'Perception' gene tracked humanity's evolution, scientists say

Eurekalert ^ | 14-Nov-2005 | David Bricker

[AndrewC]

I never used a goto.

At least not knowingly.

0B35:0793 7403          JZ      0798
0B35:0795 E90700        JMP     079F
0B35:0798 8346D601      ADD     WORD PTR [BP-2A],+01
0B35:079C E9A4FF        JMP     0743
0B35:079F C45ED6        LES     BX,[BP-2A]
0B35:07A2 26            ES:
0B35:07A3 8A07          MOV     AL,[BX]
0B35:07A5 25FF00        AND     AX,00FF
0B35:07A8 3D3000        CMP     AX,0030
0B35:07AB 7D03          JGE     07B0
0B35:07AD E99400        JMP     0844
0B35:07B0 C45ED6        LES     BX,[BP-2A]

[js1138]

Machine instruction aren't usually "structured".

[balrog666]

I did that about 15 years ago as a one shot deal. I met someone a few years ago who worked at the company, and they were still using it.

And sometimes the screw-ups never go away either. Look at the FAA.

[Junior]

Okay, it's been awhile:

//Response to js1138

char Response()

if(poster="js1138")
{
printf("Go bonk yourself")
}
else
{
printf("I'm such a loser")
};

[Coyoteman]

The TRS-80 Model I was shipped with seven bits of video memory -- not enough to display lowercase. I modified two of them by adding an eighth memory chip in a humping cockroach configuration.

We did the same in early 1979. The LNW-80 clone came with the extra video memory and lower case enabled. What a breakthrough!

[AndrewC]

Machine instruction aren't usually "structured".

Whatever it is, machines like it.

[PatrickHenry]

01 INPUT "What's your name?", $x
02 PRINT $x is a stupid name!
03 INPUT "Are you a creationist?", $y
04 IF $y="yes" GOTO 10
05 IF $y="no"
06 PRINT Well, $x is still a stupid name!
06 END
10 PRINT You're a flaming idiot!
11 GOTO 10

[Junior]

You have an endless loop there at the end.

[PatrickHenry]

Yup. That's the joy of GOTO.

[VadeRetro]

Statement 5 could suffer a deletion mutation without loss of function.

[King Prout]

SUCK THE HUMOR?

hrmn... I see clearly you mean the aqueous humor, not the vitreous

[PatrickHenry]

Around here, yes. Also, I've somehow got two lines numbered 06. Program in haste, debug at leisure.

[King Prout]

do the M98/M99 pocket-cycle instructions in ISO code count as "goto" instructions?

[King Prout]

Program in haste, debug at leisure.

well, that is the distilled essence of Creationistic Evolution philosophy.

[furball4paws]

Really Slow Night in Dry Gulch placemarker.

[King Prout]

really-stoked-that-my-handmade-yumi-WORKS placemarker

[Ichneumon]

Under MS-Basic, at least: The dollar signs go *after* the string variable names. String constants on lines 2, 6, and 10 are missing the necessary quote characters. Line 5 is a syntax error (needs a "GOTO" or "THEN" clause after the "IF" test). Line 5 is redundant anyway, since it's the fall-through from the comparison to "yes" on the prior line. There are two lines numbered 6, which will cause the first one to be replaced by the second one, thus the program will silently exit if the user responds to the question with anything other than "yes".

On the other hand, the infinite print loop appears to be a feature, not a bug.

[Ichneumon]

NEW The Darwin Digital Library of Evolution.

Here's another possible candidate: Critique of “Intelligent Design” (ID)

[Thatcherite]

I guess all we need now is a barfly - any takers?

Maybe that guy who babbles about his genius uncle will turn up.

[Thatcherite]

C is the only thing in the computer world that I truly loved without reservation.

OK, I liked C too, but IMHO for writing large complex programs correctly used C++, Java, or C# in particular has it beat by a long way.

My wife got tired of me hanging round the house a little while ago so I went out and got a job as development manager in a small software house. I can't say that the director who interviewed me didn't give me fair warning once I'd persuaded him that I wasn't after his job. What these guys have done (something like 40 developers) is written millions of lines of C, but using C++ syntax so they are under the illusion that they are writing in C++. #defines everywhere instead of inlines, no polymorphism at all, copious use of memset(0,sizeof) on pointers to class instances (which would of course break if they did go polymorphic), copy-and-paste used *every time* already developed stuff was needed elsewhere, presentation/business/data logic hopelessly mired in a single spaghetti tier. But hey! They'd got coding standards, "no gotos, lots of variable naming rules and only one return per function" (that last return rule some people like, but IMHO creates really ugly code). Some serious re-education is going on which is actually an interesting challenge. I'm trying to get the message through to the team-leaders that obeying a few rules about variable names and in-function code-structure doesn't make your code good.