Dec 94 Dialog
Volume Number: 10
Issue Number: 12
Column Tag: Dialog Box
Dialog Box 
By Scott T Boyd, Editor
Sprocket Thoughts
I like the idea of a comparatively tiny object-oriented framework as a base for
future articles. But as a beginner in programming (any computer, not just
Macintosh) I am a little stuck here. I own neither a PowerMac nor Metrowerks
CodeWarrior.
If Sprocket should not be limited to the more advanced users, I (and other
hobbyists I guess) would need detailed descriptions how to get Sprocket compiling with
THINK C++ 7.0 at least.
Naturally a version for both compilers would still be better, because I would not
waste my spare time getting the framework running while the new issue of MacTech
Magazine with the next feature article is already in the box.
- Michael W. Schwarz, Darmstadt (Germany)
mschwarz@merck.de
We’re planning to make Sprocket buildable in all of the major C++
environments. We’re also hoping to see other language versions as well. If anyone
would like to volunteer, drop us a note at editorial@xplain.com -Ed stb
Prophet of the Apocalypse?
>My co-worker just discovered that you cannot run Excel 5.0
>without OLE installed...In order to display the Windows ‘95
>(a.k.a. Chicago) logo on your Windows product, you must
>implement OLE 2.0. No OLE, No logo!!!
>What message is MicroSoft sending everyone?
That now that the Justice Department has backed off, it can do whatever it
pleases. :-) I recently got a humorous post over the net suggesting that Bill Gates is the
Anti-Christ. The best part:
Revelation 13:16 and 13:18 says:
He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a
mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except
one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
“Windows compatible?”
- Bruce F. Webster, CTO, Pages Software
bwebster@pages.com
Happy To Be Online
Just a note of thanks for having your sources available for Internet ftp. I know it
may seem trivial to you, but it’s a great service to your readers. I read the mag on a
weekend, and I can go get the relevant information then... what a win! Keep up the good
work.
- Leo Hourvitz, leo@netcom.com
Thanks. We’re getting things together to get even more useful information
online. We’ll keep you posted - Ed stb
A Trail of Good Intentions
It was with great interest that I read David Simmons’ letter in MacTech Magazine
(August 1994) concerning OO languages, Smalltalk, C++, and the design of
applications.
Certain sentences leapt from the page:
“I think it is really C++ with its non-dynamic architecture and complex
semantics/grammar that is failing”.
Absolutely. When I first heard of C++ I looked eagerly for great flexibility in the
language and found instead a syntactic nightmare. Jim Gimpel has a quote from Ray
Duncan in his manual for C++ FlexeLint, describing C++ as “one of the most grotesque
and cryptic languages ever created”. It’s a mess. It inches asymptotically toward its
eventual design while leaving a trail of good intentions.
“Building components in C++ is just as hard as building applications (talk to the
folks who are trying to do it). The real problem at hand is managing complexity and
capturing design intent.”
I keep hawking the “complexity” word to clients when I am trying to get them to
write decent code and manage their projects properly. Too many people spend too much
time staring at the lines on the screen to see the big picture. Complexity is the one
thing that is guaranteed to kill a project as it grows unless it is managed very
carefully. Design intent is usually unclear as projects mature and budgets change.
Another argument for reducing complexity.
- Steven Weller, Windsor Systems, Louisville, KY
steve@barefoot.com http://iglou.com/~stevenw/windsorhome.html
Reader Report Card
Well, I know you appreciate feedback, so here we go:
I’ve been a subscriber for almost two years by now. Through that period I’ve
found that MacTech has improved in a lot of ways.
First of all you’ve done a real good job in covering the mainstream development
tools from Symantec and MetroWerks. This is what most of the people I know around
here uses, so this is a sound approach in my opinion. Topics like Forth and Fortran are
only of academic interest to me (and I guess a lot of other folks).
I’m also very pleased to be able to read detailed information about PPC, Dylan,
OpenDoc and other potentially revolutionary stuff lurking just below the horizon. We
need to know a little about this and you do a good job of keeping us informed.
Putting the source code from the magazine on your ftp-site is a much appreciated
service.
Making more informative folios is also a nice touch. But speaking of layout I
would like to suggest that you do something about your usage of color. I think color is a
good thing for illustrations and labeling. But couldn’t you refrain from using gradients
in the boxes (sunbursts or whatever) at the beginning of each article? They make the
colors look dirty and mars the otherwise sober layout of the magazine. Use vivid and
pure colors only - it actually improves on the impact the colors have.
But aside from my gradient grudge, I must say that I like your magazine very
much. Sprocket is a great idea in this age of hyperbloated fatware (I just got In Control
3.0 - it’s grown and become so slow your teeth fall out when you have to wait for the
auto-enter function!).
That’s all for this instance.
- Piet Seiden, seiden@biobase.aau.dk
Frederiksberg, Denmark
P.S. Dilbert doesn’t suck! Keep him around.
Should MacTech Take Sides?
After reading the October Dialog Box letter from Stephen Johnson I felt compelled
to respond. Last time I checked, MacTech Magazine was owned by Xplain Corporation,
not Apple Computer. As such, there is no reason why MacTech should stick by Apple
just because it’s Apple. Regardless of what technology is better, Windows does exist
and will continue to exist. I’m a realist and because of this I want to know all sides of a
technology debate. I would be much less inclined to read MacTech if it always tried to
make Apple look good and shelter me from “the bad guys at Microsoft”. Apple is not a
small child. They can do their own marketing. The day Apple needs to rely on a
publication to be unfairly biased to convince Macintosh developers in a technology
debate is the day Apple has truly lost the technology war. MacTech is not Stars and
Stripes. It’s not a “feel good” magazine. MacTech provides information that is
important to Macintosh developers, not its opinion of what is best for us. I’m grown up
and I can make my own decisions. I don’t need a magazine to tell me what technology to
use.
Macintosh enthusiasts seem to forget that throughout the brief life of the
computer industry, rarely has the “best” technology become a standard. It’s the
technology that’s “good enough” which emerges from the pack. Living a sheltered life
doesn’t make bad technology go away - it leaves you unprepared for reality.
I have a very strong emotional attachment to the Macintosh. I’ve been
programming the Macintosh for over 1/3 of my life and I cannot imagine programming
any other computer. If Apple bites the dust, I’ll find another industry to work in
rather than write Windows software. Still, if Apple cannot stand on its own, I’m not
willing to live in a cave and pretend it does.
Wake up pal. It’s time to face reality.
- Steve Kiene, mindvision@mindvision.com