Re: TABS and the nature of existance -Reply

[Royce Lithgo <RLithgo@MACQUARIE.COM.AU>]

I agree - if you want to have a flame war take it off line.

-----Original Message-----
From: Morgan, Michael [mailto:MiMorgan@SBHCS.COM]
Sent: Wednesday, 18 August 1999 3:11 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list SQR-USERS
Subject: Re: TABS and the nature of existance -Reply


What are we doing here.....writing report programs or curing cancer?  How
about keeping a little perspective?

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tony DeLia [SMTP:tdelia@EROLS.COM]
> Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 1999 12:40 PM
> To:   Multiple recipients of list SQR-USERS
> Subject:      Re: TABS and the nature of existance -Reply
>
> 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 lousy, outdated tools" I took this as an attack on my editor and friend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