Re: How do I write directly to a memory address?

["Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de>]

On Tue, 08 Feb 2011 11:30:51 -0700, Jeffrey Carter wrote:

> The problem with this is it violates Dijkstra's adage that we have small brains 
> and must do our work with them. Few of us can keep all the code for the entire 
> project in his head, and there are times when what one remembers is incorrect. 
> And so, eventually, in any real project, even the best of developers make errors 
> under such circumstances.
> 
> So, when talking to a C coder, "You said int, so negative values should be OK" 
> isn't considered a valid argument. The response will be that you are supposed to 
> have read the code and realized what would happen if you called it with a 
> negative value. If you then go ahead and do so, you get what you asked for.

Three candidates in a row I have interviewed for a C/C++/C# position could
not answer the question how to test the 3rd bit of a byte in C. All three
had 3+ years of programming "experience."

The problem is worse than Dijkstra pictured it. More programmers are needed
than before. There are much more projects than before. As the average
programmer qualification drops even more programmers needed. It is a
positive feedback. Their bird-brains are pre-filled filled with rubbish
unrelated to programming. E.g. how to use VisualStudio, MS-Word, Outlook
and hundreds of other useless overblown tools etc. There is less and less
place to memorize the ticks and pitfalls of C.

I am not sure if Ada could really save the world, but it is certain that C
significantly aggravates the situation.

-- 
Regards,
Dmitry A. Kazakov
http://www.dmitry-kazakov.de