Haiku's Micheal Phipps has posted 20 reasons as to why he thinks Haiku is relevant. "Build all of the libraries that developers need into the OS and update them with an ultra-high quality build every year or two. No one likes to reload their OS and no one likes .dll or .so misery." Read on for the whole list.
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Member since:2005-11-27
Right, that's why nearly every popular desktop app is written in C++:
* MS Office
* Photoshop
* Dreamweaver/Flash
* Virtually every commercial computer game made in the last 10 years
* Firefox
* Google Earth
Actually, a lot of computer games now are moving away from C++ and more towards scripting languages or other high level languages.
etc etc. I guess the entire software industry are idiots, it's the only explanation 
Not the entire software industry. It usually takes a while for things like this to change, although it's already started happening--just very slowly.
Member since:2005-07-06
Right, that's why nearly every popular desktop app is written in C++:
<snip>
etc etc. I guess the entire software industry are idiots, it's the only explanation
De facto standards mean nothing
After all, Windows 98 was for a long time the de facto standard for desktops, following up Windows 95.
C++ is a horrid language, for which the only claim to fame (widespread use) is that it looks like C, which back in the day was the most-used language, in a time where there weren't much better alternatives yet.
Member since:2005-07-06
The fact that lots of people use it doesn't reflect positively on its quality. It simply means that the cost of switching to something else would be too high. In the engineering world, there are lots of programs that have text-file interfaces directly based on the punchcard format they used in the 1970s. Nobody bothers updating those interfaces. Is that because a primitive text-file* is a superior mode of interaction? No! It's because the retraining costs of moving to something else, even if it were dramatically better, would be huge. It's cheaper to just spend much more training each new user than to fix the interface and have to retrain all the existing users.
*) That is not to say that text-files are primitive, but rather that these particular text-files are primitive!
Member since:2005-06-29
Did I say you had to be an idiot to like C++?
Most of those applications stem from the early 90's when C++ was _the_ language. Guess what, it's not 1993 anymore .
C++ is an excellent game language. It gives you object oriented structures without giving you a garbage collector.
However, 99% of us don't write games.
Many popular programs, especially on Unix, are not written in C++. Typically they get done in c because c++ pretty well failed to get rampantly popular in the Unix world.
Applications like Eclipse, OOo, and Apache are examples of programs not written in C++. They seem to be fairly popular in their markets from what I've seen .
Member since:2005-07-06
Well, every popular desktop app is ladden with security holes too, maybe this is related?
One can wonder if their producer were held accountable for the security holes, would they choose a different language?
For the language, I think that C# is superior to C++, now I'm not sure about the performance/memory consumption..
I've only use one .Net application until now: ATI driver and it's sloooowww.
Member since:2006-01-18
It was because C++ was the easiest to dock onto the given interfaces.
But face it as we speak even the desktop application programmers are moving away from good ole C++ towards saner grounds, and computer game people already have integrated scritping languages and java into their core code years ago for non performance related task.
The only reason most desktop programs are written in C++ is legacy reasons, no one ever would start to program a new office in C++ anymore nowadays in fact the last office suites written all were done in java (that is the last two coming out the last two years)
Member since:2006-02-20
But face it as we speak even the desktop application programmers are moving away from good ole C++ towards saner grounds, and computer game people already have integrated scritping languages and java into their core code years ago for non performance related task.
But the core (the engine) is written in C++. An script languages are only used for level design (and that’s because the level designer are designers and not programmers...).
And I never heard that someone used Java in a (real) Game...
And KOffice is written in C++
"The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.
Jon Rubinstein, former CEO of Palm: "Well, I'm not sure I would have sold the company to HP. That's for sure. Talk about a waste. Not that I had any choice because when you sell a company you don't get to decide that. Obviously, the board and shareholders decide that. If we had known they were just going to shut it down and never really give it a chance to flourish, what would have been the point of selling the company? I think the deal we had with Verizon really hurt us, but who knew that at the time? These things are all hindsight.""And so it is with Dell's Alienware X51 R2, a small form factor gaming PC in console digs. It's shaped similar to Microsoft's Xbox 360 Slim, and though it's slightly larger than either a 360 or PlayStation 3, the X51 R2 would be right at home in a living room setting nestled next to a large screen TV. Indeed, it's adept at running Steam's Big Picture mode, and if your primary objective is to play games in the living room, go ahead and consider the X51 R2 a hybrid game console." This is obviously not the only machine like this - still, these are very valid console alternatives even for those that don't like being hunched over with a cramped WASD-claw. Also, PC gamers among us: could you get away with the $699 model for gaming?
From Bloomberg: "Microsoft, the world's largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes." The lid has officially been blown off.
"The key takeaway we've reached (after two less than 24 hours playing with the iOS 7 Beta release) is this - every App must consider even basic updates to its UI to survive in a post-iOS 6 world." Great. Telling developers to update their entire application - user interface and behaviour alike - to target a look and behaviour that isn't final yet. Seems like potential for a lot of wasted work here."Overall the app is really basic, and designed for on the go editing. Microsoft says it's not planning to create an iPad version, noting that tablet users can utilize the Office Web Apps instead. We'd like to see some additional options for editing, including more clear options for text formatting and the ability to insert and change images, but it's a solid attempt for something you're only really going to use for editing in emergencies." A resounding meh can be heard from all over the world."Today, most people are using modern browsers that support the majority of the latest web technologies. Better yet, the usage of legacy browsers is declining significantly and newer browsers stay up to date automatically, which means the leading edge has become mainstream. Given these factors we've decided to retire Chrome Frame, and will cease support and updates for the product in January 2014." Eh.The Next Web: "First of all, many of the new icons were primarily designed by members of Apple's marketing and communications department, not the app design teams. From what we've heard, SVP of Design Jony Ive (also now Apple's head of Human Interaction) brought the print and web marketing design team in to set the look and color palette of the stock app icons. They then handed those off to the app design teams who did their own work on the 'interiors', with those palettes as a guide. We've also been hearing that there wasn't a whole lot of communication between the various teams behind say, Mail and Safari. And that there were multiple teams inside each group that were competing with various designs, leading to what some see as inconsistencies in icon design. Those may well be hammered out in days ahead." What. Reminds me of how Microsoft does (used to do?) things.
"The German Parliament, the Bundestag, has introduced a joint motion against software patents. The resolution urges the German government to take steps to limit the granting of patents on computer programs. In the resolution, the Parliament says that patents on software restrict developers from exercising their copyright privileges, including the right to distribute their programs as Free Software. They promote the creation of monopolies in the software market, and hurt innovation and job creation." After New Zealand, we now have one of the most powerful economies in the world moving to ban software patents for all the reasons smart people have been outlining for years. also: "The government should also push to ensure that software is covered by copyright alone, and that patent offices (including the European Patent Office) stop granting patents on software." Germany is not a country the EU can ignore. Very good news, this.
Member since:
2005-12-31
Right, that's why nearly every popular desktop app is written in C++:
* MS Office
* Photoshop
* Dreamweaver/Flash
* Virtually every commercial computer game made in the last 10 years
* Firefox
* Google Earth
etc etc. I guess the entire software industry are idiots, it's the only explanation