SolidWorks

phoneNumber = '(' + AreaCode + ')' + Phone

How many problems can plague this simple statement (assuming AreaCode and Phone come from the parsing of a plaintext file?)

Will the code that parses the file know where *in* the file to find these values? Will it be pedantic about ensuring their proper format and range of values? Will it know how to address their absence? Will it know how to perform those parses WHILE another actor is potentially altering them, their location in the file or the existence of the file, itself? Who/what will ensure any human (or other agency) intervention obeys the rules?

Will the lexers (typically written /ad hoc/ as folks are reluctant to let tools do this work FOR them) catch every possible syntax variant? What if the file (manipulated by a human or other agency) used tabs (or NULs!) instead of spaces to delimit fields? Or, failed to terminate the file with a newline? Or, used the "wrong" line termination throughout the file? You'll obviously develop tests to check for all of these things, at some cost to your development time, right?

Wouldn't it be simpler (and more reliable) to have an agency that's responsible for maintaining that data and ensuring its integrity and atomic access than leaving that to chance with a user-accessible "text" file?

(We call such agencies DBMSs. Let *them* assume responsibility for storing data and stop dicking around with arbitrary 'free format' text files for that purpose. And, gain OTHER benefits like support for upcalls from TRIGGERs in the DBMS to notify consumers of changes to specific fields/records of interest!)

Imagine having part numbers in such a DBMS so the footprint, pinout, schematic symbol, etc. was available without having to HOPE the ".lib" file was intact.

I'm 67 :) There is always risk, even getting off your bed in the morning. The entire human's life is risk. Fixing your car is not different from anything else if you are careful and know what you are doing.

And no matter what people might think, it IS fun. I like to do things with my own hands. I do woodworking, machining, welding, PCB assembly (I even have 2 Pick-and-Place machines, one older PRODUCTION one working like machine gun and new current semi-professional Chinese one). That is besides my hardware engineering that earns me my bread and butter and embedded / firmware programming as a part of that hardware engineering. It is what makes me tick and what I really LOVE to do -- I don't drink alcohol, don't gamble and would shoult myself out of boredom if subjected to a do-nothing "vacation". Oh, and I have my own lab full of tools and measurement equipment, many of which is metrology grade in current official calibration.

There are people that genuinely can't understand why those criminals kill each other and risk their lives for mere $10,000,000 pocket change...

Those who have $1.5M vehicles will NOT bother with bolts and nuts. They live in a different world so there is no sense to compare apples and oranges.

They all break and wear out. Lexus LS460L is a WONDERFUL car, very reliable, a pleasure to drive, without stupid things like built-in champaigne bar and such. It is a rare luxury car made for the DRIVER, not for a buffon body on the rear seat. Mine has just above 80K miles on it and it is where rubber parts in suspension require replacement. Nothing special, just regular wear. It was $100K+ when new in that period dollars so their dealerships think people driving those never ask about price at all.

So, the risk and inconvenience must offset the enjoyment and other value you attribute to the activity. Being a grease monkey doesn't have any value to me.

I see many people in the 60-70 age group that have back problems, diminished strength or endurance, eyesight and hearing issues, medication side effects that limit their physical activities (one friend bruises so easily -- blood thinners -- that I expect him to just start bleeding THROUGH his skin, RSN!) and other health issues that have them focusing more on living than on enjoying life!

I've done enough "with my hands" over the years so the novelty has worn off. Plumbed & wired extensions, replaced asphalt roofs, built brick walls, shoveled snow, mowed lawns, felled trees, landscaped yards, made clothing, worked leather, etc. *Once* is educational; the second time its just a chore.

I want to spend my time creating things that I can't *buy* or hire someone to *make* for me. If I can buy it -- and I want it -- then I've already *got* it!

I've *never* taken a vacation -- despite having a wife who was an executive in a travel agency, entitled to free trips as a perc. Never invested in a second home (as that would involve travel) which would have me forever wondering if some THING that I was searching for "was at the other place".

I don't maintain my (color) printers anymore because I can walk to the nearby service bureau and PAY them to maintain *their* printers for me. The quality isn't quite as good but it is sufficient for my needs.

I don't want to assemble prototypes because I can pay someone to do that for much less than the value of my time (opportunity costs). Past experiences have taught me the issues to avoid in the design/layout that complicated past efforts.

I don't want to *troubleshoot* designs "on the bench" anymore as they should just *work* after fab (and, if they don't its because they weren't assembled properly). Ensuring it will work "first time" is worth much more than pushing the envelope with a design.

I don't want to deal with clients anymore as their ideas of what's "interesting" are usually at odds with mine -- most people have really vanilla ideas for new products. The same to be said for "customers".

I don't want to dick with cars anymore as I've already had enough experience under the hood that there is no novelty remaining. For $200 I can buy a service tech's time and let him get *his* hands dirty while I'm engaged with something more interesting.

I don't want to pick *oranges* anymore -- something that SWMBO is unhappy about -- but I'd rather fly freshly picked (ripened on the tree instead of in the back of a truck) fruit in from wherever it's currently "in season" than take on that responsibility, here. (besides, I dislike oranges)

SWMBO already has to remind me to *eat* as I consider THAT to be a chore! (I would love to have a chef "on call" but they would likely be disheartened by my lack of enthusiasm for their "works" as I "eat to live" instead of "live to eat"!)

I *would* like to instrument a big V8 with an eye towards seeing how much I could eke out of it on a dyno just by using more adaptive algorithms. I've had discussions with a colleague about how one could adapt the controls to the current needs of the driver to balance fuel economy, emissions and power.

And, to make it fun, put it in a REALLY BIG land yacht (I'm watching for a 61' Continental) with dynamically controlled hydraulics in the suspension to literally let it skim the pavement (the trick being sorting out how and when to lift WHICH portion to traverse a bump in some part of the road surface).

I'm currently designing a Rube Goldberg timepiece as a bit of "functional art" for the back yard. That will require metalworking, plumbing, masonry and a bit of "fine arts" with the control electronics being an amusing exercise to ensure end-to-end timekeeping is spot-on.

My point was that I see no value in owning something that is just another expression of the cash you have at hand. Value comes in having something that doesn't (yet) exist -- likely because they haven't yet THOUGHT of it! Seeing the surprise on someone's face when they understand the cleverness of an idea or implementation.

In *another* 10 or 15 years, I *may* reach 80K miles. Because I consider driving to be just another chore. I'd much rather have our groceries and other sundries *delivered* than have to spend the time to pick them up. But, think that practice to be too haughty and hard to hide.

I *really* want to be left alone to do my tinkering, solving problems that *I* consider challenging without concern for a "market", etc. The enjoyment/satisfaction from seeing a raw idea come to fruition is incredibly rewarding! Let other people worry about making money.

No he is an insane ego-tripper, now making 'peace' as he is scared Democrats will win enough votes in congress to impeach him and to deport him to Cuba, Guantanamo_Bay

You will sell to the Devil is payed for.

But then I do not believe in the Devil and Adam and Eve

More in all those nano_nano organisms fighting and eating each other in evolution resulting, among many other species, in us and even trump.. May the best one win. Nukes? Pakistan as mediator, break promises to them and there you go. It only takes 3 nukes on is-a-hell and who exactly is opposed to that right now?

This is his gift to us:

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

Don Y snipped-for-privacy@foo.invalid wrote: |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |"That has always been the "a little bit pregnant" hook that all EDA tools | |had; you invest in developing libraries which means switching to another | |tool represents forfeiting one investment and taking on another. So, you | |didn't jump around between products (like you could office suites, compilers,| |desktops, etc.) | | | |One consolation is you don't see these firms rolling in the dough | |as their pricing would make you *think*. And, individual shops can | |just decide to STOP using a tool [. . .] | |[. . .]" | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Cf. early Ada compilers. (S.

This is true of much commercial (end-user) software and, hence, the drive behind the various "copy protection" schemes that have evolved, over the years.

I have a dozen or more $2k compiler/assembler/linker/debugger suites (each targeting a specific CPU). Yet, know the vendor wasn't getting rich at that price (as he still has to *support* each of those sales when the purchasers might not be competent enough to use them as intended!)

"Why is MS Visual C++ so much cheaper??"

I paid $3K for my AutoCAD license in 1986 -- and immediately issued a ticket for a bug in the product; had they had few customers over which to amortize that fix, they would have already been operating at a loss.

OTOH, I recall JRTPascal being sold for $19.95 (?) -- you couldn't photocopy the manual for that price! (JK)

Note the trend for USERS to provide support for vendors' products (forums). Fine if you have competent users who are willing to invest their time THERE instead of actually using the product for its designed purpose.

Aliens I suggested in an other newsgroup that SETI should send an SOS asking aliens to treat human beings as a protected species maybe keep some in their zoos as the evil earthling leader trump is trying to destroy all in a nuclear war.

Am 23.06.26 um 08:08 schrieb Jan Panteltje:

No, they should leave us alone and put DT & Co into the zoo.

Yes, but I am very interested in the alien technology! Get a hike in their flying saucers?

Don Y snipped-for-privacy@foo.invalid wrote: |----------------------------------------------------------------------| |"I have a dozen or more $2k compiler/assembler/linker/debugger suites"| |----------------------------------------------------------------------|

Early Ada compilers used to cost much more. (S.

As they should. C (esp early K&R) was pretty much an /ad hoc/ "product"; little standardization, validation, etc. As long as the code generated

OTOH, tools designed for "desktop" use were considerably cheaper as the market was considerably *larger* and not as varied; all PCs were x86 so *an* x86 toolchain could see thousands of users. OTOH, the number of folks writing code for 2A03s or 6100's was probably a large handful (?)

But, when you have to dole out $2K for each different processor that you're going to design into a product, it starts to get expensive.

In a single shop, one could CHOOSE to standardize on a particular processor/family. There are some (often only *imagined*) benefits to doing so -- the learning curve for tools, the ability to reuse codebases, etc.

But, when each client has their own requirements and preferences ("We're a Motorola shop..."), you're stuck with THEIR constraints. This particularly annoying when the boss *was* an engineer (and is now woefully out of touch with the current state of technology) and has his own "ideas" as to how a design should unfold.