Comments on: The Economics of Programming Languages in One Short Lesson http://pocoproject.org/blog/?p=58 News and discussion for the POCO Community Thu, 09 May 2013 12:05:16 +0200 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: alex http://pocoproject.org/blog/?p=58&cpage=1#comment-173 alex Thu, 22 Mar 2007 21:39:13 +0000 http://appinf.com/poco/blog/?p=58#comment-173 There are many "flavors" of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correctness" rel="nofollow">correctness</a>. What I meant in this context was: yes, you can skip checking for null pointer and make code run faster, but you are significantly increasing your chances for failure. There are many “flavors” of correctness. What I meant in this context was: yes, you can skip checking for null pointer and make code run faster, but you are significantly increasing your chances for failure.

]]> By: paschal http://pocoproject.org/blog/?p=58&cpage=1#comment-172 paschal Thu, 22 Mar 2007 12:13:03 +0000 http://appinf.com/poco/blog/?p=58#comment-172 What exactly does correctness mean? Is it the same as reliable in the sense of producing predictable, consistent result or in the sense of no random crashes? I am sure I heard the term "correctness" on many occasions but I really don't know what it means. What exactly does correctness mean? Is it the same as reliable in the sense of producing predictable, consistent result or in the sense of no random crashes?
I am sure I heard the term “correctness” on many occasions but I really don’t know what it means.

]]> By: alex http://pocoproject.org/blog/?p=58&cpage=1#comment-171 alex Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:21:16 +0000 http://appinf.com/poco/blog/?p=58#comment-171 An update: Not that I really intended to, but even if I had I would not have to ask because the answer actually came on one of the Stroustrup's morning session slides: "If you don't care about correctness, I can make it as fast as you want." An update: Not that I really intended to, but even if I had I would not have to ask because the answer actually came on one of the Stroustrup’s morning session slides:

“If you don’t care about correctness, I can make it as fast as you want.”

]]> By: alex http://pocoproject.org/blog/?p=58&cpage=1#comment-170 alex Tue, 20 Mar 2007 05:25:15 +0000 http://appinf.com/poco/blog/?p=58#comment-170 Also, new and delete are very malleable in order to suit various needs. That is the kind of freedom I'm advocating, not the blind (and dumb) "performance at any price" attitude. Also, new and delete are very malleable in order to suit various needs. That is the kind of freedom I’m advocating, not the blind (and dumb) “performance at any price” attitude.

]]> By: alex http://pocoproject.org/blog/?p=58&cpage=1#comment-169 alex Tue, 20 Mar 2007 04:57:56 +0000 http://appinf.com/poco/blog/?p=58#comment-169 delete is fine as is. Those who mind the delete's performance penalty can use malloc/free. But, in the end, if you want to be safe, one way or the other, you have to check your pointers. That's just the nature of the beast and has nothing to do with language. P.S. I'm writing from Santa Clara, attending "Stroustrup and Sutter on C++". Maybe I should ask for their opinion about this ;-) delete is fine as is. Those who mind the delete’s performance penalty can use malloc/free. But, in the end, if you want to be safe, one way or the other, you have to check your pointers. That’s just the nature of the beast and has nothing to do with language.

P.S. I’m writing from Santa Clara, attending “Stroustrup and Sutter on C++”. Maybe I should ask for their opinion about this ;-)

]]> By: Andre Pang http://pocoproject.org/blog/?p=58&cpage=1#comment-168 Andre Pang Mon, 19 Mar 2007 15:38:33 +0000 http://appinf.com/poco/blog/?p=58#comment-168 So would you be happy if the delete keyword in C++ was changed to not check for a null pointer? After all, it's more freedom to the programmer, and you won't suffer that mandated performance hit... So would you be happy if the delete keyword in C++ was changed to not check for a null pointer? After all, it’s more freedom to the programmer, and you won’t suffer that mandated performance hit…

]]> By: Andre Pang http://pocoproject.org/blog/?p=58&cpage=1#comment-167 Andre Pang Mon, 19 Mar 2007 15:09:43 +0000 http://appinf.com/poco/blog/?p=58#comment-167 On the topic of economics and programming languages, also see Arch D. Robinson's excellent paper, "The Impact of Economics on Compiler Optimization": http://www.eecg.toronto.edu/~tsa/crgpapers/arch.pdf On the topic of economics and programming languages, also see Arch D. Robinson’s excellent paper, “The Impact of Economics on Compiler Optimization”:

http://www.eecg.toronto.edu/~tsa/crgpapers/arch.pdf

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