Re: A note on computing thugs and coding bums

On Wed, 9 Jan 2008 06:11:36 -0600, Stephen Howe wrote
(in article <VN-dnbVoXLVkJBnanZ2dnUVZ8q6onZ2d@xxxxxxxxx>):

..., I am being assaulted for speaking this truth: that it would be
possible to discuss Herb's errors in a specific book, such as the
omission of virtual base classes, without once using syntax of the
form "don't trust Herb" or "Herb is incompetent".

But people have reached those conclusions _AFTER_ reviewing _MANY_ books of
Herb, not 1 book.
It is not prejudice, it is postjudice.
I would interested to know if Herb's coverage of C#, Java or the STL is as
slipshod.

This is an interesting question. I used to do a lot of browsing in
physical bookstores, but I usually by online now most of the time.
When I am in a bookstore with a technical section, I thumb through a
lot of titles, and I've certainly cracked open quite a few of his books
over the years, in addition to those I confiscated over the years by
larval stage programmers that didn't know they were being poisoned.
;-)

So far, I've yet to encounter one in which you could not identify
multiple serious technical mistakes in a matter of a few minutes, quite
often as early as Chapter 1.

I could certainly check what he has to say about the STL and know if it is
any good.

This I am unsure of, not having any serious exposure to C++ for a long
span of years.

This is being done, I believe, by Richard Heathfield here as the
editor of an inferior and little-regarded book, C Unleashed, to
promote his sales in an inappropriately commercial misuse of usenet.

But it has been pointed out that distrust of Herb began _LONG BEFORE_
Richard's book.

It certainly did.

I posted links which show distrust of Schildt back in 1995.
So are you believing FALSE FACTS CONTRARY TO EVIDENCE NILGE?

He can't see it. Any question posed to him that requires a yes/no
answer, or an explanation of a previous claim is simply ignored.

For example, he has ignored at least four times now a request to simply
back up his claim from about a week or so ago, maybe two weeks now, in
which he claimed that there were multiple data types in C that are
inherently dangerous and should not be used. He won't go anywhere near
those posts. My suspicion is that he might actually know he can't back
it up, but he might just be as incompetent at using a newsreader as he
is with a C compiler. It's difficult to tell from here.


--
Randy Howard (2reply remove FOOBAR)
"The power of accurate observation is called cynicism by those
who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw





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