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Post by Yahweh on May 9, 2009 18:27:34 GMT -5
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Post by Yahweh on May 9, 2009 22:36:50 GMT -5
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Post by DrKilljoy on May 13, 2009 13:04:42 GMT -5
I'm somewhat familiar with the history of programming languages, so this provided me with a few laughs while (after I consulted outside sources) teaching me a few new things. I had no idea the first "programmer" was a woman. Overall, a nice find.
This always bugged me, though, when I worked with it: Why does Pascal use "X := X + Y" notation?
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Post by Alexandria on May 13, 2009 13:31:11 GMT -5
Considering I'm a software engineer, that made me smile. =D
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Zabimaru
Full Member
Always amused and bemused
Posts: 241
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Post by Zabimaru on May 13, 2009 13:31:44 GMT -5
I'm somewhat familiar with the history of programming languages, so this provided me with a few laughs while (after I consulted outside sources) teaching me a few new things. I had no idea the first "programmer" was a woman. Overall, a nice find. This always bugged me, though, when I worked with it: Why does Pascal use "X := X + Y" notation? Ada Lovelace was a really cool woman. She had lots of ideas about the future of computing that nobody else would even have imagined at that time. I love scientists from around the Victorian era and she is definitely one of the interesting ones. As for the :=, well they have to use something to separate assignment from comparison. Many languages have a single equals sign for assignment, while using for instance == for comparison. Pascal chose to use = for comparison and instead create a new compound symbol, := for assignment. Which syntax is the more logical choice feels like a matter of taste. To me, the pascal syntax feels right. In real life, if we see a statement like "X = Y" the equals sign is telling us that the value of X is the same as the value of Y, not that Y is assigned the value of X. So checking for equality with a normal equals sign feels intuitive to me. Other people feel differently of course, but there are plenty of programming languages so we can usually find some syntax we get along with  Sometimes I feel that the LISP-syntax is the best there'll ever be though. You haven't written a real program before you've written code that ends with seventeen end parentheses  |
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Post by The_L on May 14, 2009 11:24:19 GMT -5
As a former computer major who failed at C++, I lol'ed.
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Post by GodIsRealUnlessDeclaredInteger on May 15, 2009 10:18:19 GMT -5
I laughed hysterically while and after reading the link. This always bugged me, though, when I worked with it: Why does Pascal use "X := X + Y" notation? because mathematically, = means equals, while := for assignments is even cromulent in maths class. IMHO this syntax makes more sense, but this is a matter of taste. Nothing is as confusing as the way Forth does it though. Speaking of it. How come Forth is lacking? It is neat! |
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