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Date:	Sat, 3 Jan 2004 22:51:05 PST8
From:	"Bob" <tt336a5u02@sneakemail.com >
Reply-To:	scoug-programming@scoug.com
To:	scoug-programming@scoug.com
Subject:	SCOUG-Programming: QA equals testing, Part One:Detection

** Reply to message from "Peter Skye pskye@peterskye.com" on Sat, 3 Jan 2004
22:12:50 PST8

> Let's read a simple text file. Sometimes the lines end with CR,
> sometimes with CR LF, sometimes with LF CR, sometimes with CR CR LF,
> sometimes with CR LF FF, and sometimes with FF. And what about those
> VTs? Is CR LF LF one line or two? *And*, should my output use whatever
> the input file was using, or should I use my own arbitrary choice (which
> happens to be CR LF).

This problem will never be solved. If you get data from a foreign (operating
system other than the one you are using) source you will definitely need to
know the file structure. In this case nothing has changed since the second
computer was built.

> Have I given enough examples? If a programmer doesn't _understand_ his
> system then he cannot write great software. And he cannot understand
> what he cannot see.

I said the programmer did not need to know the hardware instruction set, I
never said the programmer did not need to know the basics of the operating
system he is using. Depending on what a programmer needs to do there is a wide
variation of knowledge needed, sometimes very little sometimes a great deal.

I had some college students living next door at one time. Some of them were
taking a COBOL programming class. They never saw the computer, did not know
what an operating system was, but were expected to write a program. They were
given the input and output file name and told what transformation was to be
done. You do not need to know the hardware or operating system to write the
program. I helped them and never bothered to ask about the hardware or
operating system, I did not care.

--
Robert Blair

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