Today’s Friday Thought comes from something I just reread today, written years ago by the Dean himself. He certainly was a master of concise clarity. Enjoy:
"There is a world of difference between ‘Roger’ and ‘Wilco.’"
Robert A. Heinlein, 1958
Archive for January, 2007
Heinlein on Subtlety
Posted in Friday Thoughts on January 26, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Questions About Exception Specifications
Posted in C++ on January 24, 2007 | 4 Comments »
In the past few days, I’ve had several people independently send me email to ask related questions about exception specifications. That must be reason enough to echo some answers here.
Background
For background, here are two places where I’ve written about exception specifications:
"A Pragmatic Look at Exception Specifications" (C/C++ Users Journal, 20(7), July 2002). This is based on [...]
“Why Are You Doing What You’re Doing?”
Posted in Friday Thoughts on January 19, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
For nearly a decade, I’ve had a plaque bearing that question on my desk.
I think the question is valuable because it goes directly to motive. It’s also a deliciously contextual question — it means something different every minute, depending on what you’re up to. Here are a few scattered examples:
"Why am I doing this [...]
Channel 9 Interview: Software Composability and the Future of Languages
Posted in Software Development on January 19, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Last week, Anders Hejlsberg, Erik Meijer, Brian Beckman and I recorded an interview/chat that covered a range of topics related to programming and languages.
The video is now available online. Here’s the summary pasted from the Channel 9 site:
Software Composability and the Future of LanguagesAnders Hejlsberg, Herb Sutter, Erik Meijer, Brian Beckman
How will imperative programming languages evolve to suit [...]
Ichiro on Success
Posted in Friday Thoughts on January 12, 2007 | 1 Comment »
What does the word "success" mean to you? There’s no shortage of opinions about what Success should mean and upon which particular Altar of Success we ought to sacrifice our lives and energies. That doesn’t mean those opinions are worth paying attention to. As a quote attributed to Lily Tomlin put it nicely, ‘the trouble [...]
Sir Arthur on TV
Posted in Friday Thoughts on January 5, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Last week I reread an old classic SF novel, and noticed some remarkable details in this passing comment by one character about the fictional 21st-century Utopia:
"… there are too many distractions and entertainments. Do you realize that every day something like five hundred hours of radio and TV pour out over the various channels? If you [...]
