Thread: most challenging thing to program

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    Un Artiste Extraordinaire volk's Avatar
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    most challenging thing to program

    Is programming an operating system the most challenging thing that can be programmed or is it one of those high-end 3D games? It's probably A.I., right?

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    Redundantly Redundant RoD's Avatar
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    I would say true and "independent" AI is definitly up there....hardest is kind of an opinion.

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    Guest Sebastiani's Avatar
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    I would say the hardest program to make is a well-written, robust, bug-free one.

    Seriously tho, it really depends on so many factors, hard to say what would be most difficult. Suffice it to say that innumerable programs could be written that would satisfy that criteria.
    Code:
    #include <cmath>
    #include <complex>
    bool euler_flip(bool value)
    {
        return std::pow
        (
            std::complex<float>(std::exp(1.0)), 
            std::complex<float>(0, 1) 
            * std::complex<float>(std::atan(1.0)
            *(1 << (value + 2)))
        ).real() < 0;
    }

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    It's full of stars adrianxw's Avatar
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    I would say you are correct volk. There are operating systems, so whilst challenging to get right, it has been done. There are high end 3d games, same logic. There is not yet an AI that could beat even a moderate club "Go" player.
    Wave upon wave of demented avengers march cheerfully out of obscurity unto the dream.

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    Mayor of Awesometown Govtcheez's Avatar
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    > There is not yet an AI that could beat even a moderate club "Go" player.

    I've heard this many times, but I don't understand why. I've played Go before, and I don't get why it's so complicated that a computer can't even beat your average amateur...

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    It's full of stars adrianxw's Avatar
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    <fx> shrugs shoulders </fx> The fact remains. ISTR there is an article about it at Eric's site.
    Wave upon wave of demented avengers march cheerfully out of obscurity unto the dream.

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    Registered User Vber's Avatar
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    I'm with Rod, AI is extremely difficult for some people, but really fun to do.

  8. #8
    ....
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    In almost all fields of programming there are programs to think of which are very challenging. Writing a distributed operating system, a digital image processing system, a system for a robot to let it play soccer in a team, such things are all quite challenging. But I don't think there is a single thing which is absolute the most challenging.

  9. #9
    Most challenging: making Windows bug free

    [off topic]
    I got some documentation from a uni in my mailbox the other day, about a Master degree in A.I. . It looks intresting, I might check it out
    [/off topic]
    Last edited by maes; 03-24-2003 at 02:07 PM.

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    booyakasha
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    consciousness

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    no beege, I'm sorry but that's impossible. Difficult implies possible.

    I would say the hardest program to make is a well-written, robust, bug-free one.
    Why is this thread continuing?
    Seriously though,
    I've always wanted to know exactly how to ray tracing for stenciled shadow volumes in GL (trace a ray until it gets to a surface, then trace along the surface(s) while tracing along the silhouette edge of the shadow volume). I would like to say that is most complicated, but then again I've never done it

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    >no beege, I'm sorry but that's impossible. Difficult implies possible.

    Why would you say its impossible? It hasnt been done yet, but i think it will someday (in the very distant future)
    C Code. C Code Run. Run Code Run... Please!

    "Love is like a blackhole, you fall into it... then you get ripped apart"

  13. #13
    mov.w #$1337,D0 Jeremy G's Avatar
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    Re: most challenging thing to program

    Originally posted by volk
    Is programming an operating system the most challenging thing that can be programmed or is it one of those high-end 3D games? It's probably A.I., right?

    An interactive, learning, cyber sex chat program. Mmmhmm. Yeah.
    c++->visualc++->directx->opengl->c++;
    (it should be realized my posts are all in a light hearted manner. And should not be taken offense to.)

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    Why would you say its impossible? It hasnt been done yet, but i think it will someday (in the very distant future)
    It's not possible to program consciousness...you can write software to mimic it, but it will never be conscious in the sense that the computer itself will be aware...

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    Hmmm, the most challenging thing to program......

    Once you get to a certain point there is no such thing as a challenging program. The actual programming is no longer hard, no matter what the problem is.

    At that point, it's deciding exactly /what/ to program rather than the programming itself that is difficult. Programming a next generation AI is easy - if someone could give me an overview of how it worked in the first place.

    I spend most of my time away from my keyboard scrawling on white-boards and on paper, trawling through books, hunting down journals to get the information I need to be able to know what the code needs to do. Once I've done that, the coding is the least interesting and least challenging of the activities needed.

    Ian Woods

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