Poems in true chronological order by post date
-> file: fediverse/280 ════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────────────────── old school programmers use short variable names because the computer monitors they would code on had a lower resolution, meaning fewer characters per line. why waste pixels being verbose? ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ │ different │ ╘═════════╧═════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────┴───────────┘ -> file: fediverse/281 ╔════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────────────────┐ ║ ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ ║ │ CW: cursed-game-engine-idea │ │ ║ └─────────────────────────────┘ │ ║ │ ║ │ ║ a game engine which won't let you import custom assets unless you complete a │ ║ few simple tasks using the interface - "build a green capsule collider" "make │ ║ this soldier unit shoot three bullets per shot" or "enable the automatic linux │ ║ support" - using the interface, writing some code, and changing configurations. │ ║ │ ║ why would anyone do this? well it could be useful to increase the difficulty of │ ║ importing external resources. plus it helps the user learn a bit over time, and │ ║ it slows the pace of output such that the user's skills are encouraged as the │ ║ output of the programming and not the program itself. │ ║ │ ║ an inverse curse (an evil one) would be where the requirements to complete │ ║ basic tasks are hidden behind unapplicable skills. like, do you know exactly │ ║ which buttons to press? engage with the skinner box, please. yes yes this is │ ║ what we need - unintuitive software that completely disarms the populace from │ ║ using them! suddenly they're worthless, and can't do anything on any surface. │ ║ it sucks │ ╟─────────┐ ┌───────────┤ ║ similar │ │ different │ ╚═════════╧═════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────┴───────────┘ -> file: fediverse/282 ════════════════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────────────────── @user-209 I think you're right. Every letter in the variable name is another byte the OS has to keep track of, which was a bigger problem in the past than it is today (when it's been made irrelevant) it's interesting how habits persist though the conditions that caused them have faded. like a personal reflection of the environment you learned in. "A a = new a();" is much more concise and (crucially) you can fit more words to the right. "a + b = c; c -= 2; f_z.write(c); f_z.close();" could conceivably be written on a single line if you have short variable names. and when you only have so many lines... glad we're not constrained by those things anymore. the skeletal code that we look at daily is much clearer - scope is more important, and so it makes sense to encourage a coding style that illustrates it. however I can't help but think block formatting like this could be useful in some situations, such as when you'd normally be compelled to write a function for an operation that runs once or more. ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ │ different │ ╘═════════╧═════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────┴───────────┘ -> file: fediverse/285 ═════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────────── @user-211 thanks! It's one of my favorites. That and Golden Sun are where I procured my name ^_^ EDIT: purloined is more appropriate, I think ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ │ different │ ╘═════════╧══════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────┴───────────┘ -> file: fediverse/286 ═════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────────── ┌──────────────────────┐ │ CW: re: mathematics │ └──────────────────────┘ @user-211 I agree! The problem is the limit as x->0 from the left and right trend toward different infinities, meaning it's neither -infinity nor +infinity. Which makes me think that it's the value that's exactly in the middle, AKA zero. Why wouldn't 1/0 be zero? Division is just inverse-multiplication, and multiplying anything by zero is zero. Why wouldn't division use the same rules? I don't understaaaaaand T.T ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ │ different │ ╘═════════╧══════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────┴───────────┘ -> file: fediverse/287 ═════════════════════════════════════════────────────────────────────────────────── I'm better at the "lead" part than the "tech" part which sucks because nobody will hire me because of my crappy "tech" credentials ┌─────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ similar │ │ different │ ╘═════════╧══════════════════════════════─────────────────────────────┴───────────┘ -> file: fediverse/288 ╔════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────────────────┐ ║ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ ║ │ CW: │ │ ║ │ sorta-works-for-colorblind-people-sorta-not-definitely-doesn't-work-for-regular-blind-people │ │ ║ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ ║ │ ║ │ ║ if you ever need to keep track of the location of your friends in the dark, try │ ║ giving them glowstick bracelets. if you color coordinate them you can tell │ ║ which is which, and as long as you aren't concerned about others noticing you │ ║ then it should be easy to find them all night. works best in places with mixed │ ║ zones of lighting / darkness, like suburbs. │ ║ │ ║ it's impossible to be a blind strategist because of concerns like this. I say │ ║ blind in the general sense, and not just referring to visual impairment - every │ ║ sense provides another tactical angle. more perspectives, more data. sorta like │ ║ taking pictures of a 3d object. when one's sight is lost, you might miss a │ ║ backside or a hidden approach vector that would come easily to others. │ ║ │ ║ at the same time though, a sense of focus can clarify certain truths by paring │ ║ down the amount of irrelevant facets. like optical illusions, sometimes xtra │ ║ info is hidden in the same data... │ ╟─────────┐ ┌───────────┤ ║ similar │ │ different │ ╚═════════╧═════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────┴───────────┘ |