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James wonders why many functions kept DWORD for parameter lengths instead of upgrading to SIZE_T or DWORD_PTR. When updating the interfaces for 64-bit Windows, there were a few guiding principles. Here are two of them. 1) Don't change an interface unless you really need to. 2) Do you really need to? Changing an interface causes all sorts of problems when porting. For example, if you change the parameters to a COM interface, then you introduce a breaking change in everybody who implements it. The number of breaking API changes in the conversion from 16-bit to 32-bit Windows was only 117.
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TDD's goal is to prevent programmers from introducing new bugs into working code. However, when you're writing code from scratch, your tests won't help you find all the bugs in your code. That's because you can't possibly write tests for all the ways your software will be used (or abused). When I first started doing TDD, I had really good tests, but I was too tired to do much exploratory QA. However, my boss wasn't, and I was very embarrassed to find that my software had lots of bugs. Simply put, he used my software in ways that I hadn't intended. Worked on my machine (as long as I didn't actually click anything).
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They are releasing products with only unit testing? That sounds suicidal
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This makes my heart sink. Will we ever find a fool-proof way to find bugs? Not to mention the amount of time it takes to create unit tests.
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FourCrate wrote: Will we ever find a fool-proof way to find bugs
From a logical perspective; no, not ever. It's also not helpful to aim at something like that, it's more appropriate to expect mistakes.
Bastard Programmer from Hell
if you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Here’s a few unusual things about C# that few C# developers seem to know about. And to those of you that say “I knew all/most of these!” I say “Where are you when I’m recruiting!” Seriously, it’s hard enough trying to find C# devs with a solid understanding of the well-known parts of the language. How many of these did you already know?
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5 of them, the indexer thing is cool, but can't think of a scenario where I'd actually use that. The enum extension is useful, that does make sense. I wonder if it's also possible for delegates.
Wout
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I knew 2, 3, 4, 7; although I've only encountered 4 by accident. Never thought about 6 before but correctly guessed what would happen from a reorder when I saw the code.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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We’re just hours away from what will hopefully be an enlightening and exciting Windows Phone 8 launch. I must admit I’ve mostly been ignoring Windows Phone the last few months . It’s hard to get excited, or even pay attention, when Microsoft is trying so hard to keep everyone in the dark. Hardware announcements with no software details? No upgradability of old devices, and little information on the WP 7.8 release that will cover those as well as new low-end devices? I just tuned the Windows Phone world out. We’ll see if Microsoft can regain my attention tomorrow. If they can’t get me interested I don’t know how they’ll get anyone interested. Sigh. What do you think of the Windows Phone 8 news?
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Windows 8's most obvious—and most divisive—new feature is its user interface. However, it would be a mistake to think that the user interface is the only thing that's new in Windows 8: there's a lot that's changed behind the scenes, too. Just as is the case with the user interface, many of the improvements made to the Windows 8 core are motivated by Microsoft's desire to transform Windows into an effective tablet operating system. Even those of us with no interest at all in tablets can stand to take advantage of these changes, however. Don't judge the Surface by (just) it's Metro surface.
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We got our hands on Microsoft's new Surface, and to its credit, it lasted a good twenty minutes before we decided to tear it open. Ready for more than just a surface-level relationship?
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Titan is built into 200 server cabinets, which is the same size as Jaguar. ORNL upgraded by moving to 16-core CPUs and the latest graphics processors, which are faster and more power efficient. Titan has 700TB of memory. Titan consumes about 9 megawatts of power and the energy costs for running the supercomputer could add up to $10 million a year.... The next milestone for supercomputers is to reach exaflop performance, which is about 1000 petaflops, by 2018. This town isn't big enough for two supervillains... er, supercomputers!
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I don't want to extend Markdown by adding tons of crazy new functionality, or radically change the way it currently works, or anything like that. I'd be opposed to such changes. I just want to solidify and standardize the simple, useful version of Markdown that is working so well for everyone right now. I want there to be an unambiguous, basic standard that everyone using Markdown can expect to work in the same way across all web sites in the world when they begin typing. Do we need a Markdown standard for more standard markup?
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The TinyBASIC port consists of an editor, called TinyBASIC One, which allows programs to be inputed, edited and run; the BASIC interpreter — including support for language features such as PRINT, REM, LET, STOP and GOTO — and in the raspberry flavour additional features include WHILE/WEND and REPEAT/UNTIL loops (but not GOTO). Yes, GOTO. But you can turn it off.
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After all the waiting and speculation about the Google Nexus 7, and all the pundits deciding that the 8GB model would go and be replaced by the 16GB at the same price, with the 32GB slotting in at the old 16GB price point, Hurricane Sandy postpones the Google Launch event which would have confirmed it.
So, have a look at the Google Play store: https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_7_8gb[^]
Isn't that interesting: the 8Gb is "Coming Soon", but the 16Gb is "This device is not for sale at this time."
Looks like the pundits were wrong!
[edit]
They were right after all: 16Gb is at the old 8Gb price, 32Gb at the old 16Gb price, and a new 32GB with GSM at £239 / $299.
To add to it, there is the Nexus 4 @ $299 / $349 (8/16 GB) and the Nexus 10 16GB for $399; 32GB for $499
http://googleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/nexus-best-of-google-now-in-three-sizes.html[^]
[/edit]
If you get an email telling you that you can catch Swine Flu from tinned pork then just delete it. It's Spam.
modified 29-Oct-12 15:44pm.
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Apart for:
Quote: Sorry! Devices on Google Play is not available in your country yet.
We're working to bring devices to more countries as quickly as possible.
Please check back again soon.
Can't wait it to get down with the price. It will be a marvelous companion in everyday commutation! Is not that it is not affordable, but as it will be a toy for me, I tough that is not wise to spend 250 euros on a toy!
Can't wait!
“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser men so full of doubts.”
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Since most free games are (usually) made by small teams on shorter timelines, they have to scale down their games in comparison to AAA titles with budgets in the tens of millions and hundreds on staff. Scaling down doesn’t always have to be a bad thing, though; sometimes whittling a game down to its core elements results in a game with a laserlike focus on what makes it fun. This week we’ve got free games that make less into more in different ways. No such thing as too many ninjas? Think again.
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Herb Sutter—Microsoft’s chief C++ language guru—recently admitted that Microsoft found implementing variadic templates—a C++11 feature that the open-sourced GCC had already possessed for a couple of years—simply too hard. Makes you wonder about brain drain at Microsoft. Poor C++11 support in Visual Studio makes porting modern C++ code a misery.
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C++11 support?
i'm still fighting C++ compilers that can't handle for-loop variable declaration and don't understand "namespace", etc..
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Microsoft killed Drive Extender not long before pulling the plug on the Windows Home Server entirely, but the intent behind it lives on in Windows 8's new Storage Spaces feature. In essence, Storage Spaces takes most of Drive Extender’s underlying functionality and implements it in a way that is more technically sound; early versions of Drive Extender sometimes corrupted data when copying files between drives and mangled file metadata, but the underlying filesystem improvements made to support Storage Spaces should make it much more robust, at least in theory. One disk to bring them all and in the darkness... File Not Found. Abort, Retry, Cancel?
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I have been trying every which way to avoid calling the new Windows 8 user experience and applications by the code name Microsoft used, Metro. But I’m giving up. I mean “Windows Store Apps”, “Microsoft Design Language”, “New Windows Experience”, or whatever BS ways they’ve been coming up with to try to refer to this stuff just doesn’t cut it. Sure they have some kind of trademark problem with the name Metro. So why not come up with some catchy easy to use name to replace it? Absent that I’m going back to using the name Metro. It’s their trademark problem, not mine.
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Quote: It’s their trademark problem, not mine.
I agree, but I can see it must be annoying for bloggers, reviewers and others that have to write articles about it.
I was reading the "Windows 8 Cheat Sheet" link you posted yesterday and the guy kept calling it TileWorld. This bothered me so much I ended up just skimming quickly through the article
Soren Madsen
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Terrence Dorsey wrote: It’s their trademark problem, not mine.
Have any details of what went wrong escaped Redmond yet? Specifically, did they:
0) Not bother to check for competing claims until after starting to talk publicly and find Metro AG unwilling to make concessions.
1) Check but assume that a GUI and a retail chain were different enough that there wasn't a problem until Metro AG's lawyers sent a nastygram.
2) Know about Metro AG, enter into negotiations, and go public on the assumption that they'd be able to make a deal; only for things to fall apart at the last minute.
3) Something else.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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