So Microsoft just named their new OS Vista.
Can you hear the crickets? I mean, why is this an event?
This also leads me to think about how naming has become so important in the software world.
It does work, but people spend too much time dreaming up incredible names without actually delivering.
China Severs Its Currency’s Link to Dollar
By Stephanie Hoo, Associated Press Writer
China Severs Currency’s Peg to the U.S. Dollar, Adopting a More Flexible System
The man, the legend, one of the main guys behind Object Oriented design… may be looking for a job.
As part of HP’s cuts from their new CEO, Hurd, Dr. Kay is available.
So far, Alan has worked for Xerox, Atari, Apple, Disney, and HP.
– dru
I have the Dell 24″ widescreen display. They have just dropped the price again to $780 Wow!
(Note: this blog entry is more of a note to myself, rather than an info service to anybody who ends up here somehow)
Over time, after programming in a few languages, you learn about the good and bad things in each language.
C++ has many flaws, inconsistencies, or parts of the spec left up to the interpretation of the compiler writer.
It does, however, have a few cool features. One is worth mentioning.
If an object is instantiated on the stack, it is guaranteed to be destroyed when that scope goes away. It is also guaranteed that the object getting destroyed will invoke it’s destructor before leaving that scope. I think this is the coolest feature and probably the biggest win when using C++. In any other language that I know, this behaviour is not that well defined.
In C++ it is great for all sorts of things like a busy cursor or a lock object. It is the basis for the reference counting movement being put forth into the new language specs. I mean, if you have more than one exit in your function, it is too easy to miss the release of some object.
Here is a simple example:
void someFunc(void)
{
CWaitCursor waitCursor;
// Some stuff that will take a long time }
or..
void someFunc(void)
{
CFile file;
file.open();
SmartPtr
Regardless of what happens in that function, even an exception…, the destructor will get called when that function leaves. For the case of the file object, you can guarantee that you don’t leak a descriptor or that the DataObj memory doesn’t get returned to the system.
Once you use it, you want to use it all the time. This feature works best with nested scopes within your code.
// Some code....
obj->release(); { CThreadLock lock; // Some very fast operation g_threadPool->remove(obj); }
delete obj;
Recently, I had to do a locking mechanism in JavaScript and it had multiple exits in the function. I had to put an un-lock at all the exits. This is very error prone.
I think this is probably similar to what some of the Aspect people like about those systems. Being able to do things regardless of how the function is entered or exited. I think more programming languages should allow hooks or triggers to occur on objects based on their scope.
I had to take a flight back east, and I used Southwest since they opened up to some new destinations out there.
This is the 3rd time I’ve used Southwest and I have to say that I definitely enjoy their service and style. I like the kiosks that they have at the airport. They are super simple to use. I also like the open seating. The staff knows how to crack a joke as well.
I don’t mind the lack of food or other old school perks. Their prices are excellent and I just want to read or sleep during the flight anyways. No frills are just fine.
I’m going to use them whenever I can.
Wow! Innovation!
Lets here it for globalization and the internet. This one comes from Russia (and Engadget and Steve’s Blog) with love.
Check out the Photoshop and the Quake stuff at the bottom!
How much do they cost? That is the question. I hope Scoble and Microsoft’s hardware group picks up on this!
