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- >POSITION 20,1900
- >SIDE Left
- >STYLE Heading
- The User Guide Part II
- >STYLE Body
- Last issue I left you at the bottom of page XV, so turn over. The next two pages
- are mainly about extra things you can buy for your computer. Of course being
- only 17 pages into the user guide you are already thinking about buying more
- software and hardware but turn over again anyway. We are now at part one
- "The Desktop Filer" so I shall begin. There are various types of drives on your
- machine. A hard drive,a RAM drive (to be covered later), a disk drive and if you
- are lucky you may well also have a CD ROM drive. All these are controlled by
- filing systems. ADFS is the important one that controls the disk drive and most
- modern hard disks. Turn over and learn about display directories. You can get
- one by clicking on the little picture above the word Apps on the iconbar (the
- rectangle at the bottom of the screen). For those of you who have used other
- computers a directory display is just a window which has various files and stuff
- in it. However, Acorn believe we are all idiots so have to explain this as if we
- have IQs nearing 3. You may forgive them when you remember that the user
- guide is written by probably one of the most intelligent people at Acorn with an
- IQ nearly as high as 15. I bet he is proud of himself. Anyway you see that
- thing with a wire coming out of it and buttons, that is you mouse. If you move
- the mouse the little arrow on screen also moves (If it's plugged in -Ed). Try
- clicking twice quickly on one of the things in the Apps Directory Display.
- Try it with the little picture of an i just above the words !Help. A window has
- appeared which stops you needing to read the rest of the user guide, just move
- the mouse and read what it says in that window.
-
- I will leave you there this week as this is voted the most unpopular page.
- Never mind I'll just work for hours producing this and receive no praise, sob!
- (Is that all he's good for I wonder? -Ed).
-
-
- >STYLE Heading
- A REAL Programmer
- >STYLE Small
- Real Programmers disdain structured programming. Structured programming is for
- compulsive neurotics who were prematurely toilet-trained. They wear neckties and carefully
- line up sharp pencils on an otherwise clear desk.
-
- Real Programmers don't believe in schedules. Planners make schedules. Managers firm up
- schedules. Frightened coders strive to meet schedules. Real programmers ignore schedules.
-
- Real programmers don't bring brown-bag lunches. If the vending machine sells it, they eat it.
- If the vending machine doesn't sell it, they don't eat it. Vending machines don't sell quiche.
-
- Real programmers don't comment on their code.
- If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand.
-
- Real programmers don't document. Documentation is for simps who can't read the listings
- or object deck.
- >SIDE Right
- >POSITION 1300,2000
- Real programmers don't draw flowcharts. Cavemen drew flowcharts and look how much
- good it did them.
-
- Real programmers don't eat quiche. In fact, real programmers don't know how to spell
- quiche. They eat twinkles and szechuan food.
-
- Real programmers don't play tennis or any other sport that requires you to change clothes.
- Mountain climbing is OK, and real programmers wear their climbing boots to work in case
- a mountain should suddenly spring up in the middle of the machine room.
-
- Real programmers don't write application programs. They program right down to the bare
- metal. Application programming is for feebs who can't do system programming.
-
- Real programmers don't write in APL, unless the whole program can be written on one line.
- Real programmers don't write in BASIC. Actually, no programmers write in BASIC,
- after the age of 12.
- Real programmers don't write in COBOL. COBOL is for wimpy applications programmers.
- Real programmers don't write in FORTRAN. FORTRAN is for pipe-stress freaks and
- crystallography weenies.
- Real programmers don't write in LISP. Only faggot programs contain more parenthesis than
- actual code.
- Real programmers don't write in PASCAL or BLISS or ADA, or any of those pinko computer
- science languages. Strong typing is for people with weak memories.
- Real programmers don't write in PL/1. PL/1 is for programmers who can't decide whether to
- write in COBOL or FORTRAN.
- Real programmers don't write in "C". There has to be something wrong with a language
- who's next generation gets a low grade then its prior.
- Real programmers write in the machine's native binary code, ASM macros are those who
- can't divide HEX numbers in their head.
-
- Real programmers don't write specs - users should consider themselves lucky to get any
- programs at all and take what they get.
-
- Real programmers like vending-machine popcorn. Coders pop it in the microwave oven.
- Real programmers use the heat from the CPU. They can tell which jobs are running from the
- rate of popping.
-
- Real programmers never work 9 to 5. If any real programmers are around at 9am, it's
- because they were up all night.
-
- Real programmers scorn floating-point arithmetic. The decimal point was invented for pansy
- bed wetters who are unable to think big.
- Real programmers' programs never work right the first time. But if you throw them on the
- machine, they can be patched into working in `only a few' 30-hour debugging sessions.
-
- Programmer Defined: Programmer n. 1. One who claims or appears to be engaged in the
- perpetration of programs. 2. The systems analyst's diplomatic attache at the alien court of
- the CPU. 3. One engaged in a practical, nonsystematic study of the halting problem.
- 4. "A harmless druge."-Lord Bowden, 1953.
-
- That ought to clear things up.....