Re: TABS and the nature of existance -Reply

[Tony DeLia <tdelia@EROLS.COM>]

Hi Jim!

  I have a couple free minutes so I'll respond to this...

> Gee Tony, how do you get your shirt on with a head so large?  :)

  I had to throw out all my pullovers and switch to button down shirts
so my head could fit... ;)

> But it's juvenile to dismiss his arguement as illogical simply because you   disagree. And I see no excuse for attacking him personally.

  Mike originally stated "the tab issue, like many issues of programming
style, is often not based in logic"... I clearly stated my issue "was"
based in logic without reference to his issue... You lost me on the
"personal attack" issue Jimmy...

> Yelling "YOU'RE WRONG AND A JERK BESIDES"...

  Lost me again... I don't think Mike's a jerk... we have two different
points of view... I expressed mine...

I understand my opinions may come across pretty strongly... which may
lead to misperceptions during debates... I may have done the same thing
with Mike's post... when he stated "our need to compensate for our
lousy, outdated tools" I took this as an attack on my editor and friend
- SPF/PC 4.0 by Command Technology... Nobody calls SPF/PC 4.0 by Command
Technology lousy and gets away with it! Nobody!

   Regards, Tony DeLia

PS - SPF/PC 4.0 by Command Technology has been discontinued as of
12/31/1998...

http://www.command-technology.com



Jim Hardesty wrote:
>
> Gee Tony, how do you get your shirt on with a head so large?  :)
>
> I understand Mike took a fairly evangelistic tone in his message.  And the natural
> reaction is to strongly defend your own position.  But it's juvenile to dismiss his
> arguement as illogical simply because you disagree.  And I see no excuse for
> attacking him personally.
>
> Yelling "YOU'RE WRONG AND A JERK BESIDES" is no way to win an
> arguement.  At least not after Jr High.
>
> jim
>
> - A great teacher taught me "As you go through life, always remember one thing".
>
> >>> Tony DeLia <tdelia@EROLS.COM> 08/17/99 07:26am >>>
> Mike,
>    Nice lecture... Too bad you didn't pay attention to the original
> post... My editor supports tabs without a problem... I said someone used
> a shareware editor (designed for a 286 processor) which inserted
> additional special characters not supported by SQR (not an editor
> issue!)... As a consultant it's important to select an editor which has
> the lowest common denominator of functionality... meaning no special
> characters... I repeat "Why taint the source code for the mere luxury of
> laziness?"... You've conveniently shifted that responsibility to someone
> other than yourself (A true "I-need-tools-point-n-click" generation
> response)... Imagine expaining to a client that all their developers
> need to "get with the 20th century" and change their editors to
> something more modern to support the work they've surely overpaid for...
> I'd like to be in the room when some "other" consultant explains this to
> the client! Funny stuff! For goodness sake, the idea that you won't
> support something as common as simple non-TAB "gruntwork" is more than
> enough reason to dump this profession right then and there... I was
> completely unaware hitting a space key was gruntwork... God help us!
>
>      Tony DeLia
>
> PS - The only good programming tool required is your mind... although
> that may vary by individual... Contrary to your post my argument is
> based entirely on logic... enjoy your TAB key!
>
> Mike Jackmin wrote:
> >
> > Speaking of pet peeves... the tab issue, like many issues of programming
> > style, is often not based in logic so much as it is based on our need to
> > compensate for our lousy, outdated tools.
> >
> > I use tabs, but you'll never know it - my nice, modern editor provides a
> > simple setting to convert tabs to whitespace when the files are saved. It
> > also provides a nice setting to convert whitespace back to tabs, if I wish,
> > when I read it back in.
> >
> > In short, the computer is doing the grunt work. They love grunt work.
> >
> > If  you are doing grunt work, and if you hate it as much as I do, I suggest
> > you get a more modern tool to work with and join the 20th century while
> > there is still time. For goodness sake, the idea that your toolset won't
> > support something as common as a TAB without raising hell is more than
> > enough reason to dump it right then and there.
> >
> > The same goes for email that won't handle attachments, debuggers that don't
> > show you what you want to see and source code control that is too difficult
> > to use on a daily basis. Almost any good programming tool will pay for
> > itself within months, considering both the costs of our salaries and the
> > cost of fixing an error after the fact.
> >
> > MikeJ
>
> --
> Tony DeLia
> AnswerThink Consulting Group
> PeopleSoft Solutions Practice - Delphi Partners
> tdelia@erols.com
> http://www.sqrtools.com

--
Tony DeLia
AnswerThink Consulting Group
PeopleSoft Solutions Practice - Delphi Partners
tdelia@erols.com
http://www.sqrtools.com