POV-Ray : Newsgroups : povray.off-topic : The History of C++... Server Time
2 Nov 2024 18:48:34 EDT (-0400)
  The History of C++... (Message 1 to 8 of 8)  
From: Chambers
Subject: The History of C++...
Date: 17 Mar 2008 22:38:36
Message: <47df393c$1@news.povray.org>
From Joelonsoftware 
(http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/LeakyAbstractions.html):

"Amusingly, the history of the evolution of C++ over time can be 
described as a history of trying to plug the leaks in the string 
abstraction. Why they couldn't just add a native string class to the 
language itself eludes me at the moment."

:)

-- 
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com


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From: nemesis
Subject: Re: The History of C++...
Date: 17 Mar 2008 23:45:01
Message: <web.47df47ccbcbf94bf70d404d10@news.povray.org>
Joel is an amazing guy.  BTW, linked from this very article and still related to
strings is one of the best articles I've seen in IT blogs, a classic by now:
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000319.html

It also contains the Shlemiel the painter anecdote... :)


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From: Fa3ien
Subject: Re: The History of C++...
Date: 18 Mar 2008 03:48:21
Message: <47df81d5@news.povray.org>
Chambers a écrit :
>  From Joelonsoftware 
> (http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/LeakyAbstractions.html):

Incidentally, I've been reading his articles these last weeks, and
they're exceptionally interesting stuff !

Fabien.


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From: Warp
Subject: Re: The History of C++...
Date: 18 Mar 2008 05:59:32
Message: <47dfa094@news.povray.org>
Chambers <ben### [at] pacificwebguycom> wrote:
> Why they couldn't just add a native string class to the 
> language itself eludes me at the moment."

  My guess: Because they wanted it to be possible for the user to specify
his own allocator for a string.

  One guiding principle I see throughout the C++ standard library is that
it's rather flexible: For example, containers don't fix the memory allocator
they use to allocate space, but let the user specify his own allocator if
he wants to use one (eg. because of efficiency in certain situations, or
to allow some kind of user-implemented automatic garbage collection).
Normally a default allocator is used, and the user doesn't need to worry
about it. However, if the user wants to replace the allocator, he can.

  If you think how you would add a native, language-level string (ie. not
just a class in a library) which would support a user-defined allocator
in C++, you would quite quickly find yourself reimplementing a templated
string class at language level.

-- 
                                                          - Warp


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From: Chambers
Subject: Re: The History of C++...
Date: 19 Mar 2008 00:18:43
Message: <47e0a233$1@news.povray.org>
nemesis wrote:
> Joel is an amazing guy.  BTW, linked from this very article and still related to
> strings is one of the best articles I've seen in IT blogs, a classic by now:
> http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000319.html
> 
> It also contains the Shlemiel the painter anecdote... :)

Thanks for the link, I'm quite enjoying it :)

Especially this quote: "This is what they're talking about when they say 
that a particular program has a buffer overflow susceptibility. It was 
the number one cause of hacks and worms in the olden days before 
Microsoft Outlook made hacking easy enough for teenagers to do."

HA!

-- 
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com


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From: St 
Subject: Re: The History of C++...
Date: 19 Mar 2008 16:39:32
Message: <47e18814@news.povray.org>
"nemesis" <nam### [at] gmailcom> wrote in message 
news:web.47df47ccbcbf94bf70d404d10@news.povray.org...
> Joel is an amazing guy.  BTW, linked from this very article and still 
> related to
> strings is one of the best articles I've seen in IT blogs, a classic by 
> now:
> http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000319.html


  Thanks for that. I'm no programmer, but that was an interesting read that 
I enjoyed. Even though I don't understand the code, he said it all in a 
logical way.

       ~Steve~


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From: Darren New
Subject: Re: The History of C++...
Date: 19 Mar 2008 21:59:38
Message: <47e1d31a$1@news.povray.org>
St. wrote:
>   Thanks for that. I'm no programmer, but that was an interesting read that 
> I enjoyed. Even though I don't understand the code, he said it all in a 
> logical way.

His articles on business sense are often more impressive then his 
articles on programming sense. :-)

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."


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From: nemesis
Subject: Re: The History of C++...
Date: 19 Mar 2008 23:45:00
Message: <web.47e1eb58bcbf94bf1034fcd80@news.povray.org>
Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
> St. wrote:
> >   Thanks for that. I'm no programmer, but that was an interesting read that
> > I enjoyed. Even though I don't understand the code, he said it all in a
> > logical way.
>
> His articles on business sense are often more impressive then his
> articles on programming sense. :-)

Yes.  As Fa3ien noted, his last batch of articles are particularly evocative,
particularly his recap of internet browser history leading to the current state
of affairs and Microsoft's tough decision with IE8...


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