[Edu-sig] Question ?

[Arthur]

> On Saturday 17 April 2004 09:35 am, Arthur wrote:
> > What is the opposite of programming?
> >
> > Cooking.
> >
> > In a recipe, a tsp. means a tsp., more or less.
> >
> > In programming, we would be talking about the number of grains of a
> specific
> > substance.  If the recipe calls for 1004 grains, and 1003 are added, the
> > soufflé falls.
> 
> That's really a bit of a fallacy -- if we really had to
> program like that, a lot of stuff wouldn't get done. Modern
> programming techniques (Object-Oriented, Component-Architecture, etc)
> do a lot to make program writing more forgiving in ways that
> don't interfere with the final product.  Even the python language
> can be thought of as making that kind of trade-off, as it includes
> a lot of error-checking and handling code that means that a somewhat
> imprecise file can still work.

Somewhat imprecise?  Doing a ">" where a ">=" is called for could change the
course of events dramatically, or even grind things to a halt. 

Though maybe I did overstate my case a bit ;)

Talking a bit impressionistically.

Not my fault. I was trained to talk that way as a liberal artist. 

It's their fault. 

Whoever they are.

Art