Comment On An Alternative to "Traditional" Array Resizing

Looks like fairly good job security to me.

Bwahaha.

MsgBox "See DICE.COM to find a better programmer.", vbOkOnly, "Lousy Programmer Error"

hey, all you 21st century nerds, there's an easy answer to this one. The programmer is a dyed in the wool Cobol programmer (albeit he is using vb6 now and hasnt read the manual).
20 years ago it was standard practice to yell from the rooftops when an array got close to full (so the array is probably dim'd at 500).

I like this so much I reposted it on my blog!

Really Brilliant.

probably one of the designers stated there would be max 475 warehouses....

So a clever consultant WOULD PROGRAM THAT.

If you want more..... Pay UP !!!!!!
I really like it.....

That might have had some resemblance to humour if there was actually some way to tell what encoding it's in. For all you know, it's encoded in UTF-32. :-)

As for the job security part, I can just picture the conversation between this programmer('s company?) and the client:

Client: We seem to be having trouble with something called 'arrays'.

Programmer: You need an upgrade. It'll take a month and about $20,000.

Client: Oh, thank you, thank you! You're our saviour!

At which point the programmer goes back to his keyboard, increments the magic number by 1, and spends the next 29 days playing Doom 3.

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But the best part is when you reveal yourself in all your glory to the
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As you drive your array deep inside her RAM, she'll gasp as you
reclaim more memory for your warehouses. And the intense experience you give
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@Guayo- normally I dislike your posts because you defend code that should never have seen the light of day, and you explain how it's acceptable for such atrocities to make their way into software when the rest of us clearly see how bad it is. However, that last post had me laughing until I puked. Then I laughed at that. Then at your post again. Then I made a sandwich. Thank you sir.

I would really like to focus on the daily WTF, make comments on the code, etc. However...I have this image of "J" in my mind which I just can't shake. I picture him wearing one of those big blue "puffy" winter jackets (you know the ones I'm talking about) and one of those ski caps with the fake "dreads" sticking out at the top. I picture him beating his chest (wearing this ridiculous outfit) and screaming at the top of his lungs, "Meesa pimp-playa in tha hiz-ouze!!!" It's like I've been given this gift to see what this "J" character is all about and it's really disturbing me.

Yousa Jar Jar Bank$! LOL

Note to developer: when you get the call and change your array dim statement, don't forget to change the array size check as well!

@Dave: Just FYI, this "ridiculous outfit" as you put it, is all the rage in my SUBURBAN neighborhood. I have a similar puffy winter jacket which is baby blue in color. Hardly threatening if you ask me.

Correction: my GIRLFRIEND has the baby blue jacket. Not me. Really.

Hilarious, but if you're really going to take that crazy route, he should include IT contact info stored in a variable in an easy to access place (config file) and the "magic number" he's using should be a variable because...

if the coder increase the array size beyond 475 but doesn't change the code to fix this wacko check, the program will still die even though the array size is bigger.

That is funny!!!!!!

I like the 475 constant. :)

Why 475? Because there are 475 days in a year! :)

Why do your quotation marks look silly?

~JOSh-X

Should includes the phone number for contact !

I call this the "aw, fuck it pattern"

Speaking of redim, I had a student ask me if .NET improved the "redimming" speed of VB. He was boasting his app was too big to be handled in VB6, and it started to slow down after they inserted 50,000 items into an array...

I <3 Magic Numbers!

Looks like they use 475 for max on ALL array sizes!!!

Unbefuckinglieveable.

@Phil Motuzko: That was goddamn hilarious LOL

My guess here is that the programmer heard about the slow nature of ReDim'ing an array, so he made an array from the start with 475 entries. He was probably told that the dataset would never get bigger than that, but he thought ahead to the future and used this method of error handling just in case.

And before anyone takes this out of context, I am in no way defending this. It's absolutely retarded. Edit the code (raise the limit), recompile, redistribute the program... yep, sounds like an easy fix (a.k.a. job security).

Got to admire the fact 475 wasn't even declared as a constant though, and the error message is in a messagebox while the current value or recs is just printed to the form.

MsgBox "I'm sorry, Dave. I can't do that.", vbOkOnly, "HAL9000"

Hey, that's not in UNICODE!

Looks like Good job security - also looks like a good way to _never_ get promoted :D

I don't see the problem. I mean, really, 475 warehouses should be enough for anybody.

His code is wack.

Chad: mwahahahahah! You're too much. :)

Chad: mwahahahahah! You're too much. :)

I also like the fact that he used the "End" statement. Hope everything was cleaned up, and he left nothing hanging around.

That's the schnizzle. And I'm for rizzle. (Please pardon my sporadic ghetto-tastic comments. It comes from 35 years of living with my mom and listening to Eminem CDs, whilst trying to have some semblance of street credibility. These sort of outbursts were bound to surface sooner or later. Just trying to be hard ya'll. Peace.)

"475 warehouses ought to be enough for anybody."... Bill Gates

LOL. I don't agree with the 475 days in a year though (really :-))
My guess is he started with 250 and already got 9 phonecalls

Client's thoughts when message box appears:
"WTF is an array?"

Joking aside, even as this seems to be a good example of the reasons behind Indian' IT outsourcing going high, the little context given to this snip isn't enough to me to be sure it's a genuine WTF. I mean, how do we know if an array of more than 475 (warehouses) would break havoc in the system?
Not everyone have the luxury of a language supporting preconditions, postconditions, invariants, etc. Of course he could implement a better assertion mechanism but my point is how do we know this code is just the finest example of programmers' laziness and not an example of dealing with unsafe system state?

Don't make me come over there and Poppa Kapp...

hmm... still better than this:

unsigned char[64] SQLStatementBuffer;

I love it when they call me big Poppa....

My guess is that 475 was the highest number he could think of

Brent:
mwahahahahaha...lol..!!
I was laughing aloud in my cubicle on that one..!! I think that's the best WTF ;-)

When did the daily WTF become infested with wannabe rappers and pimps? This is pathetic. To J: you're living at home with your mom and you listen to Eminem to be "hard". How sad is that. I can picture you coding at your computer in a hooded sweatsuit, bobbing your head to the latest Slim Shady track with a scowl on your face. Dude, you're *35* years old. Act your age.

> When did the daily WTF become infested with wannabe rappers...

Hahahaha, the nerd is all upset that his narrow acceptancee field is being invaded by people slightly different from him.

Dave, I think you need to relax a bit my brotha. These peeps up in this hizzie just be tryin' ta reprazent they codin' skillz an' they all be dissin some ill code.

Seriously dude if you don't get that we're JOKING when we talk that way. Anyone that does use such language is POOR and therefore doesn't have a computer.

Man, none o' you cats be down with my man tha h-dog, no one repr'sent his pryde like that hep fool. Too bad they down at They Onion gone did join the Man and lock him behind some bogus paysite. Buncha punks.

http://www.gusworld.com.au/nrc/herb.htm

Itsa cryin shame, man. Nuthin less.

Fo' sheezy?

Wannabe rap pimp: A-shizzle!
Average white guy: Gezhundeit!

Okay, I'll calm down. But I just need to know something for my own peace of mind. Why is it that these upper class white kids feel as if they need to rage against the system? Is it because mommy and daddy "downgraded" their bentley to a beemer and now junior has a 'tude? Is it because the maid didn't fix their bed up "just right"? (I could see how that would be really infuriating.) Maybe the fillet mignon was overcooked? Now that's a real downer! Did the parents cut the allowance down to $300 a week instead of the usual $500? Or maybe, just maybe, it's because mom took away their favorite Eminem CD? Look out now! Reginald...I mean, "pimp-playa" is on the prowl. He's "hard" and boy is he angry. Just look at that scowl and that ever-intimidating hooded sweatsuit! Oh my!

Word that, yo'

It's like my home-boy M.C.Skwared said,

I take my thing out my britches
Give it to the beah-chez
Get out my face, grrl
I said I'd pay for the sti-chez

Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout.

Peace Out, yo.