Thread: A new project i'm undertaking...

  1. #31
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Pennsylvania
    Posts
    434
    Probably, but i wanted something to program and learn from so here i am =)
    "Anyone can aspire to greatness if they try hard enough."
    - Me

  2. #32
    Officially An Architect brewbuck's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    7,396
    Quote Originally Posted by Junior89 View Post
    Probably, but i wanted something to program and learn from so here i am =)
    Again, I'm glad you're enthusiastic. Just make sure you can pull it off. You are, after all, dealing with the grades of REAL people here. Not only is this information very important to the individual students, it is protected by various privacy laws like FERPA.

    Personally, I'd rather people gained their experience writing NON-mission-critical software. But of course in the real world most software is crap whether it is critical or not, so that's just wishful thinking :-)

  3. #33
    Just Lurking Dave_Sinkula's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    5,005
    Quote Originally Posted by Junior89 View Post
    I've tried the spreadsheet thing before but the grading system at her school requires a more 'powerful' scripting, to put it that way.
    Any examples you can share? To me it seems that a spreadsheet is still more suited to the task.
    7. It is easier to write an incorrect program than understand a correct one.
    40. There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one works.*

  4. #34
    Lurking whiteflags's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    9,613
    Quote Originally Posted by Junior89
    So what you guys are saying is to take all the stuff in global.h and move it to the main?
    Not exactly. A truly organized programming project would not need a global header file because
    1. The project has already been divided into modules that can be compiled individually for unit testing.
    2. All the modules can also be compiled together when the program is ready to be actually used.
    3. The programmers know that global headers would increase the risk of unnecessary dependancies, code bloat, and extra long compile time.
    4. The programmers know that forcing all classes under one namespace ( via using namespace vomit; ) is bad.
    5. The programmers know that unnecessary global variables increase the risk of violating data integrity.

    Pretty much what people told you, but no the answer is not "dump it into main.cpp"

  5. #35
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Pennsylvania
    Posts
    434
    Quote Originally Posted by brewbuck View Post
    Again, I'm glad you're enthusiastic. Just make sure you can pull it off. You are, after all, dealing with the grades of REAL people here. Not only is this information very important to the individual students, it is protected by various privacy laws like FERPA.

    Personally, I'd rather people gained their experience writing NON-mission-critical software. But of course in the real world most software is crap whether it is critical or not, so that's just wishful thinking :-)
    Well she does everything by the book now and she's gonna keep doing it that way In Addition to the program (if i can get it done anytime soon which is probably not gonna happen =P) so that's a backup.
    "Anyone can aspire to greatness if they try hard enough."
    - Me

  6. #36
    Just Lurking Dave_Sinkula's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    5,005
    Just some quickie tinkering, but why wouldn't something like this work?
    7. It is easier to write an incorrect program than understand a correct one.
    40. There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one works.*

  7. #37
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Pennsylvania
    Posts
    434
    I suppose it would but the whole *point* was to give me something to program

    I'll figure it out on my own i suppose, thanks for crushing my hopes and dreams! hahaha =P

    But yeah, i'm doing it in C++ and i'm not changing my mind =D
    "Anyone can aspire to greatness if they try hard enough."
    - Me

  8. #38
    Just Lurking Dave_Sinkula's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    5,005
    Quote Originally Posted by Junior89 View Post
    I suppose it would but the whole *point* was to give me something to program

    I'll figure it out on my own i suppose, thanks for crushing my hopes and dreams! hahaha =P

    But yeah, i'm doing it in C++ and i'm not changing my mind =D
    I'm not trying to crush your hopes or end your C++ practice exercises. I'm just paraphrasing an old adage of "when all you've got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail".

    This plays perhaps a greater meaning than you take. That is, choose the correct tool for the job. Why spend months or years developing something that is already available to you for free and debugged and easy to use with wonderful choices for output? In another way, why try to run a 100-yard-dash wearing a 200-lb backpack if you have the choice of taking it off? The lesson to be learned is likely, "don't wear the 200-lb backpack".

    What you intend can be done, and you will reinvent a decades-old wheel. The practice of programming has generally centered around making our lives easier by using appropriate tools. Ignoring them is a mistake that I feel should be pointed out.

    I myself undertake such exercises regularly, and I usually end up with the finding that a better solution would have been to heed such advice in the first place. That is pretty much the reason I offer it.

    But along the way, you do gain valuable knowledge before you inevitably (most likely, IMO) abandon the project unfinished. So it is in this spirit that I have offered my remarks.

    We may stand on the shoulders of giants, but ...

    [/rant=I'll just stop now]

    Do continue with your project. Keep posting questions as they arise. It has drawn the interest of a number of folks already -- we wish you good results and will endeavor to assist you as best we can.
    7. It is easier to write an incorrect program than understand a correct one.
    40. There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third one works.*

  9. #39
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Pennsylvania
    Posts
    434
    I hear what you're saying, and thank you =)

    And yeah, the global variable is still the problem =(
    "Anyone can aspire to greatness if they try hard enough."
    - Me

Popular pages Recent additions subscribe to a feed

Similar Threads

  1. Undertaking Website Building Project and Application Software Development
    By Programmer168 in forum Projects and Job Recruitment
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 03-21-2009, 04:44 AM
  2. Problem Displaying a Struct
    By rockstarpirate in forum C++ Programming
    Replies: 16
    Last Post: 05-05-2008, 09:05 AM
  3. Dynamic Binding
    By gpr1me in forum C++ Programming
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 03-24-2006, 09:01 AM
  4. Game Independent Anti-cheat Project Needs Programmers
    By GIA Project Lea in forum Projects and Job Recruitment
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 09-15-2005, 07:41 PM