Click here to Skip to main content
16,014,608 members

Survey Results

Are you an optimist or a pessimist?   [Edit]

Survey period: 31 May 2004 to 6 Jun 2004

Most of our time as developers is spent concentrating on what can go wrong. Has this affected your world view? (Suggested by Wolf Blass Cabernet Sauvignon, '02)

OptionVotes% 
I'm an optimist (everything will work out)22814.41
I'm a realist (things break, the world turns)84653.48
I'm a pessimist (it'll never work properly)694.36
I'm a panic merchant (it'll break and catch on fire)442.78
I'm an engineer (It can only break if the design was poor)39524.97



 
GeneralRe: Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst... Pin
James R. Twine2-Jun-04 3:48
James R. Twine2-Jun-04 3:48 
GeneralRe: Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst... Pin
Paul Watson1-Jun-04 20:58
sitebuilderPaul Watson1-Jun-04 20:58 
GeneralRe: Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst... Pin
James R. Twine2-Jun-04 4:00
James R. Twine2-Jun-04 4:00 
GeneralRe: Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst... Pin
Paul Watson2-Jun-04 4:17
sitebuilderPaul Watson2-Jun-04 4:17 
GeneralRe: Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst... Pin
James R. Twine2-Jun-04 4:55
James R. Twine2-Jun-04 4:55 
GeneralRe: Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst... Pin
Gary Wheeler2-Jun-04 3:28
Gary Wheeler2-Jun-04 3:28 
GeneralRe: Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst... Pin
James R. Twine2-Jun-04 4:02
James R. Twine2-Jun-04 4:02 
GeneralRe: Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst... Pin
John R. Shaw2-Jun-04 20:17
John R. Shaw2-Jun-04 20:17 
This is a prime example of why good documentation is needed.

Back in the DOS days, before windows, I wrote a complete UI (that worked in graphics and text mode). It had one overriding theme, every thing was checked; if it failed, it happen before the UI function call was made. If it happen after, then resources where exhausted (memory or disk space).

What is with the "good documentation" comment?

Well, some-times speed is more important than parameter checking (such as memset)! If every function checked it's parameters' then we would be producing redundant code. Therefor, if a function that you are calling already does parameter checking then why check before calling that function.

I automatically want to check each and every parameter passed to every function that I write.

"Know when to hold them; Know when to fold them; Know when to walk away"

INTP
GeneralRelated Joke Pin
Glenn E. Lanier II1-Jun-04 6:26
Glenn E. Lanier II1-Jun-04 6:26 
GeneralRe: Related Joke Pin
Navin1-Jun-04 8:43
Navin1-Jun-04 8:43 
GeneralRe: Related Joke Pin
Anonymous2-Jun-04 1:39
Anonymous2-Jun-04 1:39 
GeneralRe: Related Joke Pin
John R. Shaw2-Jun-04 19:01
John R. Shaw2-Jun-04 19:01 
GeneralRe: Related Joke Pin
John R. Shaw2-Jun-04 18:55
John R. Shaw2-Jun-04 18:55 
GeneralRe: Related Joke Pin
steswork3-Jun-04 4:37
steswork3-Jun-04 4:37 
GeneralOptimist/realist? Pin
Navin1-Jun-04 2:59
Navin1-Jun-04 2:59 
GeneralRe: Optimist/realist? Pin
Colin Angus Mackay1-Jun-04 3:09
Colin Angus Mackay1-Jun-04 3:09 
GeneralRe: Optimist/realist? Pin
John R. Shaw2-Jun-04 19:20
John R. Shaw2-Jun-04 19:20 
GeneralRe: Optimist/realist? Pin
John R. Shaw2-Jun-04 20:36
John R. Shaw2-Jun-04 20:36 
GeneralPessimist or realistic. Pin
Prakash Nadar31-May-04 23:18
Prakash Nadar31-May-04 23:18 
GeneralRe: Pessimist or realistic. Pin
Megan Forbes1-Jun-04 0:22
Megan Forbes1-Jun-04 0:22 
GeneralRe: Pessimist or realistic. Pin
Prakash Nadar1-Jun-04 16:26
Prakash Nadar1-Jun-04 16:26 
GeneralApparently I'm an engineer Pin
Megan Forbes31-May-04 23:04
Megan Forbes31-May-04 23:04 
GeneralRe: Apparently I'm an engineer Pin
Roger Wright1-Jun-04 3:46
professionalRoger Wright1-Jun-04 3:46 
GeneralI'm an engineer Pin
Marc Clifton31-May-04 8:13
mvaMarc Clifton31-May-04 8:13 
GeneralRe: I'm an engineer Pin
John R. Shaw2-Jun-04 21:00
John R. Shaw2-Jun-04 21:00 

General General    News News    Suggestion Suggestion    Question Question    Bug Bug    Answer Answer    Joke Joke    Praise Praise    Rant Rant    Admin Admin   

Use Ctrl+Left/Right to switch messages, Ctrl+Up/Down to switch threads, Ctrl+Shift+Left/Right to switch pages.