From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,2353cc2ebdf8fc4a X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2002-03-04 15:48:48 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!sn-xit-02!supernews.com!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!4.1.16.34!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.gtei.net!newsfeed1.cidera.com!Cidera!cyclone.socal.rr.com!cyclone3.kc.rr.com!news3.kc.rr.com!typhoon.san.rr.com!not-for-mail Message-ID: <3C8407E6.5A969459@san.rr.com> From: Darren New X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.77 [en] (Windows NT 5.0; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: [OT] Gibson's vision of computer languajes References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Mon, 04 Mar 2002 23:49:06 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 66.75.151.160 X-Complaints-To: abuse@rr.com X-Trace: typhoon.san.rr.com 1015285746 66.75.151.160 (Mon, 04 Mar 2002 15:49:06 PST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 04 Mar 2002 15:49:06 PST Organization: Road Runner Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:20791 Date: 2002-03-04T23:49:06+00:00 List-Id: Jano wrote: > > I'm pretty sure many of us know Steven Gibson. Today I've tested a > freeware from him. In the instructions page he made these statements: > > "All of my programs are so small and so fast because I write only in the > one, true, computer language: Assembly Language. All other languages > reduce to assembly language, but they lose a lot in the translation. > (Judge for yourself.)" > > "People who can't program in assembly language (just about everyone) get > really annoyed with me when I talk about how much better it is than their > pet language. But it's not my fault if they just say they care about > quality." Well, I think knowing how to program in at least one assembly language is important, since you know how the machine works. However, there's a difference between knowing how to program in assembler and programming in assembler. Indeed, some of the most recent advances in computers (RISC, etc) are predicated on the idea that you won't write in assembler, and indeed it is less efficient to do so. And no, not all other languages reduce to assembler. All other languages reduce to machine code. Whassamatta? Can't toggle in the binary like a *real* programmer? -- Darren New San Diego, CA, USA (PST). Cryptokeys on demand. To the user, everything works just as expected, assuming the user's expectations are correct.