[Info-vax] HP wins Oracle Itanium case

[David Froble]

Johnny Billquist wrote:
> On 2012-08-24 12:14, Nomen Nescio wrote:
>>>> I have not ever seen a program that works right the first time. And I
>>>> seriously doubt anyone here have seen that very often, even if you only
>>>> do very simple programs...
>>
>> I write quite a lot of code and I have numerous witnesses that most of 
>> what
>> I write works correctly the first time. So much so they no longer 
>> consider
>> it interesting or notable.
> 
> I don't believe it, but then again, we might just have different 
> definitions of what "working right" means. Or "first time".

Your beliefs do not necessarily have any bearing on reality.

>>> You must be like me, you don't get out much ....
>>
>> Some people know quite a lot about computers and programming languages 
>> but
>> still aren't very good coders. Coding really is a special skill.

That is very true, and I could quote examples.  Nor is it something that 
can always be learned.

> I know of places and people who are known for their skills, including 
> people who even invented some of the programming languages used today, 
> as well as doing the compilers you use. And I still don't see any 
> programs that works right the first time.
> 
> Not to mention things like compilers and operating systems, which are 
> extensively tested every day, written by a whole bunch of people that I 
> don't think anyone should claim are clueless about how to program, and 
> after decades, there are still new and old bugs found regularly...

The scope of a program or project will of course have significant 
bearing on the task of writing a program.  I would not claim that I 
could write something large and very complex without some issues.  But 
the original claim was "program", not "system" or "application".

> Go figure...
> 
> But we should probably take this offline. Feel free to send me some code 
> samples written in C, that you have, and I'll be happy to point out bugs 
> to you. :-D Or else retract my claim here. ;-)

Well, there is the answer.  I wouldn't expect anyone to be able to use 
"C" and not have coding errors.