Survey posted 2004-10-02 21:33 by Morgan.

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Definitely C.

I'd have also put C++, TI-BASIC, z80 assembly, 68K assembly, Java, and Other web language (if HTML counts as a "language"), but C is my strongest.

Just out of curiosity, what is the point of C++? I can't think of any good example where a class object could not be replicated or simulated by "typedef struct {}". Yes, member functions, constructors, destructors, and private and protected members are nice conveniences, but they are memory hogs.

I like overloading... Making a function feel loosly typed makes it easier to use, IMHO.

MWM

Yes, especially overloading of operators such as +, -, >>, <<, and many others...that is SO useful...

It is if you are coding a vector/matrix/quaternion class, or something else of that nature.

HTML definitely is a language. It's even in its name: "Hyper-Text Markup Language". It's just not a *programming* language, as I've seen it called a lot.

So, where are languages like Prolog and Forth? I wouldn't vote for them, but others might. C:

HTML is called a programming language because it's a lot easier to say that you program in java, c++, basic, vb, ..., html since you can put it all in the same listing. Anyway, isn't basic more of scripting than programming? I could make the same argument for that. The moral: people who deal with computers are lazy (which is why there are waaaaaay too many acronyms to learn in networking!)

>>people who deal with computers are lazy<<

Some people prefer the term 'efficient' to lazy. :)

Something that I find interesting, is that when the average person sits in front of a computer, they have absolutely no clue as to the enormous amount of work that goes into that thing.

Programmers' work is often (always?) taken for granted.

MWM

...true...very true...

Don't forget about the actual machine. A lot of people take that for granted, too. I mean, I thought computers were complex, and then I started taking networking. Let me put it this way: the average computer user better thank god they don't need to know what goes on in there. Seriously, my cs teacher set a quiz in front of us where we had to say stuff about all of these acronyms. They're all 3 to 4 letters long, and i never realized how many of them there were until i saw that quiz.

MAC, TCP, DHCP, DNS, SMTP, PPP, ATMP, ICMP...

120d

PCP, LSD...

BSD...

I don't think HTML is a programming language, IMHO, because it doens't have any sort of flow control (no looping, no conditionals, etc)--it just calls up information.

Never heard of them. That's why they're not in there.

Does TeX count as a language? I know you can't actually write a program with it, but if HTML counts, than TeX should.

For those of you that don't know, TeX is a language used to create technical documents, such as mathematical proofs. See ^link^

Well, HTML is not on the list, so I wouldn't think that TeX would count.

LaTeX is derived from TeX, isn't it? I have messed around with LaTeX a little, but only because I saw kile in my 'Word Processor' menu. I was playing around with it when I /should/ have been writing a report.

MWM

Yes, LaTex is a TeX compiler.
I think.

LaTeX is (or was originally) a set of macros to make TeX easier to work with.

As far as what you "should" be doing... I must disagree; a far better use of your time would be learning LaTeX so in the future you won't have to waste so much time fooling around with "word-processors"...

The funny thing is that despite all the work they've put into MS Word, TeX output still looks an order of magnitude better.

I know. I am using it to write up my USAMTS solutions and it looks beautiful. MS Word couldn't come near. TeX is rather hard to use compared to Word, though. Someone should make a WYSIWYG compiler for people who are intimidated by source code.

Oh, I could have just scrolled down to get my answer. Yeah, I love TeX, it typesets math equations really nicely. It just took me a while to get the hang of it. It's a bit more complex than HTML, in my opinion. Or maybe I'm still not used to seeing $\command{...}$ all over the place.

Yes, I might have to get around to using it. Although, I think that OOo Math does a good enough job for math equations. (At least I can use it without spending hours to learn how.)

Well, I still have plenty of space on my root partition, so I don't think I will delete it...

MWM

Ooh, I use TeX! Are you doing the USAMTS?

What are the USAMTS (if it's even plural)?

It's a mail-in math competition. see ^link^

Yeah, I just sent in the Round 1 solutions. The problems are really easy this year, don't you think?

Yeah, but then again, the Round 1 problems are always easy. Did you participate last year? If so, what was your score? I think my score was in the high 80's last year. Either this year or next year I hope to get a 100. :)

Well, since the deadline's past now...
What answers did you get?

Alright, if you're sure we're allowed to discuss problems... :)

I got:
1) n=14
2) Solutions: (6,5) (-6,5) (6,-5) (-6,-5)
3) min=20, max=25
4) n=12
5) sq(7), sq(13), 2

I REALLY hope I didn't make any _stupid_ mistakes...

Ahh, nuts, we're not supposed to discuss solutions until a week after the deadline. So that's... the 11th? Hmm, maybe this could be deleted and I could repost it in four days? :\

:Since it's nearly a week past the deadline, it's probably OK to share answers. In addition, we're not really discussing the problems, just comparing answers.

:I got the same answers as you on all problems except 2. For that, I also got (x,y)=
(2,1)
(-2,1)
(-2,-1)
(2,-1)
(0,-1)
(0,3)
(2,5)
(-2,5)

That's what I got too.

Ahh, then I probably did something to fux0r it up. I'll have to re-read my work later to see what I did. :\ I always make stupid mistakes, I should be used to it by now. I knew I should have made a program to check my work. Oh well.

... Ahh, wait, I see what I did. I overlooked something while reducing.

I let a=3x^2+y^2-4y-17 and b=2x^2+2y^2-4y-6 and set up the equation like

a^3-b^3=(a-b)^3, then concluded that a-b=0. What I overlooked was the possibility that eitehr a or b could equal zero. (I don't know HOW I missed that...)

Well, darn. I messed up on the first round, that's pretty sad :( Hehe, at least I'll get some partial credit.

I'm curious-- how did you solve the 3rd problem?

Yeah, they are pretty easy. Especially the geometry one.