On Jul 1, 9:19 am, James Kanze <james.ka...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jun 30, 9:13 pm, Ian Collins <ian-n...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > Hey, no need for insults! I'd have thought my spelling and
> > timezone would be enough of a hint.
>
> I didn't mean it as an insult; I'm American myself (originally,
> at any rate).

No offence taken! That was a too early in the morning joke...

> Living where I do, however, I see enough of both
> spellings that I don't actually notice which is being used (and
> a lot of British programmers write "program", rather than
> "programme" for a computer program). The above comment was
> meant more as a hint, since I'm not sure how many Americans
> would recognize gaol otherwise.
>
Ah, the joys of a common language. All the more reason to express
intent in something unambiguous like C++, or possibly French. Joking
asside, how often do you see N programmers interpret a written
requirement in N different ways?

> > I'll address the rest of the post later today when I've dug up
> > some unencumbered examples.
>
> I know the problem. You write code to get the job done, not to
> bring evidence for a certain point. Which means that most of
> the real examples are buried in a lot of stuff that has nothing
> to do with the immediate point.
>
> I find it just as difficult to present simple examples which
> show my own style.
>
Life would be so much eaier if we didn't have to work for others.

Ian.