NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #26/NN_1992_26.iso/spool/comp/sys/ibm/pc/misc/14581

Text File | 1992-11-11 | 3.2 KB | 58 lines

Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Path: sparky!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!agate!dog.ee.lbl.gov!news!nosc!crash!<pro-nsdapple!pro-storm!brogers>
    id <[e-mail]>; Wed, 11 Nov 92 02: 38 PST
    id <[e-mail]>; Wed, 11 Nov 92 02: 28 PST
    id <[e-mail]>; Wed, 11 Nov 92 03: 51 CST
From: [e-mail] (Brian Rogers)
Subject: Re: 486 vs. 386
Organization: ProLine [pro-storm] -- Dallas, TX -- 214/644-5113
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 92 03:38:55 CST
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
In-Reply-To: [e-mail] (H.C. Pulley)
References: <[e-mail]>
Lines: 43

In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (H.C. Pulley) writes:

>Every time the CPU speed increases (and memory and hard disk sizes, etc.) the
>software requirements increase to fill the gap.  It never fails!
>
>If you don't ever change your software, I guess you'll never need to upgrade
>your hardware either (unless your usage increases, but that's another story).
>If you have version X of a piece of software you can bet that version X+1 will
>need more CPU time, and more memory, and more disk space...

Harry,

        I haven't been prgramming so long, but from what I've heard this has
ALWAYS been the case!  An eternal truth about software or something.  You've
heard it said that computer scientists have a tendency to allow the problem
to expand in complexity until it completely fills the time available...?
Well,...  Since computer programmers have been around, and they first saw
that there were slicker and slicker virtual memory methods, better and better
hardware, etc... their programs have just continued to expand in complexity
until they fill the clock cycles available to them.  :)
        Eternal truth of software design or not, I know of at least one
person (my uncle) who has grown rather disappointed in the habits younger
programmers have developed because of the freedom 256k / 4.7Mhz systems
allowed them when they were learning.
        To boil it down though, memory gets cheaperr and systems get faster.
At the same time, programmers produces more diverse programming utilities
for the less skilled to use -- thus the birth of the para-programmer.  The
para-programmer has actually been around for years, but we've just recently
thought of the term.  Para-programmers write less efficient code...  but who
cares on a system this fast?  So they go on and write utilities and
development tools for the next generation of para-programmers.  If it weren't
for the occasional paradigm shift, I'd hate to think what quality of software
would be produced today!


----------- Brian Rogers --------------------+-----------------------------
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