Creating the second worst programming language

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Howard White

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Oct 31, 2021, 1:40:27 PM10/31/21
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Tilghman Lesher

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Nov 1, 2021, 9:09:33 AM11/1/21
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I think he missed the worst possible string concatenation operator,
from SQL: ||, worst because it means logical OR in pretty much every
other language out there. If you want to make people fail, reusing
operators in a completely different and mutually incompatible context,
is clearly the way to go.

On Sun, Oct 31, 2021 at 12:40 PM Howard White <hwh...@vcch.com> wrote:
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> Enjoy...
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> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mnYf7L7Amw>
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> Howard
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Tilghman

Michael Chaney

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Nov 1, 2021, 11:34:03 AM11/1/21
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In fairness, SQL was created in the early 1970s, just a little bit after the C language.  It greatly predates all of the other languages using a C-based syntax that also use "||" as "logical OR".



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Paul Boniol

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Nov 1, 2021, 9:28:30 PM11/1/21
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FYI: The big players seem to have standardized on using a CONCAT function in recent years.
Oracle traditionally uses ||.
SQL Server traditionally uses +.
MySQL doesn't seem to have any alternative.

Paul

Jack Coats

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Nov 1, 2021, 11:40:24 PM11/1/21
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Specialty languages used for non-designed purpose is pretty bad.
I too hate having to 'mix languages', but until we get to the nirvana of the 'you know what I mean' compiler that runs JIT we are out of luck. 
I remember being forced to learn various assemblers, then rejoicing in FORTRAN, COBOL was never my thing, but it was somewhat
better than RPG or RPGII - a column oriented language made for the coding form and punch card days.  

I understand the various languages trying to get us more into programming ideas rather than hardware, but raw speed comes from 
programming understanding the hardware and using it, not having the compilers/interpreters getting around our lack of understanding
to make it seem easy rather than having faster programs. ... Businesses crossed over the point where hardware was cheaper than 
programmer time back in the mid '70s, so our focus now is on making our programmers productive rather than the hardware.
My idea has been making the USERS more productive even if it means programmers working harder, but given the tendency to
ship beta software to paying customers and making them pay for it, that doesn't seem to be the case with many software authors.

Even in the days of assembler programming, macros made programmers sloppy, so unless speed or storage was mission 
critical, even then truly optimized coding started to slip back then.  Code libraries had their own overhead but at least most
tight library coders took pride in optimizing for speed and/or size depending on the target audience.

This is why the on 'next to the metal' programming some ever see is on the cheapest and smallest of microprocessors typically put
in embedded systems (that many never see as users).

Such is a good reason I am retired, instead of being that grumpy ol grey hair in the backroom...

Oh the video, ... Thanks Howard, I had a great laugh and lots of memories going to 'standards committees' at SHARE or such places.
SHARE... to they still have those?  Showing my age.  That was back in the days when I could have coffee with Dennis RIchie and 
lunch with Linus (I had to promise to NOT talk about Linux ... We talked about his new son instead!)



--
><> ... Jack

If you are not paying for something, you are not a consumer, you are the product. - Chamath Palihapitiya
"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." - Ben Franklin

Paul Boniol

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Nov 2, 2021, 3:20:26 AM11/2/21
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Excellent video. I shouldn't have stayed up watching it, but it was entertaining.

Paul
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