Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
VB6, Collections and a mini-Rant
I enjoy where I work a lot. There are great people, an interesting and relaxed work environment and some interesting challenges.
But every once in a while, things turn a little sour... mostly when dealing with Visual Basic 6. To give any non-programmers a run down, VB6 is a crappy, slimmed down programming language that, thanks to it's ease of creating interfaces, became quite popular. But VB6 has a lot of limitations that just don't exist in other languages. Some of these are easier to get around than others... As an example, one of our applications has many issues with focus and how VB6 handles change of focus from other apps to itself. Or, rather, how it doesn't handle it nicely. Not pretty.
Today, I'm trying to add some functionality that should be quite easy. I want to use a dictionary to store some data. A dictionary stores data in it, using a key to reference a dataset (similar to a real life dictionary that uses a word to refer to a definition). Dictionaries are quite nice in that it is easy to look something up, since we just ask the dictionary for "ephemeral ", for example, and it returns it's definition "Short-lived; existing or continuing for a short time only" (Dictionary.com's word of the day). Dictionaries are simple, have a fast lookup (key for what I need) and store anything. VB6 has a container that is very similar to a dictionary, but is called a Collection.
The problem with collections is that they don't allow you to use user-defined structs. A struct is just a very simple way of combining some related data together. There is a different way of doing this called a class in VB6. Classes can be used with no problems with collections. So why am I complaining? Because I can place a struct inside the current codebase without having to add another file (each class in VB6 needs to have it's own file). I don't mind adding new files, but for something as minor as holding three items (that's right, just three), I now have to add an entire new file with a grand total of four lines of code in it. Four lines of code. Talk about a waste of time and space.
And don't get me started on classes in VB6. They are a perversion of the programming term class. But that's a rant for another day.
But every once in a while, things turn a little sour... mostly when dealing with Visual Basic 6. To give any non-programmers a run down, VB6 is a crappy, slimmed down programming language that, thanks to it's ease of creating interfaces, became quite popular. But VB6 has a lot of limitations that just don't exist in other languages. Some of these are easier to get around than others... As an example, one of our applications has many issues with focus and how VB6 handles change of focus from other apps to itself. Or, rather, how it doesn't handle it nicely. Not pretty.
Today, I'm trying to add some functionality that should be quite easy. I want to use a dictionary to store some data. A dictionary stores data in it, using a key to reference a dataset (similar to a real life dictionary that uses a word to refer to a definition). Dictionaries are quite nice in that it is easy to look something up, since we just ask the dictionary for "ephemeral ", for example, and it returns it's definition "Short-lived; existing or continuing for a short time only" (Dictionary.com's word of the day). Dictionaries are simple, have a fast lookup (key for what I need) and store anything. VB6 has a container that is very similar to a dictionary, but is called a Collection.
The problem with collections is that they don't allow you to use user-defined structs. A struct is just a very simple way of combining some related data together. There is a different way of doing this called a class in VB6. Classes can be used with no problems with collections. So why am I complaining? Because I can place a struct inside the current codebase without having to add another file (each class in VB6 needs to have it's own file). I don't mind adding new files, but for something as minor as holding three items (that's right, just three), I now have to add an entire new file with a grand total of four lines of code in it. Four lines of code. Talk about a waste of time and space.
And don't get me started on classes in VB6. They are a perversion of the programming term class. But that's a rant for another day.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Rogers and TSN2, or the lack thereof.
So, it's playoff time. That means, hopefully, actually getting to see Devils games on TV... or at least the possibility of it. Or it could be, if Rogers carried TSN2. Which, of course, it doesn't. What the hell? Stupid Rogers. So I get to miss the first game of the Devils-Hurricanes series. Figures.
I'm not sure why I pay 90$/month for cable. So I can't watch the things I want when I want? Television really needs to get it's act together. It's rough when I can go online and watch shows in as good (or better) quality than the broadcasts and at any time I want.
I'd be shocked if Rogers ever met any of my expectations. It's sad when a company does such a poor job that even coming within a mile of expectations would be considered a good thing. Of course, the government and CRTC need to get as much blame, since they don't believe that cable companies should face any competition in any given area. But then, how can a company that has previously given so generously be expected to face a free market? Maybe we should just nationalize them. I'm sure the government could do a better job at providing cable for me than Rogers... Heck, a trained monkey could probably do a better job.
I'm not sure why I pay 90$/month for cable. So I can't watch the things I want when I want? Television really needs to get it's act together. It's rough when I can go online and watch shows in as good (or better) quality than the broadcasts and at any time I want.
I'd be shocked if Rogers ever met any of my expectations. It's sad when a company does such a poor job that even coming within a mile of expectations would be considered a good thing. Of course, the government and CRTC need to get as much blame, since they don't believe that cable companies should face any competition in any given area. But then, how can a company that has previously given so generously be expected to face a free market? Maybe we should just nationalize them. I'm sure the government could do a better job at providing cable for me than Rogers... Heck, a trained monkey could probably do a better job.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Here Come the Playoffs
So the playoffs are about to start, with some interesting matchups. More precisely, some downright fantastic matchups in terms of skill (Pittsburgh vs Philedelphia), history (Montreal vs Boston) and a first time playoff team (Columbus).
So who's going to win the cup? Well, the Devils, of course... or at least I hope they do. They are in for a tough battle, facing a Carolina team that seems to have been revived since Erik Cole rejoined the team. Here's a guy who could barely score in Edmonton, yet averages a point a game in Carolina with Eric Staal. A large portion of this matchup will depend on which Devils team shows up. The team from the first 70 or so games, or the team that kinda flopped around their last ten games of the season. Sure, they finished with winning four of their last five. But they lost six straight before that, with Brodeur looking a little shaky and the rest of the team forgetting to show up completely (how do you allow 20 shots in one period? What are we, the Leafs?).
Zach Parise finished with a great season and I hope he gets nominated for the Hart. I doubt he we will win, since he doesn't have the name recognition of Ovechkin or Malkin. But it would be nice to see him get the nomination. He's had an incredible season, five goals short of fifty. The Devils have never had a fifty goal scorer, nor a hundred point player and Parise came close to being the first in both categories this year. Zajac also had a coming out this year, becoming a top line center between Parise and Langenbrunner, who also had a fantastic season. The first line reminds me of the Elias - Sykora - Arnott line that fired so strongly in the 2000 season, when the Devils won the cup. Elias finished fairly strongly, and Gionta did ok this year, but he still hasn't lived up to his 48 goal season from a couple of years ago. As for the rest of the team? Clarkson has added a lot of spunk to the team, Shanahan has been a fantastic, cheap pickup... Rolston and Holik have been okay, but not what we needed them to be, especially at $4 million for Rolston.
On defence, Paul Martin had a good season and continues to anchor the defence. Oduya is starting to produce a little bit on the blue line, and Mottau had a great season, both offensively and defensively. White continues to be a solid presence on the blueline to anchor the team.
Another set of dissapointments this season where Pandolfo and Madden. Madden seemed to have lost his edge at the beginning of the season, with bad turnovers. Both finished in the negative this year for +/-, which is shocking for two players who have been previously nominated for the Selke trophy.
In goal, Clemmensen did a fantastic job filling in for Brodeur. You can't ask for more when you primary goalie (and a workhorse like Brodeur) gets injured. The team finished with a team record 52 wins.
Overall, a good season. Now, if we can carry that into the post season and defeat the Carolina Hurricanes...
So who's going to win the cup? Well, the Devils, of course... or at least I hope they do. They are in for a tough battle, facing a Carolina team that seems to have been revived since Erik Cole rejoined the team. Here's a guy who could barely score in Edmonton, yet averages a point a game in Carolina with Eric Staal. A large portion of this matchup will depend on which Devils team shows up. The team from the first 70 or so games, or the team that kinda flopped around their last ten games of the season. Sure, they finished with winning four of their last five. But they lost six straight before that, with Brodeur looking a little shaky and the rest of the team forgetting to show up completely (how do you allow 20 shots in one period? What are we, the Leafs?).
Zach Parise finished with a great season and I hope he gets nominated for the Hart. I doubt he we will win, since he doesn't have the name recognition of Ovechkin or Malkin. But it would be nice to see him get the nomination. He's had an incredible season, five goals short of fifty. The Devils have never had a fifty goal scorer, nor a hundred point player and Parise came close to being the first in both categories this year. Zajac also had a coming out this year, becoming a top line center between Parise and Langenbrunner, who also had a fantastic season. The first line reminds me of the Elias - Sykora - Arnott line that fired so strongly in the 2000 season, when the Devils won the cup. Elias finished fairly strongly, and Gionta did ok this year, but he still hasn't lived up to his 48 goal season from a couple of years ago. As for the rest of the team? Clarkson has added a lot of spunk to the team, Shanahan has been a fantastic, cheap pickup... Rolston and Holik have been okay, but not what we needed them to be, especially at $4 million for Rolston.
On defence, Paul Martin had a good season and continues to anchor the defence. Oduya is starting to produce a little bit on the blue line, and Mottau had a great season, both offensively and defensively. White continues to be a solid presence on the blueline to anchor the team.
Another set of dissapointments this season where Pandolfo and Madden. Madden seemed to have lost his edge at the beginning of the season, with bad turnovers. Both finished in the negative this year for +/-, which is shocking for two players who have been previously nominated for the Selke trophy.
In goal, Clemmensen did a fantastic job filling in for Brodeur. You can't ask for more when you primary goalie (and a workhorse like Brodeur) gets injured. The team finished with a team record 52 wins.
Overall, a good season. Now, if we can carry that into the post season and defeat the Carolina Hurricanes...
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