[plug] Web database stuff - Bollocks

[Mike]

At 10:37 AM 24/8/2001 +0800, you wrote:
>On Fri, Aug 24, 2001 at 01:31:46AM +0000, Mike wrote:
>> IMO. Its not clever to abandon a descriptive method simply because
>> it was conceived prior to your birth, I think the wheel still
>> has its uses ;)
>
>The wheel is a descriptive method?  :)

No - issue of abondoning something thats 'old' for the sake of
it being old etc.

>Flowcharts are not a great way to design or represent algorithms
>for most modern languages because they do not guarantee a one-to
>one mapping to teir control structures.

For assembler its fine - try doing serial to POCSAG with tight
timing requirements with re-entrancy on a cpu model with very
limited ram... Point to point assembler is the most efficient
means within a preset h/w requirement. Flowcharting is the
most effective means to describe the flow and data-structure
interactions. Granted not that appropriate for OOP...

>They are great if you want to write code that's full of GOTOs, or
>if you are disciplined enough to only create charts that you know
>will map into your implementation language's control structures.

Thats the key - program writing disciplin. And no it doesn't
have to be full of GOTO's - subs are fine with dynamic table
driven data-structure for configurable menus are fine to
describe with flowcharts - hardly a JUMP/GOTO in site...

>However, most of the "programmers" I know (and have taught) do not
>meet either of these requirements...  :)

Yes that would be true, I've seen many a 'student' programmer
go straight to OOP or equivalent HHL without every having touched
or been aware of assembler and watch them tie themselves into
knots without following any disciplin for planning their approach,
a simple flowchart was the best method to start with though not
the best method for documentation, well since I stopped teaching
programming back in 82 (last century) ;-)




Kind Regards  ~`:o)

Mike Massen
Network Power Systems
Perth, Western Australia  Ph/Fx +61 8 9444 8961 

Power system in Jungle, Twin tyre car, Differential gauge
http://members.iinet.net.au/~erazmus/index.html

Some say there is no magic but, all things begin with thought then it becomes
academic, then some poor slob works out a practical way to implement all that
theory, this is called Engineering - for most people another form of magic.