In total, we've defined 4 database tables, a number of functions and a simple class. Working separately we would almost certainly have created more lines of code. However...

• The code we have produced is free of bugs. That's a pretty bold claim to make, but every line has been extensively discussed, tested and looked over by two pairs of eyes.
• The naming conventions for both the Python code and the SQL are consistent and well thought out. We're both happy with them, we both understand why the names have been chosen and we both know the naming style well enough to continue it throughout the project.
• The coding style itself is ultra-clean and approved by both of us. We have a preference now for everything from quoting styles to whether or not a docstring should finish in a full-stop (it shouldn't). We also know enough to keep these standards going for the rest of the project.
• We learnt stuff from each other. KDE shortcuts, new features in Python 2.3, neat ways of laying out SQL statements, Python functional programming idioms.
• We started coding, or at least started discussing the code, at the time we had scheduled for the start. There was no procrastination.
• At no point did either of us check our email or check any blogs. productivity++!
• We both know the code that we have written inside out and back to front.

Altogether they have been highly productive and successful sessions. Our plan now is to pair program the system core, then work separately on the additional modules that don't have major dependencies on each other. There are only two of us developers working on the project so pair programming the whole thing isn't really practical, but the benefits of working together the core modules are obvious.

One last thing: it was a lot of fun!

Programming Humor

Programming Humor 06/05/2004 05:52 AM

Code Humor Challenge: Some pretty funny examples of developers trying to be funny. People are submitting hundreds of comments of funny code they wrote and tried to get (or succeeded in getting) into production.

One of my previous employers had, for historical reasons, the requirement that all class names be prefixed with "Mc" (McUser, McCheckbox, etc.). I created the class McNugget, complete with methods like McNugget.dip(McNugget.BBQ_SAUCE).

This one's pretty good too:

Disco = Uncool

Do Until Disco = Cool

if Year gt 1970 And Year lt 1978 then

GetDownAndDance
Disco = Cool

Else

MockDiscoDancers

End if

Loop

Click here to comment on this entry

Primate Programming

Primate Programming 11/10/2003 11:16 PM
From Jeffrey Tarter comes new of an important new business model for outsourcing software development. Joe Grossberg thinks the Primate Programming page has "racist overtones." I can see that way of taking it, although (I hope obviously) that's not how I took it. I take it as being about the commodification of software development and a Dilbert-esque swipe at the gullibility and irresponsibility of pointy-haired bosses....

Is UNIX programming an art?

Is UNIX programming an art? 10/31/2003 11:41 AM
The Register Oct 31 2003 10:48AM ET

PHP Programming Contests

PHP Programming Contests 03/14/2003 01:08 PM
PHP-Editors.com released their first 'PHP Programming Contests' on 10th March. Contest 1A is aimed at PHP Beginners and Contest 1B to more profession programmers. This is your chance to show the world your PHP skills and win some cool prizes into the bargain. Sponsors providing prizes include Zend Technologies, Nusphere, Macromedia, PHP|Arch, ThinkGeek and vBulletin. Entries due in by midnight 7th April 2003 (GMT).

Programming in Objective-C

Programming in Objective-C 01/24/2004 12:35 PM
Programming in Objective-C is a concise, carefully written tutorial on the basics of Objective-C and object-oriented programming. The book makes no assumption about prior experience with object-oriented programming languages or with the C language (upon which Objective-C is based).

PHP 5 Power Programming

PHP 5 Power Programming 03/17/2005 02:48 AM

Core PHP Programming 3rd ed

Core PHP Programming 3rd ed 12/02/2003 12:43 AM
A large (1000+ pages) book containing all you need to know about PHP5 and a dozen of related subjects. Written by Leon Atkinson and Zeev Suraski.

Embedded SQL programming

Embedded SQL programming 04/29/2004 09:48 PM

XP (Xtreme Programming)

XP (Xtreme Programming) 05/15/2004 05:59 AM

Linux Programming by Example

Linux Programming by Example 04/27/2004 01:14 PM

DevShed: Programming with PHP and GTK
(Pt. 1)

DevShed: Programming with PHP and GTK
(Pt. 1) 08/17/2004 07:41 AM
If you've been wondering what all the talk about PHP and GTK has been lately, but haven't had a chance to get into the code - DevShed just might have something for you. In their new posting, Programming with PHP and GTK, Part 1 they start an introductory series to help newcomers get their feet wet.

PHP Programming for Windows

PHP Programming for Windows 07/01/2002 08:29 AM
Overall, this book is probably a long awaited and valuable resource for Windows developers. If you are developing with PHP for Windows and want to take the most of Windows specific resources, this is probably the best starting point you may find now and so it is certainly a good investment.

Kew programming language

Kew programming language 01/23/2004 07:36 PM
Kew 0.2.X roadmap

The Art of Unix Programming

The Art of Unix Programming 10/30/2003 11:48 PM

Advanced PHP Programming

Advanced PHP Programming 06/24/2004 04:27 PM

PHP Database Programming with DB2

PHP Database Programming with DB2 09/01/2004 06:48 PM
Having made the leap from MySQL to IBM's proprietary DB2 universal database, Ian explains how easy it is to get set up and start using DB2 - and why you'd bother. His how-to unmasks the benefits and pitfalls of this robust solution.

Core PHP Programming

Core PHP Programming 01/16/2004 10:57 AM

XL Programming Language

XL Programming Language 09/25/2004 03:55 PM
XL Compiler version 0

Web Programming in Python

Web Programming in Python 09/05/2002 01:17 AM
Unix Review reviews the book:Web Programming in Python: Techniques for Integrating Linux, Apache, and MySQL."On the whole, though, WPIP pleasantly surprised me as a Python tutorial. The authors repeatedly show a knack for communicating the essentials of Python functionality in an understandable and succinct manner."

Inquiry into BBC One programming

Inquiry into BBC One programming 07/13/2004 05:28 AM
BBC governors order an inquiry into BBC One's peak time schedules amid concern about programme quality.

Programming in Starbucks

Programming in Starbucks 06/17/2005 04:55 PM

We got over the hump, it was a bit of a panic at first, but I had made a change on the server at 5AM yesterday and didn't test it properly, and when the 25 new users showed up early on the evening of the 16th, well, that's the condition that failed. And my Internet access at home has been really flaky during the day, so it was down when we hit the problem, so I had to quickly drive to Starbucks to get online.

The good news is that I am actually able to get work done this way, so when I it the road again on July 1, I will be able to continue to move forward on this software, by programming in hotel rooms, Starbucks, public libraries, etc. Internet access is really starting to get ubiquitous.

Programming Microcontrollers With Mac

Programming Microcontrollers With Mac 09/22/2004 02:55 PM

Erc programming language

Erc programming language 12/30/2004 04:24 PM
Description of link-orientation

Coggeshall.org: OO Programming in PHP 5

Coggeshall.org: OO Programming in PHP 5 09/24/2004 07:42 AM
With more of his slides from the php|works conference, John Coggeshall has posted this listing of his major talks in the past year (or so).

"Why Web Programming Matters Most"

"Why Web Programming Matters Most" 04/02/2005 11:07 PM

Grok Description matches for Is programming dead?
GrokA matches for Is programming dead?

REAL Software Ships REALbasic 5.5.5
-Announces Related Customer Survey
Results: Of 25% Who Use REALbasic to
Port Applications, 47% Are Porting
Visual Basic Applications

REAL Software Ships REALbasic 5.5.5
-Announces Related Customer Survey
Results: Of 25% Who Use REALbasic to
Port Applications, 47% Are Porting
Visual Basic Applications 03/22/2005 03:38 PM
REAL Software announced today the company is shipping REALbasic 5.5.5, an update that improves reliability in REALbasic and improves the user experience for VB Project Converter. VB Project Converter is a utility included for free with REALbasic that helps Visual Basic developers port existing applications to REALbasic where they can be cross-compiled for Linux and Macintosh. [PRWEB Mar 22, 2005]

Everything you always wanted to know
about SAX (and XmlReader)

Everything you always wanted to know
about SAX (and XmlReader) 07/26/2004 05:37 AM
CNET Jul 26 2004 10:28AM GMT

Dynamically Typed: XMLReader with PHP5 /
PECL

Dynamically Typed: XMLReader with PHP5 /
PECL 04/26/2004 08:50 AM
In the latest post from Dynamically Typed, Harry Fuecks talks about a new XML technology that seems to be coming right along with PHP5 - XML_Pull.

REALbasic 5.2.2

REALbasic 5.2.2 11/05/2003 04:46 PM
The powerful, easy-to-use tool for creating your own software for Macintosh, Mac OS X, and Windows.

FTP Suite 4.1.1 for REALbasic

FTP Suite 4.1.1 for REALbasic 06/17/2005 05:03 PM

FTP Suite 4.1.1 features more efficient transfers, multiple session capability, new manual and examples, and four new Smart Commands.

ParentDir - Changes to the current working directory's parent directory,

Update: REALbasic 5.5.5

Update: REALbasic 5.5.5 03/22/2005 04:35 PM
The cross-platform development system "improves reliability in REALbasic and improves the user experience for VB Project Converter."

REALBasic kicks ass

REALBasic kicks ass 12/26/2004 05:03 PM
As many of you know, IANAP (I Am Not A Programmer; Dori is the programmer in the family), but I've known for a long time what Bob Cringely says in his latest column: that REALBasic is a terrific programming environment....

Update: REALbasic 5.5.3

Update: REALbasic 5.5.3 07/28/2004 11:05 AM
The cross-platform development system adds improved reliability, more options for building REALbasic plug-ins, more reliable cross-platform group project management, and other changes.

Update: REALbasic 5.5.2

Update: REALbasic 5.5.2 05/19/2004 10:23 AM
The cross-platform development system adds improved SQL support, the ability to load JPEG and PNG images independently of QuickTime, assignment of network interfaces to specific Server Sockets, and other changes.

FTP Suite for REALBasic 3.0

FTP Suite for REALBasic 3.0 12/03/2003 05:00 PM
Adds FTP capability to REALbasic applications.

Other News: REALbasic Awards

Other News: REALbasic Awards 03/31/2005 11:27 AM
REAL Software recognizes outstanding applications created with their development system.

MWNY: REALbasic 4.5 ships

MWNY: REALbasic 4.5 ships 03/13/2003 10:24 AM

REALbasic 5.5.5 update released

REALbasic 5.5.5 update released 03/22/2005 03:41 PM
REAL Software has released REALbasic 5.5.5, an update to its software development environment...

REALbasic updated for Panther

REALbasic updated for Panther 11/04/2003 12:09 PM
REAL Software has released REALbasic 5.2.2, a maintenance update to its cross-platform visual development environment...

REALbasic 5.5.3 adds new plug-in
options, more

REALbasic 5.5.3 adds new plug-in
options, more 07/27/2004 09:24 AM
REAL Software Inc. announced Tuesday the release of REALbasic 5.5.3, an updated version of their cross-platform development environment for Mac, Windows and Linux operating systems. The new version sports more than 100 improvements, according to the company, including reliability enhancements, the ability to use Xcode, GCC or Visual Studio to create REALbasic plug-ins, more reliable group project management, improved support for Apple's Address Book application, and the ability to support XML in console applications. Developers who use REALbasic to create Linux applications can now use RBScript in their console applications.

Made With REALbasic Showcase launched

Made With REALbasic Showcase launched 07/07/2004 01:09 PM
Real Software has launched the Made With REALbasic Showcase, a resource on the company's Web site that displays information about software applications made with the REALbasic development environment...

REAL SOFTWARE RELEASES REALBASIC 5.5.3

REAL SOFTWARE RELEASES REALBASIC 5.5.3 07/27/2004 04:46 PM
AUSTIN, Texas (July 28, 2004) - REAL Software, Inc. announced today
the release of REALbasic 5.5.3. REALbasic is the powerful,
easy-to-use development tool that enables Windows and Mac users to
create software for Windows, Macintosh and Linux.

REALbasic Gets Panther Support, New
Features

REALbasic Gets Panther Support, New
Features 11/04/2003 06:03 PM
By Dennis Sellers (MacCentral via MyAppleMenu)

REALbasic beefs up SQL database
features, more

REALbasic beefs up SQL database
features, more 05/18/2004 10:11 AM
REAL Software today announced the release of REALbasic 5.5.2, the latest release of the company's cross-platform visual development environment...

REALbasic gets Panther support, new
features

REALbasic gets Panther support, new
features 11/04/2003 12:07 PM
REAL Software Inc. has updated its REALbasic development tool to version 5.2.2, adding support for Mac OS X 10.3 ("Panther") and an updated Project Manager.

2D OpenGL game engine for REALbasic now
available

2D OpenGL game engine for REALbasic now
available 05/10/2004 04:40 AM
John Balestrieri today announced that the open beta period for SuperSpriteSurface 1.0 has concluded and the first official release is now available...

Free REALbasic Offer Extended

Free REALbasic Offer Extended 04/04/2005 06:33 PM
From an email I received today: “…Since we started giving away REALbasic keys to Visual Basic users two weeks ago, more than 10,000 new Windows developers like you have joined the REALbasic community. Unlike Visual Basic, REALbasic is fully supported and we will continue to improve it constantly based on feedback from you, our new users. We are so excited by the positive response from the Visual Basic user community that we have decided to…

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REALbasic update improves VB Project
Converter

REALbasic update improves VB Project
Converter 03/22/2005 05:04 PM
REAL Software on Monday announced the release of REALbasic 5.5.5, an update to its development environment for Mac, PC and Linux operating systems. This release emphasizes a continuing effort REAL Software has made to reach out to Windows developers who are experienced with Microsoft's Visual Basic (VB) environment; it includes improvements to REALbasic's VB Project Converter, which helps port existing VB applications to REALbasic, where they can be cross-compiled for Mac OS X and Linux.

Entries being accepted for REALbasic
Design Awards

Entries being accepted for REALbasic
Design Awards 02/19/2004 11:33 AM
Entries are now being accepted for REAL Software's 2004 REALbasic Design Awards...

Brought to you by MacMinute

REALbasic update adds more plug-in
options

REALbasic update adds more plug-in
options 07/27/2004 09:41 AM
REAL Software has updated its REALbasic editing environment to version 5.5.3, which adds more options for building REALbasic plug-ins...

Really Basic REALbasic offers new
content for beginners

Really Basic REALbasic offers new
content for beginners 12/29/2003 04:16 PM
Mac software developer To the Point Software announced on Monday that it has updated its free Really Basic REALbasic Web tutorial with new example projects and informational topics.

REALbasic sessions offered at OpenBase
conference

REALbasic sessions offered at OpenBase
conference 05/19/2004 08:54 AM
OpenBase International and REAL Software will provide how-to sessions on developing database applications using REALbasic as one of the offerings at the OpenBase Developers Conference, which will be held in Maui, Hawaii, Sept...

REALbasic update improves database
support, more

REALbasic update improves database
support, more 05/18/2004 04:22 PM
REAL Software Inc. on Tuesday released REALbasic 5.5.2, a maintenance update of its cross-platform software development platform that works with Mac, Windows and Linux operating systems. The new 5.5.2 release, a free update for registered 5.5 users, supports an SQL database capability to update mis-formed date and time values when used in tables and adds support for SQL RecordSet.Delete command, and adds a dataControl command to handle text encoding. Network interfaces can be assigned to specific Server Sockets to help eliminate conflicts as those interfaces are accessed. Other changes have been made to improve Linux support as well. REALbasic starts at US$99.95 and requires Mac OS X v10.1 or 8.6 or later. A demo version is available.

Entries sought for 'Made with REALbasic
Showcase'

Entries sought for 'Made with REALbasic
Showcase' 04/15/2004 02:24 PM
REAL Software is accepting entries for the Made with REALbasic Showcase, a contest designed to demonstrate the "variety and quality of software" that can be produced with the REALbasic development environment...

Office 2004 CD includes REALbasic demo

Office 2004 CD includes REALbasic demo 05/18/2004 10:11 AM
A demo version of REALbasic 5.5, the cross-platform visual development environment from Real Software, is included on the new Microsoft Office 2004 CD...

Is programming dead?

The following phrases have been identified by the grok system as matching this entry: realbasic xmlreader