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by JoeAltmaier 4916 days ago
I design ambitious systems for a living. Quarter to half million lines of C++. Not possible to have made in C, in anything like the same time frame.

So yes, 1000 monkeys on 1000 typewriters can make something large in C. But one guy (or a small team), properly trained and experienced, can move mountains with a high-leverage language.
3 comments
sh_vipin 4914 days ago
"Not possible to have made in C." -- Is it really true ?? I don't need the answer. You need to answer yourself.

"one guy (or a small team), properly trained and experienced, can move mountains with a high-leverage language." -- But if guy is not properly trained he can create a mess which is hell to clean also.

"1000 monkeys on 1000 typewriters can make something large in C" -- Every time you are using an STL container, that container has already been written by someone else. Every template you use, compiler generates the actual code for it. Every time you include a library , it was written in actual C/C++ code by someone else. Use g++ -E option to compare the "pre processed" code and compare the things.

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JoeAltmaier 4913 days ago
Yeah - stl. That's the issue isn't it? Its a mess to use stil embedded or for OS work - so I never, ever do.

Libraries are used by app guys -rarely by OS or embedded - unless they are specific to the hardware etc.

I hear the excuse "you can hurt yourself in C++ if not trained". That's true, but not helpful. You can build a house with hand tools too but nobody does any more - they use power tools and professional carpenters, electricians etc.

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sh_vipin 4910 days ago
There is a saying "At times a needle can do what a sword cann't" . Same holds true in case of programming languages !!

There was no excuse. There was a point made - "If one likes C++ use C++ nobody is stopping him/her. But that doesn't mean all other languages are bad or are pathetic."

I wonder if C++ is so good and STL is such a godly thing then why did we need to go to Objective-C. Why do iOS applications need that and why didn't C++ and STL did the magic. The answer is every tool / technology has its application. Loading a heavy container ( vector/ list) doesn't make sense when all you need to implement is a skip list.

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sh_vipin 4914 days ago
Nice to know that you write million lines of code.

I worked for one founder once. He earned $137 million by selling his products. He had worked on similar products for 15 years in his previous companies, primarily in C++. But when he started on his own - he chose C. He chose C for its own qualities and I am sure he would have missed some good qualities of C++ but then that is a compromise that come with early decision.

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sh_vipin 4914 days ago
Quality of product is not proportional to lines of code it has. Further, http://ioccc.org can enlighten. !!
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JoeAltmaier 4913 days ago
No; but surely you're not unkindly construing I wrote too many lines? I assert that in C it would have been many times the size, and probably never worked at all.

I've reduced 10,000 lines of C code to a 12-line template. Surely that is a good thing? This is not typical but a good example of high-leverage tools.

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