Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2003 18:03:06 +0200 (CEST)
From: Magnus B{ckstr|m <b@etek.chalmers.se>
To: Jonathon McKitrick <jcm@FreeBSD-uk.eu.org>
Cc: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org
Subject: Re: Code layout and debugging time
Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.4.44.0304221738460.78035-100000@scrooge.etek.chalmers.se>
In-Reply-To: <20030422132906.GB64101@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org>
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On Tue, 22 Apr 2003, Jonathon McKitrick wrote: > > As a side note, perhaps it is simply legacy code, but it seems that the > older the source in the BSD tree, the denser it is. Probably to save > punched cards, eh? ;-) > Nope -- I expect if you surveyed it you'd find that most who wrote code at that time tried to keep the code compact to fit as much as comfortably possible onto the screen of a serial ascii terminal. "Dumb" terminals at that time were typically 80x24 characters and connected to the host computer through a serial line that made scrolling a real patience test. Perhaps programmers from that time are indeed better, from having had that particular incentive to "think, -then- type.", and "-remember- the damn code, you'll never get anything done if you constantly have to go someplace to look at how function so-and-so should be called". Magnus
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