Re: Parallel program solving

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

penman@myremarq.com writes ...
> 
 ....

> question:  If two people are trying to patch the same
> location in the same program for the same result, what are
> the odds that they both WON'T come up with the same answer?
> With as many bright minds as we have in this community, and
> with the number of people willing to share their expertise,
> why is it that some people are accusing others of
> intellectual theft merely for having the same (or better?)
> level of programming expertise?  Absolutely unbelievable.
> Even as a non-programmer I can see where seveal people are
> going to come up with the SAME result.  1+1=2.  My, what
> a difficult concept to grasp.

     Depends upon the programming problem to be solved. For example,
something like getting more lives in an action game will, often, lead to a
single answer being submitted, posted, etc. by several individuals. It is
generally understood that the value at some address needs to be changed and
once you find the address, that's that.

     Most programming problems are less simple and/or less well-defined. Even
a fairly simple fix for the Space Ace combat routine in Ultima I led to
different solutions.

     In general, an experienced programmer can look at a problem and the
solutions offered and evaluate the liklihood of identical responses.



Rubywand