I like these laws even better: George's Laws on Programming 1. There is no such thing as a programming bug. A bug was the moth that Grace Hopper pulled out of her vacuum tube computer. What programmers like to call bugs are defects - defects in workmanship - defects in quality. 2. There are two types of defects: Design and Implementation. a. Design defects are a direct reflection on the Software Architect's inability to properly design a robust program, or to interpret Business Requirements. b. Implemetation defects are a direct reflection on the developer's inability to either do what he/she is told, or his/her inability to ask questions about requirements they do not understand. 3. When software defects kill people, the Software Engineering industry will have no choice but to become a credible engineering discipline like mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and architecture with the accompanying reviews and professional certifications. ymmv, C.G. On 7/1/07, George Toft wrote: > > http://georgetoft.com/georgeslaw.shtml > From my college days . . . > > "Hey, Grampa, tell us the story about 80 column punch cards, and why a > good rubber band was your best friend. You mean you couldn't just talk > to the computer?" > > "Well, Sonny, columns 1-5 were for your numeric labels. A 'C' in column > 6 meant it was a continuation from the previous line, and your code went > in columns 7-72. Columns 73-80 were your card sequence number and it was > optional. Nobody liked to put numbers there because if we moved a block > of code, we would have to resequence the cards. Screw that - just make > sure you had a good rubber band, and another one as a backup in case the > first one broke. Gives you a whole new meaning of data backup, huh." > > "Grampa, what was the deal with column 1 on the printer?" > > "Oh, yeah. Put a 1 in column 1 and the printer won't advance. Print > about 10 lines with this: > 1==================================================== > and all of the print wheels on the line printer would line up and the > strikers would synchronize and go WHOMP WHOMP WHOMP and shake the whole > computer center. Heh, heh, heh. The computer operators would jump out of > their skin - they definitely knew when I ran a job." > > "Grampa, what's a line printer?" > > > > George Toft, CISSP, MSIS > 623-203-1760 > > > > > Mark Jarvis wrote: > > (repost using email address I signed up with) > > > > In 1960 (+ or - a year) I took a programming class at ASU where we used > > the LGP-30. It had a 1000 (1024?) word drum and each word was 32 bits. > > The drum was the main memory--there was no other storage. It had > > 16--yes 16!--instructions with paper tape input and typewriter output > > and it had a one or two inch oscilloscope where you could watch the > > instructions execute. Part of each instruction was the address of the > > next instruction to be executed. Too few today have the assembly > > language background to appreciate the oddities of the machine, but it > > had some doozies. Five years later I had graduated and was working at > > Motorola Semiconductor on McDowell and transferred into the computer > > section of the QC department. We had a GE 205 computer with 8192 20 bit > > words of memory. If I remember correctly, a single word memory access > > took 36 microseconds. When sorting 30 row, 12 column table using the > > Shell sort algorithm, the console lights made a several second long > > pattern that was quite easy to spot. BTW, the 205 was the entry level > > knockoff of the GE215 box. Since the 215 had a memory cycle time of 18 > > microseconds, GE added a bunch of circuit boards to steal every other > > clock cycle to make the machine slower so they could lease it for less. > > Go figure! > > > > Yes, for lots of years I used decks of cards for both programs and > > data. If you had any sense, you sequenced your cards in col 73-80 so > > that when (not if--when) the deck was dropped, a few passes through the > > sorter would fix things--and you initially sequenced by 10s or 20s to > > allow for later additions. > > > > While I wouldn't take anything for the experiences of those years, I > > wouldn't go back to them for anything either. > > > > Mark Jarvis > > > > Jim wrote: > > > > > >>Lynn Newton wrote: > >> > >> > >> > >>>But I'm sure there are a number of subscribers to this list > >>>who can one-up me with "I remember when" stories, by margins > >>>of several years at least. > >>> > >>> > >> > >>I don't know if this would be in the one up category, but I remember > >>being a high school freshman in 1981 and spending time after school in > >>the math teacher's room messing around with his TRS80 with a whopping > >>4KB RAM and running programs stored on cassette tape. > >> > >> > >> > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------- > > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > > > > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > -- powerofprimes@gmail.com Carlos Macedo Gomes _sic itur ad astra_