...it's all just smoke and mirrors? Ultimately, any program running in 99% of the computers out there today is running the old fetch-execute cycle on a Von Neuman architecture: A processor fetches the next instruction, executes it, stores the result, and goes to the next instruction. Atop that, we've layered: Subroutines, Modules, Functional Programming, Structured Programming, Object-Orientation (Objects, Inheritance, Polymorphism, Composition/Aggregation), Closures, Atoms, Processes, Multithreading, Semaphores, etc. We're desperately trying to make the digital computer be more than the sum of its parts, just as a living human brain is somehow more than a collection of neurons and synapses. We *desperately* want abstractions...need them, in fact. That's the whole point of the progression from bare binary programming, through assembly, to high-level languages, etc.--abstraction. The speed and capacity of computers grows. The speed and capacity of the minds of progra...
ugh.
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ReplyDeleteNah, it's a good thing. Much better than my neighbor who thinks his mission in life is to train his sons like attack dogs. "What are you cryin' about? I don't see no blood!"
ReplyDeleteWith a daughter there's no constant fear that something you do might turn her into a sissy. So you can lavish all the love and affection on her you want and it's OK.
It's too bad my parents never had a girl. My dad's SOOO different around Katie.
...of course you can ALSO turn your daughter into a Star Wars geek, turn her onto all the Hornblower books, teach her to use the power tools, etc. It's all good!
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