[Coco] The Programmer's quick guide to the languages wasRe: OS9 Pascal

[Gene Heskett]

On Tuesday 14 August 2007, Willard Goosey wrote:
>>Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:14:47 -0400
>>From: Gene Heskett <gene.heskett at verizon.net>
>>
>>>   * Pascal: The compiler won't let you shoot yourself in the foot.
>>
>>In my experience it won't let you do anything because no matter how you
>> write it, its an obscure syntax error.
>
>Heh.  Well, as a teaching tool at least it teaches you how to look up
>obscure syntax. ;-)

Yabut, that's one of the pages with an error in the book.

>Gotta agree with you though, esp. closely-compliant compilers like
>OS-9 Pascal.  The last couple of versions of Turbo Pascal were almost
>usable...

Never used it, allergic to M$ stuff you know.

>>>   * APL: You shoot yourself in the foot, then spend all day figuring out
>>>     how to do it in fewer characters.
>>
>>Yes, one should be sufficient.
>
>"Every program has at least one bug, and can be reduced in size by one
>instruction.  From this we can deduce that every program can be
>reduced to one instruction that doesn't work."

Chuckle.  ISTR having heard that one too, 25+ years back up the log maybe.

>From the fortune file.
>
>>You can do that in System 36 rpg III too, but it comes back in only 42
>> hours, with a plaster cast, subjected to surgery that makes a mirror image
>> out of it, and renamed to 'shinbone'.
>>
>:-)ROTFL
>:
>>>   * Access: You try to point the gun at your foot, but it shoots holes in
>>>     all your Borland distribution diskettes instead.
>>
>>Apt.  Justifiable too. :)
>
>I missed Access, somewhere. But if they're talking about database
>systems, the CoCo has a port of Sculptor.  From what little I've used
>it, it's  a cross between BASIC and dBase III.  I haven't used it
>enough to make a snarky comment like these about it, though.

Me either.

>>But in assembler, the foot you must invent is wearing a bulletproof vest
>>because you wrote it that way.  One could also write it so that it has a
>> hole which exactly fits the bullet, my favorite technique. :)
>
>Actually, what scares me about assembler is having to modify someone
>else's foot.

That's helped by having a disassembler that knows about the defines.
And if it uses that to tell you that the next 3 bytes are 'os9 setstat' then 
the job of getting into the original programmers mind is much easier.  Then 
as you figure it out, you put in comments so you can figure it out next year 
too.

>>Good for a chuckle with my first coffee of the day, thanks.
>
>Heh, no problem.  there are other versions, too, describing operating
>systems, etc.

Some of which are no doubt not intended for mixed company. :)

>Heck, I even made one up for all the various computers 
>in my house. :-)
>
>Willard

-- 
Cheers, Gene
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
Anybody can win, unless there happens to be a second entry.