Programming Contest

"Michael Mattias" <mmattias@talsystems.com> wrote in message
news:6fSvk.20863$xZ.12583@nlpi070.nbdc.sbc.com...
>>>Writings can be 'English-like' without full stops.
>
> Dante's "Inferno" is one sentence.
>
>
An infernally long one? :-)

Very interesting. I never knew that (and I've read quite a bit of it...)

Pete.
--
"I used to write COBOL...now I can do anything."

On Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:25:01 -0600, Howard Brazee <howard@brazee.net> wrote:

>On Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:40:33 -0500, Robert <no@e.mail> wrote:
>
>>You defend crap code by changing the definition of "good" to a political one. You say good
>>code is whatever makes the boss happy, and bad code is what makes him unhappy. If the boss
>>wants fall through paragraphs and GO TOs, you think the resulting code is good, under
>>those conditions. I disagree.
>>
>>We're supposed to be professionals, not code monkeys.
>
>Quality gets measured by how well the product accomplishes the goals -
>which are the wants and needs of those who pay for the product. (Which
>usually include various levels of bosses)
>
>If my boss asks me to create a rope bridge, and I provide a beautiful
>concrete bridge - my boss is the one who decides whether I produced a
>quality product or not. (It depends on his goals).

The boss wants a rope bridge made with granny knots, and I provide a better, stronger one
made with sugeon's knots and carrick bends. The boss says time stopped when he tied his
last knot in 1980, so I can't use any knot developed in the last 28 years. If users see
this bridge, they'll all want one. Others say the design standard should be based on the
2am maintenance rigger.

For the last twenty years, user demand for rope bridges has been declining because
cable-stayed footbridges made from prefabricated fiber-reinforced polymer can be erected
four times faster and for one tenth the cost. India tried building rope bridges for
awhile, but have since switched to newer technologies. The only rope builders left are old
timers, who are often seen refighting a war that ended more than twenty years ago.

Michael Mattias wrote:
>>> Writings can be 'English-like' without full stops.
>
> Dante's "Inferno" is one sentence.
>
Dante's "inferno" is not English.

Donald

"donald tees" <donaldtees@execulink.com> wrote in message
news:IYadnTkcYIcAgVzVnZ2dnUVZ_judnZ2d@golden.net.. .
> Michael Mattias wrote:
>>>> Writings can be 'English-like' without full stops.
>>
>> Dante's "Inferno" is one sentence.
>>
> Dante's "inferno" is not English.

Sure it is. It must be. I've read a lot and all the books I've ever read
are in English.

MCM

Robert wrote:
> On Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:25:01 -0600, Howard Brazee <howard@brazee.net> wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:40:33 -0500, Robert <no@e.mail> wrote:
>>
>>> You defend crap code by changing the definition of "good" to a political one. You say good
>>> code is whatever makes the boss happy, and bad code is what makes him unhappy. If the boss
>>> wants fall through paragraphs and GO TOs, you think the resulting code is good, under
>>> those conditions. I disagree.
>>>
>>> We're supposed to be professionals, not code monkeys.
>> Quality gets measured by how well the product accomplishes the goals -
>> which are the wants and needs of those who pay for the product. (Which
>> usually include various levels of bosses)
>>
>> If my boss asks me to create a rope bridge, and I provide a beautiful
>> concrete bridge - my boss is the one who decides whether I produced a
>> quality product or not. (It depends on his goals).
>
> The boss wants a rope bridge made with granny knots, and I provide a better, stronger one
> made with sugeon's knots and carrick bends. The boss says time stopped when he tied his
> last knot in 1980, so I can't use any knot developed in the last 28 years. If users see
> this bridge, they'll all want one. Others say the design standard should be based on the
> 2am maintenance rigger.
>
> For the last twenty years, user demand for rope bridges has been declining because
> cable-stayed footbridges made from prefabricated fiber-reinforced polymer can be erected
> four times faster and for one tenth the cost. India tried building rope bridges for
> awhile, but have since switched to newer technologies. The only rope builders left are old
> timers, who are often seen refighting a war that ended more than twenty years ago.

Start-sentence
add 1 to page-counter
move zero to line-counter
end-sentence

There you go. You just need a few more reserved words.

Donald

donald tees wrote:
> Michael Mattias wrote:
>>>> Writings can be 'English-like' without full stops.
>>
>> Dante's "Inferno" is one sentence.
>>
> Dante's "inferno" is not English.
>
> Donald

Even if it isn't, it could be.

INSPECT INFERNO-REC REPLACING ALL '.' BY SPACE

Ain't COBOL grand?