Re: How proprietary is the "COBOL file system"



"Robert" <no@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:3t68g3tm4h7belscncl6pacdl8aulomcur@xxxxxxxxxx
On Wed, 3 Oct 2007 17:31:25 +1300, "Pete Dashwood"
<dashwood@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

Did you have any comment on the video? I'd be interested in your opinion.

I was disappointed. I expected better from a Microsoft visionary.

Ah, I was expecting nothing, never having heard of him before I saw the
interview.


I wasn't expecting a theoretician who produces beautiful design with
crappy
implementation. Universities have a surplus of that type. But I wasn't
expecting a code
monkey either, the type who tries to overcome weak design with skillful
implementation.
That's Anders. His test for design quality is totally pragmatic, throw it
against the code
wall and see what sticks.

It's an approach I have used myself on occasion... :-)


I was also put off by his solipsism. If he didn't think of an idea, it's
trivial.

I don't think that's fair, Robert. He seemed to me to be fairly
self-effacing, given his track record.

There he
was 'inventing' parallel processing, as though no one had thought of it
before. He was
'inventing' query processing. He doesn't acknowledge that databases have
been doing both
for twenty years, and he dismisses their query processing as something
anyone could write
in a short time.

Anders and the interviewer agree that Query Expressions, Functional
Programming and Lamda
are ideas from older unsuccessful languages (such as Anders' own Prolog),
but only
Microsoft has the skill to dust them off and make them useful.

Given that they work for MS who are paying for the video, I think we have to
expect SOME tub thumping. I thought it was not too in-your-face. But then, I
have no problem with MicroSoft... :-)


What hubris. If they want
to implement others' ideas, which is fine, they should stick to models
that are fully
developed.

If we all did that, there'd be very little development of new models... :-)

OK, thanks for your comments. There are some further videos (not ncessarily
with Anders) where they actually demonstrate query expression code and
explain why it is structured the way that it is, rather than as standard
SQL. These are more about nitty-gritty coding than about personalities.

I'm experimenting with it at the moment, but it looks very promising.

Personally, I don't care who invented (or re-invented) what, as long as I
can get it in an easily assimilable form and as long as it adds value to
what I'm doing.

I'm pretty happy with C# for those reasons.

Pete.
--
"I used to write COBOL...now I can do anything."


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: How proprietary is the "COBOL file system"
    ... I wasn't expecting a theoretician who produces beautiful design with crappy ... the type who tries to overcome weak design with skillful implementation. ... and he dismisses their query processing as something anyone could write ... Anders and the interviewer agree that Query Expressions, ...
    (comp.lang.cobol)
  • Re: Microsoft Spyware Detection/Removal Tool
    ... > Expecting other security firms to post announcements that Microsoft has ... > operating systems would be rather like expecting Netscape to have told you ... software package & is for spyware detection/removal only not antivirus. ... Competitive products will be ...
    (sci.med.transcription)
  • Re: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional upgrade looks the same as Windows Mobile 6?
    ... expecting the new user interface demoed on the Microsoft ... exactly the same as before - no sliding panels, etc.  Is there a settting I ... the biggest difference is the texting! ...
    (microsoft.public.pocketpc)
  • Re: Actual Quote From Best Buy Employee
    ... The adult clerk told me that they were not expecting any more ... > units before Christmas but not to worry because "In January Microsoft is ...
    (alt.games.video.xbox)
  • Re: Apple 3rd fastest growing Tech Company
    ... expecting that he will get nothing in return!" ... Winners fuck the prom queen. ... vanilla, that tower of yawns, Microsoft didn't even make the cut. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)