2008.05.24
Interoperability, at Last
Language is a very powerful way to describe behavior.
Therefore even when I create pictures, instead of dragging around my mouse,
I use declarative tools like GraphViz,
gnuplot,
and
UMLGraph.
These allow me to describe what I want to draw, instead of
how I want the end-result to look like.
The truth however is that the end-results are not always perfect.
Today I realized that the state of the art has advanced to the point
where I can create the drawing declaratively, and then visually
polish the final drawing.
Continue reading "Interoperability, at Last"Last modified: Saturday, May 24, 2008 9:48 pm
2007.06.21
The Double-Edged Sword of Proprietary Platforms
A recent
Slashdot article comment
wondered how Windows Vista managed to break existing applications,
despite Microsoft having complete control over the platform.
Continue reading "The Double-Edged Sword of Proprietary Platforms"Last modified: Thursday, June 21, 2007 11:28 am
2006.06.26
Dave Prosser's C Preprocessing Algorithm
For about five years I've been trying to implement a fully conforming
C preprocessor for the front end of the
CScout refactoring browser.
I've found this to be a fiendishly difficult task.
Although what I have written can correctly process million-line
real-life projects, every once in a while I come across a construct
that confuses my implementation.
While searching the web for explanations of some of the finer points
of the C standard I came across a reference to an algorithm by
Dave Prosser that the X3J11 (ANSI C standard) committee used as a basis
for the standard's wording.
Continue reading "Dave Prosser's C Preprocessing Algorithm"Last modified: Monday, June 26, 2006 7:15 pm
2006.06.25
Interoperability Requires Temperance
After testing the CScout refactoring browser
on the FreeBSD kernel, I decided
to try it on Linux.
I'm getting there, but slowly, and the reason is the gratuitous use of
gcc extensions made in the Linux kernel source code.
Every time I come across a program construct that CScout doesn't
grok, I have to study the C standards to see if the construct is legal C
that CScout fails to implement or a gcc extension.
Extensions are trouble, because, they're typically only vaguely documented.
Continue reading "Interoperability Requires Temperance"Last modified: Sunday, June 25, 2006 7:01 pm
2006.01.01
Project Asset Portability
It's said that real computer scientists don't program in assembler; they don't write in anything less portable than a number two pencil. Joking aside, at the end of the 1970s, the number of nonstandard languages and APIs left most programs tied to a very specific and narrow combination of software and hardware. Entire organizations were locked in for life to a specific vendor, unable to freely choose the hardware and software where their code and data would reside. Portability and vendor independence appeared to be a faraway, elusive goal.
Continue reading "Project Asset Portability"Last modified: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 9:20 pm
2004.11.14
Book Review: C++ Coding Standards
A number of years ago, reading Koenig's and Moo's
Ruminations on C++ [1] I made a wish for more of the
same, updated to reflect current C++ practice.
My wish has come true.
The book
C++ Coding Standards: 101 Rules, Guidelines, and Best Practices
by Herb Sutter and Andrei Alexandrescu [2]
is an indispensable book for all serious C++ programmers.
Continue reading "Book Review: C++ Coding Standards"Last modified: Sunday, November 14, 2004 5:41 pm
