• (cs) in reply to DHager
    DHager:
    DoctorFriday:
    After I read:
    RDN is a free magazine for influential readers that provides insight [...]
    I always end up thinking "So the readers are the ones who provide the insight into Microsoft's plans? ORLY!?" How about instead:
    RDN is a free magazine for influential readers and provides insight [...]

    Really? Huh. I believe the relevant clue is that you're supposed to notice the verb tense of "to provide".

    One magazine provides things. Many readers provide things.

    Your English is rusty. Both your examples use the same verb tense (present).

    But yeah, the RDN byline is a typical example of corporate speak. So many buzzwords that they forgo grammar just to fit it all into one, short sentence.

  • (cs)

    I admit, I'm not a l33t coder, but I absolutely abhor variable names that start with "the". Talk about a waste of three keystrokes per incantation!

  • (cs) in reply to Jay
    Jay:
    Every place I've worked it seems like there are some programmes who insist on circumventing the source code control. They'll check things out for "browse only" or whatever the equivalent is, then make the file writeable and work on it. Or they'll check it out, then check it back in, and then work on it. And when I ask they say they were just playing with something experimental and didn't want to tie it up, or that as they weren't the original author or they're just a junior programmer they thought they weren't worthy to officially check it out, etc. Yes, very humble and all that, but YOU BROKE THE SOURCE CODE CONTROL SYSTEM!!

    Ha...I know a few people who will make a copy of the file, work on that, then check it out when they are done and write their private copy over the original...genius.

    Of course, the beauty of source control is that when some idiot does this to one of my files, I look through the history, cut and paste the relevant parts to an email, and send it to that person.

  • Andrew (unregistered) in reply to 404 Name Not Found
    404 Name Not Found:
    Jay:

    [...] They'll check things out for "browse only" or whatever the equivalent is, then make the file writeable and work on it. Or they'll check it out, then check it back in, and then work on it. And when I ask they say they were just playing with something experimental and didn't want to tie it up, or that as they weren't the original author or they're just a junior programmer they thought they weren't worthy to officially check it out, etc. [...]

    The real WTF here is using a non-concurrent system that locks files which are "checked out". Concurrent systems, which advises of conflicts and allows you to merge changes in, are much better. Plus - nobody can "break" the system by checking it out browse-only or whatever, since nothing ties up the files.

    Just my 2 cents, but it seems like the real problem here is the system locking code files being changed, and not programmers circumventing it.

    Concurrent system or not, programmers should not be able to circumvent the build.

    Source control always has the current, (presumably) valid version of a file. Build every release directly from source control and you'll never have this problem.

    Interpreted text files like HTML, JSP, or Python are no different than C or Fortran in that respect. Store them in source control.

  • Robert S. Robbins (unregistered)

    I've never seen a source control system used in the business world. We are not using one where I'm working now. I do have source control enabled for a web site but I'm the only person working on it now so it is just a nusiance.

  • (cs) in reply to Robert S. Robbins
    Robert S. Robbins:
    I've never seen a source control system used in the business world. We are not using one where I'm working now. I do have source control enabled for a web site but I'm the only person working on it now so it is just a nusiance.
    Wow! Just wow! I wouldn't code a single line without source control. Too many things can go wrong, and nothing is worse than a running system whose source code got lost or mangled.
  • (cs) in reply to Robert S. Robbins
    Robert S. Robbins:
    I've never seen a source control system used in the business world. We are not using one where I'm working now. I do have source control enabled for a web site but I'm the only person working on it now so it is just a nusiance.

    I know it seems like "Whats the point, I'm the only developer here!"

    However, even you can shoot yourself in the foot. With source control, you can revert back to your last commit. Trust me, backing up your directory has huge limitations, and with source control, you can review the history of what got changed. Source control should be a required tool, its not quite, but almost as important as any other tool (IDE, issue tracker, etc. )

  • Liz (unregistered)

    Gary's laughter makes me think of Phil Ken Sebben from Harvey Birdman.

    "HA! HA! Dangly parts."

  • (cs) in reply to SomeCoder
    SomeCoder:
    Well, I won't disagree with you exactly but I've been BURNED by SVN's merging functionality so locking files isn't necessarily a bad thing. I don't even know how, or what we did wrong (I'm sure it was more user error than SVN's fault but still) but we lost about 4 hours worth of work due to a completely messed up SVN merge (and as I recall, we couldn't rollback for some reason). If we had file locking, the problem wouldn't have occurred.

    There are pros and cons to both ways.

    Um... what you're really saying here is that since you never bothered to understand how to actually use a concurrent versioning system, it's obviously flawed. I shouldn't have to tell you how retarded of a position that is.

    Here is how you undo any transaction in subversion, just for future reference:

    $ svn merge -c 1230 svn://some/path svn://some/other/path

    $ svn commit svn://some/other/path ..... committed revision 1234

    Oh noes!!!!111!1one I messed up! How do I apply the reverse of a changeset back to my code?!?!

    $ svn merge -c -1234 svn://some/other/path svn://some/other/path $ svn commit ..... committed revision 1235

    It's pretty plainly explained in the subversion book. I don't know how you managed to screw it up, but you should chide yourself for it rather complaining that you were 'burned' by subversion when what really happened was that you burned yourself with uneducated use of subversion.

  • (cs) in reply to Maj najm
    Maj najm:
    DeLos:
    RandomDreamer:
    Woot Second

    No it's not important to easily keep track of code changes and revert to previous code versions. What a WTF

    I am a firm believer that the correct spelling (and more l33t) is w00t. Otherwise, if you use o's I think you should have to write it whoot and then it just looks lame.

    We Owned Other Team. ;)

    l2gamerspeak n00b

    Oh, I just saw your name and realized why you don't get it - it's all the curry

  • DHager (unregistered) in reply to savar
    savar:
    Your English is rusty. Both your examples use the same verb tense (present).

    My bad. I meant to say "conjugation", of which tense is a component.

  • (cs) in reply to Lysis
    Lysis:
    Oh, I just saw your name and realized why you don't get it - it's all the curry

    Lets keep that out of it. There are plenty of people in any ethnic groups that are as smart as you are. There are people in your own group that are pretty stupid too. Lets not knock on people just because they are different.

  • (cs) in reply to SomeCoder
    SomeCoder:
    Thuktun:
    SomeCoder:
    I've been BURNED by SVN's merging functionality
    You admit it may have been user error, but you still ascribe the problem to SVN?

    Three words: fear, uncertainty, and doubt. FUD.

    I'm sure it was user error. That doesn't mean
    Yes it does. It was user error, you were that user, who TF else do you think you can blame for your own ignorance?

  • (cs) in reply to pitchingchris
    pitchingchris:
    TheRider:
    "afraid of breaking productive operations". Even telling them we WERE NOT productive BECAUSE of that didn't help. Good golly.

    Whos productivity...

    No, whos on first. Whats productivity.

  • (cs) in reply to DeLos
    DeLos:
    Maj najm:
    DeLos:
    RandomDreamer:
    Woot Second

    No it's not important to easily keep track of code changes and revert to previous code versions. What a WTF

    I am a firm believer that the correct spelling (and more l33t) is w00t. Otherwise, if you use o's I think you should have to write it whoot and then it just looks lame.

    We Owned Other Team. ;)

    2 things:

    1. Shouldn't it be wpot? We Pwned Other Team?
    By your own argument, shouldn't it be wppt? We Pwned Pther Team?
  • (cs) in reply to savar
    savar:
    DHager:
    DoctorFriday:
    After I read:
    RDN is a free magazine for influential readers that provides insight [...]
    I always end up thinking "So the readers are the ones who provide the insight into Microsoft's plans? ORLY!?" How about instead:
    RDN is a free magazine for influential readers and provides insight [...]

    Really? Huh. I believe the relevant clue is that you're supposed to notice the verb tense of "to provide".

    One magazine provides things. Many readers provide things.

    Your English is rusty. Both your examples use the same verb tense (present).

    Well, I actually talk it all the time without needing any help from random passers-by, so I can tell you that you've entirely missed the fact that English uses an 's' on the end for two different reasons: one is about tense, and one is about plural.

    Of course, idiots who know nothing but think they're better than everyone else might not know that.

    And might not listen to anyone else even if they had ever been told!

  • (cs) in reply to Robert S. Robbins
    Robert S. Robbins:
    I've never seen a source control system used in the business world.
    Then you are inexperienced and ignorant, but there is absolutely nothing at all wrong with either of those. The point where you make an idiot of yourself is the point where you expect that "how it is for you" is the same as how it is for everyone else.
  • (cs) in reply to dkf
    dkf:
    pitchingchris:
    I think this comment was intended for the earlier article, not this one.
    Way to go, Sherlock! Not much escapes you, does it?
    I would just *love* to see the use-case that explained how it happened, though!
  • (cs) in reply to Alcari
    Alcari:
    Been There Too:
    Also, our source control system (which the boss said was easier than using software) was to do EVERYTHING on the development box and was to yell out to the other people in the room "Hey, I am working on this file".
    Ah yes, I've experienced a similar system. Stand in the hallway and shout "Is anyone using Randomfile176b.xxx?", wait for 5 seconds and if nobody responded, it was safe.
    HEY! I WAS IN THE TOILET!
  • 404 Name Not Found (unregistered) in reply to SomeCoder
    SomeCoder:

    Well, I won't disagree with you exactly but I've been BURNED by SVN's merging functionality so locking files isn't necessarily a bad thing. I don't even know how, or what we did wrong (I'm sure it was more user error than SVN's fault but still) but we lost about 4 hours worth of work due to a completely messed up SVN merge (and as I recall, we couldn't rollback for some reason). If we had file locking, the problem wouldn't have occurred.

    There are pros and cons to both ways.

    How about this - working on some library, where 2 people are working on one file, but COMPLETELY separate methods. code merge is a breeze, just copy all the changes over - you are both changing isolated components of the same file, anyway. if we used a locking mechanism on the file, development would slow down. As long as you assign the tasks appropriately, code merges should never be an issue, because you are working on different functionality, even in the same file.

  • Franz Kafka (unregistered) in reply to BobB
    BobB:
    I remember having a mentor in college that I would work under during the summer. My mentor's big thing was the Nassi-Shneiderman Diagram... I hated those things. However, EVERYTHING had to be represented by an NS Diagram, no matter how small or big or difficult to read they became. Cause, well, that's how its done in the 'real world'.

    Been in the workforce since 2001 (Solaris box in 01, baby!) and I've yet been asked to make an NS diagram for anything. I've not even seen one. I still hate those things.

    Hit the workforce in 1998 and I had to look it up. Looks pointless - perhaps something you'd use to torture undergrads.

  • DHager (unregistered)

    To clarify all the fun and silly stuff about the article tagline and grammar...

    RDN is a free magazine for influential readers that provides insight into Microsoft's plans, and news on the latest happenings and products in the Windows development marketplace.

    When it says "provides" it is simple-present tense. This is current and habitual activity.

    If it were referring to "influential readers", the tense would be the same, also referring to current and habitual activity. However, it would be conjugated as "provide" due to the fact that "magazine" is singular but "readers" is plural.

    (And yes, I do mean to write "is plural" rather than "are plural" since I'm referring to a single word. :P)

    In conclusion, the tagline, as written, is not confusing regarding what entity does the providing.

  • Harrow (unregistered) in reply to DeLos
    DeLos:
    ... Shouldn't it be wpot? We Pwned Other Team?
    W00t! is older than Pwned! by a few years.

    -Harrow.

  • (cs) in reply to halber_mensch
    halber_mensch:
    SomeCoder:
    Well, I won't disagree with you exactly but I've been BURNED by SVN's merging functionality so locking files isn't necessarily a bad thing. I don't even know how, or what we did wrong (I'm sure it was more user error than SVN's fault but still) but we lost about 4 hours worth of work due to a completely messed up SVN merge (and as I recall, we couldn't rollback for some reason). If we had file locking, the problem wouldn't have occurred.

    There are pros and cons to both ways.

    Um... what you're really saying here is that since you never bothered to understand how to actually use a concurrent versioning system, it's obviously flawed. I shouldn't have to tell you how retarded of a position that is.

    Here is how you undo any transaction in subversion, just for future reference:

    How about a little less arrogance and at least a minimum acknowledgement that they may have encountered a bug in SVN?

    404 Name Not Found:
    How about this - working on some library, where 2 people are working on one file, but COMPLETELY separate methods. code merge is a breeze, just copy all the changes over - you are both changing isolated components of the same file, anyway. if we used a locking mechanism on the file, development would slow down. As long as you assign the tasks appropriately, code merges should never be an issue, because you are working on different functionality, even in the same file.

    I love CVS/Subversion dearly, but I'm currently witnessing its limits. We're migrating from plain eclipse to RSA for modelling and coding. The modelling is mainly done by analysts, and all the data of a model (which can and does consists of dozens of diagrams and hundreds of objects) is saved as one big XML file (you can split it into smaller files, but our architects claim that that also creates some pitfalls they want to avoid). The data canges at the drop of a hat - opening a diagram and immediately closing it often results in changes.

    This means that the analysts (for whom working with source control is a new experience) constantly have to deal with merges. There is a special merge dialog that lists the changes abstractly, so at least they don't have to deal with the raw XML, but it's still very problematic. There is at least one serious bug in the merge dialog, and the inexperience of the analysts is certainly also a big factor, but it also clearly shows that merging even non-conflicting changes is always a non-trivial operation and that it's a mistake to create a system that forces users to do it constantly.

    The most annoying thing about the whole problem was the guy responsible for coaching the analysts who insisted that working on one huge file and constantly merging changes was no more difficult or problematic than working on separate files.

  • (cs) in reply to DoctorFriday
    DoctorFriday:
    After I read:
    RDN is a free magazine for influential readers that provides insight into Microsoft's plans, and news on the latest happenings and products in the Windows development marketplace.
    I always end up thinking "So the readers are the ones who provide the insight into Microsoft's plans? ORLY!?" How about instead:
    RDN is a free magazine for influential readers and provides insight into Microsoft's plans, and news on the latest happenings and products in the Windows development marketplace.

    If it were the readers who provided the insight, it would be "RDN is a free magazine for inluential readers who provide insight . . .". Using that and the verb conjugation are sufficient signal that "readers" isn't the referent. "For influential readers" is a prepositional phrase that modifies "magazine"; if you remove it from the sentence, it reads perfectly well. You can't remove the phrase containing "magazine" from the sentence without it making absolutely no sense. There's absolutely no reason to change the sentence; if you're confused by it, it's not the fault of the person who wrote it.

  • (cs) in reply to pitchingchris
    pitchingchris:

    Easy answer for that... Don't use Visual SourceSafe. Use Subversion. Then you can all check out your own copy and its like have a private repository. Course, if you modify the same location in the same file, you will have to merge them together, but I'd rather use the tools than to do it by hand. Someone with decent knowledge of how to use SVN will be able to work productively without breaking anything. And if you do break something, its easy enough to revert your changes and try again.

    SourceSafe works for multiple checkouts/merge just fine. If there are merge conflicts on checkin, it will start a visual merge tool. No need to fire a 'merge' command line in the dark, hoping that it works automajjically, rather than screws up 4 hours of your work.

    Just make sure to checkout files, not just "get latest/writeable". VSS integration with Visual Studio does checkout automatically as you attempt to modify a file.

  • (cs) in reply to brazzy

    Please everyone, take note:

    brazzy:
    I love CVS/Subversion dearly, but I'm currently witnessing its limits.

    This person knows how to use "its" and "it's" correctly. Above, brazzy needs the possessive form, and uses "its." Below, brazzy properly uses the contraction for "it is."

    brazzy:
    ...but it's still very problematic.

    Thank you...from a grammar nazi.

  • (cs) in reply to Flash

    I swear I worked on this site, and with that developer..

    (working for a consultancy firm, the client (who this guy was the development manager for) had decided they needed to replace their static page pressing system with a guided search / nav system... I had to hammer some pretty nice technology into some of the uggliest 4000 line in-line asp.net pages I've ever come across.

    In the end, we rewrote the entire site from the ground-up...

  • BobB (unregistered) in reply to Franz Kafka
    Franz Kafka:
    Hit the workforce in 1998 and I had to look it up. Looks pointless - perhaps something you'd use to torture undergrads.

    I believe you are correct good Sir.

  • theCommentor (unregistered) in reply to n9ds
    I admit, I'm not a l33t coder, but I absolutely abhor variable names that start with "the". Talk about a waste of three keystrokes per incantation!

    Funny, I always liked it...It's so...definitive! Why use just ANY id when you can use theId?

    TheCommentor

  • (cs) in reply to hobart
    Out of all of the dumb things going on there, I don't think that's particularly bad. Sure, it's taking the "self documenting code" idea a little far, but I'm not sure it's particularly harmful.
    Besides, it doesn't work. Take legal texts for example. They are all perfectly valid English. For some reason, you still need a lawyer to understand them...
  • (cs) in reply to theCommentor
    theCommentor:
    Why use just ANY id when you can use theId?

    I always used "the" to indicate a singleton, initially as a warning that you should not create or delete it yourself (the system would by design create and delete it at the proper time), and later just as a reminder that it was a singleton (because the object itself was designed such that you could create and destroy it all you wanted).

    Unfortunately, generating pages with an offline process is still the way Crap Comix is maintained. Well, not maintained, really... I lost the offline processor. I keep saying I'm going to write a truly dynamic web site for it, but I never get around to it, and eventually I'll stumble over the source to the offline processor on one of my old hard drives.

    The way this happened was that originally, the system only had static images. Since no image would ever be deleted, it was trivial to simply append a new image, and at the end of a page just copy it and make a few edits. After some visitor complaints, I built a JavaScript menu system, which needed to be rewritten every time something was added because dates were hardcoded. After a year, it turned into a big pile of cruft.

    When Crap Comix: The Next Generation goes live (if it ever does), it's going to be truly dynamic and pulled from a relational database. Yes, the classic pages are a big WTF, but true WTFs aren't created on purpose... they're grown insidiously over time, and the people growing them are usually saying "WTF" themselves.

  • Dave (unregistered)

    The code being worked with (and apparently written) by the author sounds nauseatingly close to my current project.

    In my defense, it was handed to me and only recently (after 2 years) has it come to the point that I will feel I'll be able to update it using fancy things like PHP5, MySQL5 and OOD :p

  • 008 (unregistered) in reply to theabbas
    theabbas:
    After thinking about it, I'd go and do a find replace reactor thus making

    thefiles theresult

    become

    /* the / files / the */ result

    Is a find replace reactor as powerful as a nuclear one?

  • Mentorless (unregistered)

    The idea of finding a mentor is often just a pleasant fantasy.

    There are a lot of programmers out there and very few people who really know what they're doing. The chances of you actually working under one of those people is pretty low.

    On the other hand, Many of those smart people write blogs, write books, post to news groups, etc. Read and try stuff out for yourself.

  • JohnFx (unregistered) in reply to Pyro

    If anyone needs me. I'll be in my ivory tower...

  • (cs) in reply to DaveK
    DaveK:
    pitchingchris:
    TheRider:
    "afraid of breaking productive operations". Even telling them we WERE NOT productive BECAUSE of that didn't help. Good golly.

    Whos productivity...

    No, whos on first. Whats productivity.

    Hmmm - I see that my original post that pitchingchris is referring to was deleted. Would the moderator care to tell me why? I would like to avoid things that could provoque deletion, if possible, if I only knew what it was.
  • (cs) in reply to TheRider
    TheRider:
    DaveK:
    pitchingchris:
    TheRider:
    "afraid of breaking productive operations". Even telling them we WERE NOT productive BECAUSE of that didn't help. Good golly.

    Whos productivity...

    No, whos on first. Whats productivity.

    Hmmm - I see that my original post that pitchingchris is referring to was deleted. Would the moderator care to tell me why? I would like to avoid things that could provoque deletion, if possible, if I only knew what it was.

    You mean this post?

  • (cs)

    Wow, I feel like my goggles just demisted.

    I always wondered about the MyWhatever variables in the older corners of of our codebase. I just figured it was some weird echo of the whole Microsoft MyDocs/MyComputer ghastliness.

    I'm gonna be reading legacy code in a whole new light from now on...

  • (cs) in reply to Quinnum
    Quinnum:
    TheRider:
    Hmmm - I see that my original post that pitchingchris is referring to was deleted. Would the moderator care to tell me why? I would like to avoid things that could provoque deletion, if possible, if I only knew what it was.

    You mean this post?

    Yes. Thanks. Sorry. It seems my goggles, they did nothing a few minutes ago. I was blessed with blindness...

  • Russ (unregistered) in reply to Jay
    Jay:
    pitchingchris:
    And Don't even get me started on the lack of source control. Without the proper tools, you're just hurting yourself. Anybody remember what it was like without source control ? Always hand merging files. Or not allowing access to things... Its a wonder anything ever got done.

    Every place I've worked it seems like there are some programmes who insist on circumventing the source code control. They'll check things out for "browse only" or whatever the equivalent is, then make the file writeable and work on it. Or they'll check it out, then check it back in, and then work on it. And when I ask they say they were just playing with something experimental and didn't want to tie it up, or that as they weren't the original author or they're just a junior programmer they thought they weren't worthy to officially check it out, etc. Yes, very humble and all that, but YOU BROKE THE SOURCE CODE CONTROL SYSTEM!!

    What kind of ghetto ass source control are you using where you can't work on a file after you check it in (of where you have to check it in), or where a user action can break source control.

    God upgrade to svn already

  • BoxerM (unregistered) in reply to DaveK
    DaveK:
    pitchingchris:
    TheRider:
    "afraid of breaking productive operations". Even telling them we WERE NOT productive BECAUSE of that didn't help. Good golly.

    Whos productivity... Locking files just kills productivity. If they mean production code, than, use branches and a concurrent system. There also should be at least some minimal isolation by whats being built internally and whats being put into production.

    No, whos on first. Whats productivity.

    You mean What's and Who's. The original poster means Whose productivity, or to phrase it better, breaking productivity by whom.

  • BoxerM (unregistered) in reply to DaveK
    DaveK:
    savar:
    DHager:
    DoctorFriday:
    After I read:
    RDN is a free magazine for influential readers that provides insight [...]
    I always end up thinking "So the readers are the ones who provide the insight into Microsoft's plans? ORLY!?" How about instead:
    RDN is a free magazine for influential readers and provides insight [...]

    Really? Huh. I believe the relevant clue is that you're supposed to notice the verb tense of "to provide".

    One magazine provides things. Many readers provide things.

    Your English is rusty. Both your examples use the same verb tense (present).

    Well, I actually talk it all the time without needing any help from random passers-by, so I can tell you that you've entirely missed the fact that English uses an 's' on the end for two different reasons: one is about tense, and one is about plural.

    Of course, idiots who know nothing but think they're better than everyone else might not know that.

    And might not listen to anyone else even if they had ever been told!

    What do the uses of adding an 's' have to do with anything? He's just pointing out that the conjugation (wrong word used here, but corrected in a later comment) of 'to provide' indicates that the subject of the sentence is the magazine.

    Also, I believe that one speaks English rather than talks it.

  • Yazeran (unregistered) in reply to Andrew
    Andrew:

    Concurrent system or not, programmers should not be able to circumvent the build.

    Source control always has the current, (presumably) valid version of a file. Build every release directly from source control and you'll never have this problem.

    Interpreted text files like HTML, JSP, or Python are no different than C or Fortran in that respect. Store them in source control.

    Amen.

    I originally started out coding the usual spaghetti way (I have no formal SC education (my background is as a geologist / solid state chemist). After 2 years or so the system I had made (which was programmed on the server for production as we had only that one (not on the internet mind you, only used internally, but for critical data acquisition/test setup control) I finally got a development server and started using CVS. Initially I thought: 'what is the big deal?', but what a relief! Now I only make a production version directly from the CVS files (all checked in and not writable) although I do all my work in perl.

    Yours Yazeran

    Plan: To go to Mars one day with a hammer.

  • (cs) in reply to Robert S. Robbins

    I would have serious issues working on any project without using a source control system. A decent system will allow check ins etc. to be performed with a couple of mouse clicks these days, how that is considered a nuisance I will never know; plus the benefits far out way the minimal time it is using to perform these tasks.

    Even personal projects where I am the only coder and user get checked into my own svn repository.

  • prick (unregistered)

    the real WTF is that MFD's comments are good.

  • (cs) in reply to Tobias
    Tobias:
    The real WTF is that the Irish Girl is gone.

    And that the Disclaimer "This Article was posted before" is just copied without modification from "Jurassic Programmers".

    No, the real WTF is that little kiddies like you waste our time reading your moronic posts. If you want to look at girls, try babes.net - this was never intended to be a "show the teenieboppers girls" site.

    And the disclaimer? When did having a canned disclaimer become a bad thing?

  • (cs) in reply to SomeCoder
    SomeCoder:
    If we had half a brain between us, the problem wouldn't have occurred.

    There. Fixed it for ya.

  • _js_ (unregistered) in reply to DoctorFriday
    DoctorFriday:
    After I read:
    RDN is a free magazine for influential readers that provides insight into Microsoft's plans, and news on the latest happenings and products in the Windows development marketplace.
    I always end up thinking "So the readers are the ones who provide the insight into Microsoft's plans? ORLY!?" How about instead:
    RDN is a free magazine for influential readers and provides insight into Microsoft's plans, and news on the latest happenings and products in the Windows development marketplace.
    You didn't notice the word "that", which cannot point to readers, who are people, but only to an object like a magazine?

    Your use of and also ruins the second and, making it a lot harder to understand the sentence.

    You "fixing" a sentence results in a bug that's worse than the problem that never even existed. I hope noone in this world allows you anywhere near computer code, the only thing you would do is make it worse.

  • (cs) in reply to SomeCoder
    SomeCoder:
    I'm sure it was user error. That doesn't mean I'm not gun shy and if the program allows you to commit a user error like that, there are issues.

    So the next time you write some code for 4 hours straight to meet a deadline, I want you to delete it and all the backups, code repositories, etc. Then see how you feel about it.

    So let's see... If you are at a command (DOS) prompt, and type "del .", and Windows/DOS says "Are you sure (Y/N)?", and you type "Y" and hit Enter, the problem is that Windows/DOS is bad and not that you're a dumbass? Can't say I agree with your reasoning here...

    Or if you work on code for 4 hours straight, and don't have the brains to save your work before trying to do a merge into your VCS, it's the VCS software's fault? Riiiiigggghhttt.

    SomeCoder:
    I am NOT saying that file locking is the answer but I'm just saying that it does have it's purpose. Truth be told, my favorite system is probably SVN though I don't trust the merging capabilities of it, user error or no.

    I think the file locking systems are designed to protect businesses from morons who aren't smart enough to use computers, myself.

    I have an idea. Boot your machine from a DOS floppy, and from the A:> prompt, type "format c:" and hit Enter. When DOS says "All data will be lost. Are you sure you want to continue (Y/N)?", type "Y" and then hit Enter. Then find a career you're actually smart enough for, and stay the hell away from computers.

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