Re: 65020 CPU? Look this...

["Ranando King" <rk@magictouchcorp.com>]

We do agree on 1 thing. Programmers have gotten very, very sloppy with their
larger RAM and faster CPUs. Look at Windows for instance. Why the hell does
it take a new PC to run the next version of Windows at the same speed as the
previous version on hardware 1/10 the power? Yeesh!

I don't think this trend is the result of the changes in hardware though. I
think the new generation of programmers are being innundated by the "just
get it done" mindset. They don't care much for efficiency and creativity in
trying to make their code as small and clean as possible like we used to do
with our Apples. Today's programmers are simply comparatively either lazy or
sloppy. I don't know how many times I've cringed at the memory requirements
to run an application I've written. I look at a memory manager and watch it
take up 8 megs trying to run a 256K application that only allocates 512K of
memory for itself. The rest of the memory is being chewed up by libraries I
needed and Windows management code. Ridiculous!

What makes things even worse is that hardware designers are following the
same sloppy trends with their component designs. Yeesh!

I still think that there's a way. If the simplicity of an Apple were to be
applied to a 32 bit machine and developed by people who want to squeeze the
most out of the system, we could see some highly efficient and creative
programs appearing for it. Such programmers still exist, even among newer
developers. Look at game developers. They have to do exactly that on a daily
basis. So the possibility still exists.

R.


"Michael J. Mahon" <mjmahon@aol.com> wrote in message
9_-dnZ6HxJg1VrnfRVn-2A@comcast.com">news:9_-dnZ6HxJg1VrnfRVn-2A@comcast.com...
> I understand where you are coming from, and I respect your opinion.
>
> My point is that the finely crafted code you and I both so admire
> using, reading, and writing, becomes a "waste of programmer's time"
> on a machine that has just an order of magnitude more speed and linear
> RAM.
>
> When you don't have much speed and space, you always wish that you
> had more; but if you get it, all hell breaks loose--in the form
> of lost discipline.
>
> In the area of programming craft, we have seen that high speed and
> large space result in the widespread proliferation of:
>
> -sloppy algorithms,
> -sloppy compilers,
> -sloppy libraries,
> -sloppy interfaces, and, ultimately,
> -sloppy programmers.
>
> I still adhere to the principles of economy and synergy that guided
> Woz and so many other great designers.  I find that there is such
> a thing as _too much_ memory and speed for one's programming integrity.
>
> -michael
>
> New Applesoft BASIC interface for NadaNet networking!
> Home page:  http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/