On 8/19/2011 1:34, Invisible wrote:
>  From time to time, somebody builds something that's truly ground-breaking.
> The world's tallest building, perhaps. Or the longest bridge. Or whatever.

Even the world's tallest building is essentially the same story, using the 
same structural characteristics, repeated 200 times.

> And while no two pieces of software are /exactly/ alike, lots of them are
> extremely damned similar.

Sadly so. But it's an ongoing task to factor that similarity out.

> How many compilers are there?

Sure. But how many now all compile down to CIL or JVM, eliminating half of 
the work of implementing the compiler by clever reuse of code?

> How many relational database engines?

Again, eliminating the duplication of that effort in the file I/O of lots of 
programs.

Programmers don't always succeed in not reusing code. But they strive to do so.

Also, you're looking at it wrong again. How many times does the Microsoft C# 
compiler get reused? How many times does the plumbing from the 23rd floor of 
the Empire state building get reused?

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   How come I never get only one kudo?

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