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Death of DevCon?
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Forum:
Visual FoxPro
Category:
Conferences & events
Miscellaneous
Thread ID:
00800452
Message ID:
00804179
Views:
36
>>And Johnny can't add or spell because he uses a calculator and a spelling checker ...
>>
>
>Sorry, I think that's just a dumb argument. A framework gives a developer a lot of good code they can use, and maybe more importantly, a consistent development pattern that they can follow. Without a spell checker or a calculator, how can someone ever be sure they're spelling something correctly, or that the answer to some math calculation is correct? Trial and error? While you might eventually get there (assuming you don't give up), it's far from the most effective way of learning. I think learning by example is a better way to go. Even if you eventually decide that the examples provided >aren't< the right way to do things.
>
>All I can say is that it's worked very well for me.

Paul;

When VFP 3.0 Beta came out it took me three attempts to create a useable framework. Then YAG brought out his book and gave the Flash Road Show, which I attended. The investment in training and use of a good framework has paid itself back many times over.

This discussion reminded me of an event in my life and sorry if it is too off topic.

I worked on the LEM/Apollo projects and was going to engineering college at the same time. While I was in my fifth quarter of differential calculus we had the incident in which Apollo lost all shipboard computers and many systems. I cannot remember all the details but I was glued to the monitor with our crew. Apollo was about to reenter the Earths atmosphere and would do so under manual control. This had not been attempted previously.

One of the Apollo crewmembers had to calculate (using differential calculus) in his head what the entry angle should be. He had a window of plus or minus 0.6 degrees. If the angle was too steep the Apollo would burn up. Too shallow and the Apollo would skip on the Earths atmosphere and shoot off into space and be lost.

I fully understood the problem and how to solve the equation. All I needed was my trusty book of tables to calculate specific parts of the equation and my trusty slide rule. I appreciate very much the ability of a human to have accomplished this task using his head and not a computer or calculator.

My son and daughter took differential calculus in school and had to use an electronic calculator. I am glad they will never be in a position demanding what the Apollo crew went through. Using your head and using a calculator are very different skills.

Tom
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