HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: s1110238@giaeb.cc.monash.edu.au (Lee Hollingworth)
Subject: Re: AVL tree code
Organization: Monash University, Melb., Australia.
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 12:42:04 GMT

If I e-mailed you my AVLtree code or you copied it from this newsgroup,
please note that there is a bug in the compare macro in the avltree.h
file... :-(

I suggest you delete this macro from the avltree.h file and add the
following function to the top of your avltree.c file;

int compare(int a, int b)
{
    return a == b ? 0 : a > b ? 1 : -1;
}

If anyone wants a copy of the modified code please e-mail me...

Lee Hollingworth
s1110238@giaeb.cc.monash.edu.au
From: jtien@seal.eng.uci.edu (Joe Tien)
Subject: To branch or not to branch
Newsgroups: comp.programming
Reply-To: jtien@seal.eng.uci.edu (Joe Tien)
Organization: University of California, Irvine
Date: 15 Aug 92 19:22:27 GMT

Hello all you knowledgeable people,

I'm writing some in-lined FP routines for a processor that doesn't have a FPU.
(Actually, I'm doing it on a Sparc and want to use the IU only).

What I'm trying to find out is: what are the pros and cons to using more branches
as opposed to repeating the code several times. That is:


                      b
                -------------
          a    /              \         d
(1)  ---------                 ---------------
               \       c      /
	         ------------


		OR
         
                      b                d
                 -----------------------------
          a    /
(2)  ---------
               \      c                d
	         -----------------------------


I know that (1) will have smaller code size, but (2) is faster in execution. But
are there any other factors involved? How is it done in the real world? 
(By the way, I'm writing this in C and then compile to assembly and tweek it there).


One other related question: In the FP addition routine, I can exit the routine
earlier by checking if number A is much larger (or smaller) than B. If so, the
result is just A (since B won't make much, if any, difference).

The question is: is it better to do the checking (and thus having one more branch
and the related flag-setting instructions) or to just to the addition without
the check (and not take advantage of the possible early return).

Thanks in advance for any advice on this matter.

Joe Tien
From: enag@ifi.uio.no (Erik Naggum)
Newsgroups: comp.programming
Subject: Re: what skills does a programmer need
Date: 20 Aug 92 19:37:49 GMT
Organization: Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway

David Barton <dlb@fanny.wash.inmet.com> writes:
|
|   Dijkstra has stated that the first skill needed by any programmer is
|   the ability to write clearly and concisely in his native language.  I
|   would agree.

How about foreign languages?  We're seeing a strong tendency towards
using American English all over the place regardless of the programmer's
native language.

On a related note, is correct spelling and grammar in natural languages
correlated with proficiency in the syntax of programming languages, or
is the latter correlated to the ability to manipulate symbols, as in
mathematics?  (My own experience suggests that it's both, and the best
programmers are those whose good language skills are augmented by good
mathematical skills, but I've heard otherwise.)

Best regards,
</Erik>
--
Erik Naggum             |  ISO  8879 SGML     |      +47 295 0313
                        |  ISO 10744 HyTime   |
<erik@naggum.no>        |  ISO 10646 UCS      |      Memento, terrigena.
<enag@ifi.uio.no>       |  ISO  9899 C        |      Memento, vita brevis.
From: desj@ccr-p.ida.org (David desJardins)
Newsgroups: comp.programming
Subject: Re: Detecting Integer Overflow/Underflow
Date: 22 Aug 92 20:44:12 GMT
Organization: IDA Center for Communications Research, Princeton

Jim Hudgens <hudgens@SCRI.FSU.EDU> writes:
>Sample code for adding two 16 bit integers and setting the overflow
>flag based on the result (it's part of an 8086 emulator) follows.

>But there has *got* to be a better (i.e. faster) way.  This is one
>of the major reasons I can't get >PC/XT speeds running on a Sun SS1.

Your code seems much too complicated to understand!  The following is
much easier.  It just relies on the fact that overflow occurs iff a and
b have the same sign, and a+b has the opposite sign.

I've also included code for unsigned overflow.  (It wasn't specified in
the original posting which was required.)  This computes the same
quantity that Jim called cc, but with four operations instead of five.

By the way, I think it is a shame that most computer scientists are
taught that a good way to synthesize boolean functions is with a
Karnaugh map.  This is somewhat reasonable for a hardware engineer using
only NAND gates, but for a more general computational model, it's rarely
a good idea.  I remember vividly scoring 110 out of 100 on a test at MIT
on which one of the questions was, "Synthesize this function with the
minimum number of gates," and I did better than the "correct" solution
which used a Karnaugh map.)

I suspect the general problem is NP-hard, which is probably why they
don't teach an optimal algorithm :-).

                                        David desJardins


#define WORDSIZE 16

int addint (int a, int b, int &overflow) {
  /* a and b are signed integers, WORDSIZE is the length of each.  The
     return value is the sum of a and b, and the value of overflow is 1
     if overflow occurred, or zero otherwise. */

  int sum;
  unsigned int temp;

  sum = a + b;
  temp = (a ^ sum) & (b ^ sum);
  *overflow = temp >> (WORDSIZE - 1);
  return sum;
}

unsigned int adduint (unsigned int a, unsigned int b, int &overflow) {
  /* a and b are unsigned integers, WORDSIZE is the length of each.  The
     return value is the sum of a and b, and the value of overflow is 1
     if overflow occurred, or zero otherwise. */

  unsigned int sum;
  unsigned int temp;

  sum = a + b;
  temp = ((a ^ sum) & (a ^ b)) ^ b;
  *overflow = temp >> (WORDSIZE - 1);
  return sum;
}
From: pete@minster.york.ac.uk
Newsgroups: comp.programming
Subject: Re: Teaching by Value (was Re: Teaching the Basics)
Date: 20 Aug 92 11:13:53 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of York, England
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5

peregrin@husc13.harvard.edu wrote:
: 	70% - meets specs
: 	30% - robust (can't be crashed)
: 
: 	-20% per day past due date
: 
When I was an undergraduate all of the open assessments here were multiplied
by a factor depending upon when they were handed in in relation to the
deadline. Deadlines were usually noon on Wednesday, and the scale went
something like this:

	Hand-in by noon on Wednesday:	Scores 100% of marks
	Hand-in by 5pm  on Wednesday: 	Scores  95% of marks
	Hand-in by noon on Thursday :	Scores  90% of marks
	Hand-in by noon on Friday   : 	Scores  80% of marks
 	Hand-in by noon on Monday   : 	Scores  50% of marks
	Hand in after noon on Weds. :   Scores   0% of marks
--
*Peter Fenelon -- Research Associate -- Software Safety Assessment Procedures*
Dept. of Computer Science, University of York, York, Y01 5DD (+44/0)904 433388
EMAIL: pete@minster.york.ac.uk `There's no room for enigmas in built up areas'
From: richard@aiai.ed.ac.uk (Richard Tobin)
Newsgroups: comp.programming
Subject: Re: When should a debugger be used?
Date: 20 Aug 92 12:32:36 GMT
Organization: AIAI, University of Edinburgh, Scotland

In article <6453@fury.BOEING.COM> cek@sdc.boeing.com (Conrad Kimball) writes:
>And what do you do when the problem goes away when you add the fprintf()?

And what do you do when the problem goes away when you compile with -g?

(I'm not really suggesting printf()s are better than a debugger, but there
are occasions where they're useful.)

Incidentally, in the few cases I've had where adding a printf() made
the problem go away, that's usually been enough to let me quickly find
the problem, because it's fairly strong evidence that it's a malloc()
related problem.

-- Richard
-- 
Richard Tobin,
AI Applications Institute,                                R.Tobin@ed.ac.uk
Edinburgh University.
From: sdms@bnr.ca (Andrew Sterian)
Newsgroups: comp.programming
Subject: Re: Teaching the basics
Date: 21 Aug 92 15:01:23 GMT
Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Ottawa, Canada

In article <MHCOFFIN.92Aug20162507@tolstoy.uwaterloo.ca> mhcoffin@tolstoy.uwaterloo.ca (Michael Coffin) writes:
>It is true that if you use a certain amount of discipline and make
>sure that the same prototype appears in both places---by putting it in
>an include file---the compiler will detect the error.  The problem is,
>there isn't any enforcement of this policy.

It is the instructor's job to teach this discipline. It is the student's
job to take it to heart. That is education. No amount of compiler-imposed
enforcement of good programming practice will ever match the discipline of
a good programmer.

Andrew.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not the opinions of BNR          | For the teddy bear who has everything:
Andrew Sterian (613)765-2562     | a person.
asterian@bnr.ca                  |
From: enag@ifi.uio.no (Erik Naggum)
Newsgroups: comp.programming
Subject: Re: Teaching the basics
Date: 19 Aug 92 17:29:04 GMT
Organization: Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway

Robert Munyer <robert@metropolis.com> writes:
|
|   I'd say the most important skill that is lacked (!) by a whole lot
|   of programmers, not necessarily only entry-level ones, is TESTING.

No, no.  Testing only yields negative data: "It didn't crash with this
input."  Program defensively and don't rely on testing to find bugs,
because you will never, ever be able to test for all the conditions that
might crop up if you didn't exclude them before they could be problems
by writing defensive, sound code.

|   There is way too much software in the world that will crash your machine
|   depending on whether it is Tuesday and what phase the moon is in.

And guess why?  They didn't test it on a Tuesday or when the moon was
waning.

|   P.S.  I know that C is fashionable, but it's really not a very good
|   language for teaching complete beginners.  C has a lot of "traps and
|   pitfalls" for the unwary.  When you're not even ready to learn about
|   pointers, C is not much more than a twisted version of Pascal.  What
|   good is C without pointers?

The main benefit of C without pointers is that you can have initialized
objects.  Pascal is a "code only" language, and that's about 1/3 of a
real programming language.  Then again, this is often most useful with
pointers.  I don't consider programming worth teaching if you don't deal
with dynamically allocated objects or pointers.  The question is not
"what good is C without pointers" but "what good is a programmer who
doesn't know pointers".

Best regards,
</Erik>
--
Erik Naggum             |  ISO  8879 SGML     |      +47 295 0313
                        |  ISO 10744 HyTime   |
<erik@naggum.no>        |  ISO 10646 UCS      |      Memento, terrigena.
<enag@ifi.uio.no>       |  ISO  9899 C        |      Memento, vita brevis.
From: quay@engin.umich.edu (Bryan S. Leudy)
Subject: Re: ANYBODY HOME?
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 92 12:56:12 EDT
Organization: Campus Computing Sites, University of Michigan

In article <Aug20.041159.18473@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU> komives@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Robert Komives) writes:
>Nope.
>
>I wish there were.

Me too.  I was in Peace Corps and now I'm working on a CS degree.
Maybe by the time I'm done there will be a few more articles here.
--
Bryan.Luedy@um.cc.umich.edu
--
From: paulh@cs.uq.oz.au (Paul Henman)
Newsgroups: comp.society.development
Subject: Re: ANYBODY HOME?
Date: 21 Aug 92 00:47:06 GMT
Reply-To: paulh@cs.uq.oz.au

In <Aug20.192541.55546@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU> komives@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Robert Komives) writes:

>Let me pose a hypothesis, that just came to me two minutes ago. The portable
>personal computer will be the most important computer export from the first
>to third world. Why, not becauase they are portable but because they do not
>need a reliable plug-in electrical supply. This makes the deomocratization of
>computer capabilities much more feasible.

Right.  Let's all fight for portable computers in the home of every third
world family.  Stuff clean water, health, eduacation, peace and justice.
From: komives@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Robert Komives)
Newsgroups: comp.society.development
Subject: Re: ANYBODY HOME?
Date: 21 Aug 92 18:44:18 GMT
Organization: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO  80523

In article <71464@apple.Apple.COM> sac@Apple.COM (Steve Cisler) writes:
>>Portable pc's don't need central electric supply.
>
>True, but the distribution of batteries will have to improve, as will
>solar rechargers.  Underdeveloped countries can't throw away $40-$100
>batteries after they run down.

I couldn't agree more. It is a problem now with all the portable audio
equipment. I don't propose that we advocate sending portable computers to
the third world. I just think they may take on a life of their own without
advocacy, even if some of the impacts are negative.

Bob                      
Komives
From: komives@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Robert Komives)
Newsgroups: comp.society.development
Subject: Re: ANYBODY HOME?
Date: 21 Aug 92 18:39:16 GMT
Organization: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO  80523

In article <9918@uqcspe.cs.uq.oz.au> paulh@cs.uq.oz.au writes:
>In <Aug20.192541.55546@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU> komives@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Robert Komives) writes:
>
>>Let me pose a hypothesis, that just came to me two minutes ago. The portable
>>personal computer will be the most important computer export from the first
>>to third world. Why, not becauase they are portable but because they do not
>>need a reliable plug-in electrical supply. This makes the deomocratization of
>>computer capabilities much more feasible.
>
>Right.  Let's all fight for portable computers in the home of every third
>world family.  Stuff clean water, health, eduacation, peace and justice.

I let you fight for that. I would rather do something useful like work on clean water, health, education, peace and justice, and civil discussion. Reread the
post and you will see that you did not get the point.
From: komives@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Robert Komives)
Newsgroups: comp.society.development
Subject: Re: ANYBODY HOME?
Date: 20 Aug 92 19:25:41 GMT
Organization: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO  80523

In article <Bpf-Z+-@engin.umich.edu> quay@engin.umich.edu (Bryan S. Leudy) writes:
>In article <Aug20.041159.18473@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU> komives@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Robert Komives) writes:
>>Nope.
>>
>>I wish there were.
>
>Me too.  I was in Peace Corps and now I'm working on a CS degree.
>Maybe by the time I'm done there will be a few more articles here.
>--
>Bryan.Luedy@um.cc.umich.edu
>--

Well, I was Peace Corps a few years ago, Guatemala 67-69. I am a computer
user but not an expert.

Let me pose a hypothesis, that just came to me two minutes ago. The portable
personal computer will be the most important computer export from the first
to third world. Why, not becauase they are portable but because they do not
need a reliable plug-in electrical supply. This makes the deomocratization of
computer capabilities much more feasible.
From: sac@Apple.COM (Steve Cisler)
Newsgroups: comp.society.development
Subject: Re: ANYBODY HOME?
Date: 21 Aug 92 05:44:23 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA

>Portable pc's don't need central electric supply.

True, but the distribution of batteries will have to improve, as will
solar rechargers.  Underdeveloped countries can't throw away $40-$100
batteries after they run down.

Steve Cisler
Togo 1965-67
From: susan.scruton@synapse.isis.org (Susan Scruton) 
Newsgroups: comp.society.development
Subject: ANYBODY HOME?
Date: 18 Aug 92 22:06:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: SYNAPSE BBS - GATINEAU, QUEBEC - 819-561-4321
Reply-To: susan.scruton@synapse.isis.org (Susan Scruton) 

I just noticed, while browsing the conference directory, that there's a
social development conference.  I work as a researcher at the Canadian
Council on Social Development, so I thought I'd take a peek.
I'm a wee bit disappointed that the conference is empty...
Is there anybody else here, or am I talking to myself?
Hello?  Hello?  Hmmm.
                                            
Newsgroups: comp.society.development
From: tina@csi.on.ca (Tina Klein)
Subject: Re: ANYBODY HOME?
Organization: Carp Systems International, Kanata, ON
Distribution: na 
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 19:37:46 GMT

I thought that this newsgroup would keep me current on social
development issues associated with the computerization of
our society.

With the widespread use of on-line information,
what will we see?

As a technical communicator, I like to monitor changes in my 
audience, especially as computers gain recognition as "Tools"
for society in general and not just for computer specialists ...
-- 
Tina Klein, Technical Writer           CAnet: tina@csi.on.ca
CSI, 600 Terry Fox Drive - Suite 200   Phone: (613) 592-5780
Kanata, Ontario, Canada K2L 4B6        Fax:   (613) 592-0584
From: komives@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Robert Komives)
Newsgroups: comp.society.development
Subject: Re: ANYBODY HOME?
Date: 20 Aug 92 04:11:59 GMT
Organization: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO  80523

Nope.

I wish there were.
From: drears@adm.brl.mil (Dennis G. Rears)
Newsgroups: comp.society.privacy
Subject: Articles Disappearing into a Black Hole
Date: 22 Aug 92 20:06:30 GMT
Organization: Ballistic Research Lab (BRL), APG, MD.


  I just found out the last couple of digests have never made it into USENET.
My system shows 517 articles that have appeared in comp.society.privacy.
Other systems that I have accounts on only show 482 or 488 articles.  The
last digest I published was #072.  Can someone tell me what the last
digest is they have got?
  It appears as if my site is not transmitting any articles.  Hopefully
everything will be fixed by Monday.  Monday Night I will retransmit
everything that was lost.

Dennis

P.S.  I am posting from another site because our news site is down.
From: bobhays@spss.com (Bob Hays)
Subject: Looking for glib binary for the Atari ST
Organization: SPSS, Inc.
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 15:27:37 GMT

I posted this to the atari group but today I thought I should have
cross posted here....

I'm seeking glib, a PD generic librarian, for the Atari ST, because
I've located the free Kawai sounds for the K5 synth - they are in glib
format!  Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks and have fun! - Bob

-- 
===============================================================================
The opinions expressed above are those of Bob Hays and not SPSS, Inc.
 bobhays@spss.com  Phone: (312) 329-3529 | "I'm hovering like a fly, waiting
                   Fax:   (312) 329-3657 |  for a windshield on a freeway" -PG
From: stevek@hpfcmgw.FC.HP.COM (Steve Kauder)
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 17:28:00 GMT
Subject: Re: Finale for the Mac --- Help!!!
Organization: HP Fort Collins, CO
Newsgroups: comp.music

>In comp.music, wright@aesc.cs.odu.edu (GENTLEMAN) writes:
>
>    In article <1992Aug12.190927.25054@sei.cmu.edu> jbm@sei.cmu.edu (Jason Mahoney) writes:
>
>     To anyone that can help me...
>
>      I just got a copy of Finale for my Mac but the person who gave 
>   it to me does not have the instruction manual. So, I would REALLY appericate
>   it if some MIDI musican out there in netland would either let me know where
>   I can get a copy or would e-mail me some basic function instructions so I
>   can get some tunes flowing through my keyboard. Thanks in advance!!!
>
> 				    Jason

Hey, Jason, go out and BUY a copy of the product.

>
>    *Ahem*  I trust that you _purchased_ this "copy" and that the manuals
>    have been lost.
>
>    CODA MUSIC PHONE # (US only): 1-800-843-2066
>
>    Wright
>    Director, Center for Computer Composition and Research
>    Governor's School for the Arts
>    Old Dominion University
>    Norfolk, VA
>    rwright@norfolk.vak12ed.edu
>    wright@cs.odu.edu
>    music@cs.odu.edu
Newsgroups: comp.music
From: smill@polari.online.com
Subject: Re: Scope and content of this group (read before posting!)
Organization: Seattle Online Public Access Unix (206) 328-4944
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1992 08:45:09 GMT

	I think the charter, as pointed out by several people by now,
is extremely narrow minded, not only in its professed scope of interest,
but also in its definition of what constitutes  material within that
scope.
	Whatever the original reason behind the creation of this news-
group, it should be clear to all by now that there is a great deal of
interest by composers, software/hardware engineers, and general lay-
persons as well as the sacred acedemic elite, in the tools, processes,
techniques, and aesthetics of computer assisted and/or generated
composition and performance. There are indeed too many questions that
would be more appropriate on rec.music.synth, or rec.music.makers,
or any of a number of other already existing news groups.  There
are however, an equally large number of topics not specifically addressed
elsewhere that are germaine to computer music.  Research is not the
end-all-be-all of computers in music.
	Trying to restrict the scope to that of research alone, regardless
of how you define it, is to miss a lot of fertilground for discussion,
inspiration, and interdisciplinary collaboration.  It seems to me that
the primary goal of research is to produce/refine techniques, tools,
knowledge bases, etc., in order to bring forth an evolution in a 
given field.  Surely such areas of activity as composition, sound
design, acoustical modelling, etc. are as valid as musicology, notation,
etc. which were specifically mentioned in the charter.
	MIDI, synthesis techniques, aesthetics, etc. are all integral
parts of the contemporary world of electro-acoustic music.  Why should
we pretend they aren't?

-- 
Steven M. Miller		"The history of music evolution is
smill@polari.online.com		 not the history of nice guys"
smill@online.com			-- Anthony Braxton
smill%polari@online.com
Xref: sparky comp.music:4143 rec.music.makers:9028 rec.music.synth:13591
From: jim@n5ial.chi.il.us
Subject: Re: Where is TEX, MusicTEX ??
Originator: jim@eddie
Reply-To: jim@n5ial.chi.il.us
Organization: me?  have you seen my desk?  : -)
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 18:40:49 GMT

In article <1992Aug18.141444.26434@alf.uib.no> s310@brems.ii.uib.no
(Chris Tveit) writes:

>Where can I find the newest version of TEX, MusicTEX, ao. for my PC
(MS-DOS) ??

TEX is the Text EXecutive word processor, by Honeywell Information Systems.
I know absolutely nothing about it beyond that...never even seen it (only
heard of it through ``The TeXbook'' by Donald Knuth).  you might try
calling Honeywell.

on the other hand, if what you're really looking for is TeX, not TEX
(yes, there is a difference), I suggest you try comp.text.tex --- you'll
have better luck.  start with the FAQ....your answer is in there.  in
fact, the FAQ just came out, I believe, so you don't even have to ftp it.

   --jim

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Xref: sparky comp.music:4141 rec.music.makers:9026 rec.music.synth:13589