mccarrol@topaz.rutgers.edu (Mark C. Carroll <MC>) (09/09/88)
In several of the recent posts about the deterioration of the technical
magazines, people have been asking, basically, what can be done for
our type of user - the advanced, literate, technical programmers.
Well, I do have a suggestion. For quite a few years now, Science Fiction
fans have been doing "fanzines", which are basically magazines, written,
published, and distributed at cost by the fans who read them. They do
tend to be much less "pretty", or "professional", but the material inside
can be extremely good, if the contributors care about the 'zine.
I see no reason why a similar idea could not be applied to a programmers
magazine. It would be a lot of work for the people involved, but if
people were actually willing to contribute articles and code, it could
certainly work. And, if this idea is to be tried, the Usenet is a good
place to start it. Code can be made available by uucp, so that the
readers wouldn't have to type it, and distribution can be done electronically,
so that the costs would be covered by the reader, for transmission time.
I am a third year Computer Science student, so my level is not up
to that of many of you out there. But I am willing to try to organize/
edit such a beast, if there is sufficient interest, and there are people
willing to help.
If you are interested in such a monster, as a reader, a contributor,
or an editor, please send me email. My addresses are:
mccarrol@topaz.rutgers.edu (Internet, and Usenet)
<backbone>!rutgers!topaz!mccarrol (Old style Usenet)
-Mark C. Carroll
--
\ Mark Craig Carroll \ /"Quick to judge, quick to anger /
| perhaps better known as: <MC> \/ Slow to understand |
| mccarrol@topaz.rutgers.edu /\ Ignorance and Prejudice |
/ ...backbone!rutgers!topaz!mccarrol / \ and Fear walk hand in hand" -N.Pert \c60a-1bq@web-1e.berkeley.edu (nunnayourbiznezz) (09/10/88)
In article <Sep.9.10.47.55.1988.5061@topaz.rutgers.edu> mccarrol@topaz.rutgers.edu (Mark C. Carroll <MC>) writes: > >I see no reason why a similar idea could not be applied to a programmers >magazine. It would be a lot of work for the people involved, but if >people were actually willing to contribute articles and code, it could >certainly work. And, if this idea is to be tried, the Usenet is a good >place to start it. Code can be made available by uucp, so that the >readers wouldn't have to type it, and distribution can be done electronically, >so that the costs would be covered by the reader, for transmission time. > >\ Mark Craig Carroll \ /"Quick to judge, quick to anger / > | perhaps better known as: <MC> \/ Slow to understand | > | mccarrol@topaz.rutgers.edu /\ Ignorance and Prejudice | >/ ...backbone!rutgers!topaz!mccarrol / \ and Fear walk hand in hand" -N.Pert \ Mark, for the most part, that is what comp.[sys|binaries|sources].atari.st is. Steve Grimm maintains archives at archive-server@ssyx.ucsc.edu with binaries and sources. What would be very nice would be in depth articles (like those for how to reserve memory for video ram that showed up 2 weeks ago) WITH BIBLIOGRAPHY. That way, we could go out and get further info if necessary. Just a title and date would be sufficient. Better code documentation would also be super helpful. John Kawakami "I am a Christmas tree..."--Wild man Fischer
toebes@sas.UUCP (John Toebes) (09/12/88)
In article <Sep.9.10.47.55.1988.5061@topaz.rutgers.edu> mccarrol@topaz.rutgers.edu (Mark C. Carroll <MC>) writes: > >In several of the recent posts about the deterioration of the technical >magazines, people have been asking, basically, what can be done for >our type of user - the advanced, literate, technical programmers. > >Well, I do have a suggestion. For quite a few years now, Science Fiction >fans have been doing "fanzines", which are basically magazines, written, >published, and distributed at cost by the fans who read them. They do >tend to be much less "pretty", or "professional", but the material inside >can be extremely good, if the contributors care about the 'zine. > >I see no reason why a similar idea could not be applied to a programmers >magazine. It would be a lot of work for the people involved, but if >people were actually willing to contribute articles and code, it could >certainly work. ... > Mark Craig Carroll There already exists such a magazine (for almost 3 years yet!). It is called 'The Amigan Apprentice and Journeyman' It is published 6 times a year out of Hatteras NC. Dick Barnes edits it (and does a darn good job at it) from contributions from all over. I write a regular C column in it while Bill Hawes (of Conman and ARexx fame) does an Assembly column. Than magazine accepts no advertisements and does not pay authors. It is printed on 3 hole punch paper so that you can build a reference guide out of it. Additionally it gets an index once a year as part of the issue to allow you to locate articles quickly. Unlike other Amiga magazines, it is possible to sit down and read it completely from cover to cover. For those interested, the address is: The Amigans Box 411 Hatteras, NC 27943 Rate is $24.00 a year. Plus - they are ALWAYS looking for good articles. -- |_o_o|\\ John A. Toebes, VIII usenet:..mcnc!rti!sas!toebes |. o.| || | . | || Coordinator of ... | o | || The Software Distillery | . |// USnail: 235 Trillingham Ln, Cary NC 27513 ====== BBS: (919)-471-6436
u-jleigh%sundial.utah.edu@utah-gr.UUCP (Jason Leigh) (09/12/88)
Wade writes:
Hmmm...
I used to program in PASCAL alot. In fact, while I was at UCSD, this
was the only upper level language used in the C.S. dept. Had to write an
Ada compiler in Berkley PACAL :^(.
What is wrong with useing a simple function to concat your two
strings There are many string manipulation funtions provided in Benchmark
Modula-2, and it is easy enough to deal with these things without them anyway.
The problem with using the "+" operator to concatinate strings is that
it genrates sloppy code, which is why it is not a part of modern languages.
It was one of many things included in PASCAL to make teaching programming
easier, but has no place in proffesional code. What happens when you
concatinate two strings and the destination is too short to hold the result?
----------------------------------------------------------------
I do not agree with your notion that using a '+' to concat two strings
causes 'sloppy' code. Such an allowance is called 'overloading' which
is a concept availabe on most modern object oriented programming languages
such as Ada and C++. The purpose of overloading is to enhance the
readability of code by hiding as much unnecessary information as possible.
I am surprised that after having written an Ada compiler, you never came
across overloading...
Send replies to this net or u-jleigh@ug.utah.edu
Jason Leigh
University of Utahwoods@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu (Greg Woods) (09/13/88)
In article <624@sas.UUCP> toebes@sas.UUCP (John Toebes) writes: > In article <Sep.9.10.47.55.1988.5061@topaz.rutgers.edu> mccarrol@topaz.rutgers.edu (Mark C. Carroll <MC>) writes: > > [ stuff about setting up a user-run magazine ] > >I see no reason why a similar idea could not be applied to a programmers > >magazine. It would be a lot of work for the people involved, but if > >people were actually willing to contribute articles and code, it could > >certainly work. > > There already exists such a magazine (for almost 3 years yet!). There's another one too, and this is it! Usenet is certianly user supported and produced. It's nearly real-time too! I has better content than the magazines everyone has been complaining about too. -- Greg Woods. UUCP: utgpu!woods, utgpu!{ontmoh, ontmoh!ixpierre}!woods VOICE: (416) 242-7572 [h] LOCATION: Toronto, Ontario, Canada