Discussions

@LiquidBoy: Nice find. How do you download a tech report from Microsoft Research?

Just thought I'd let people know that Sandcastle, the documentation compiler for .net libraries, is alive again:

http://sandcastle.codeplex.com/discussions/352390

Obama's supporters generally support medical marijuana as well. This is a great way to kill off the last of his support. What a bonehead.

Damien, are you used testing aliased graphics using Direct2D? It is suprising if Direct2D is slower for aliased graphics, compared to GDI. That indicates a fundamental inefficiency in the design. The problem with the Direct2D tips in the video, is they almost all rely on some kind of caching. That is fine for a few primitives but usually doesn't scale well, unless you can reuse resources across primitives (not your case, I think).

@KDawg: You are correct, but newer "technologies" don't always represent progress. Newer is not better, etc. The word "technology" has been twisted to take on a new meaning, now referring to pile of new code. For an economist, a technology is something that increases productivity without adding resources. Time spent learning a new API, or debugging problems with it, decreases productivity. There is nothing wrong with that if you get greater productivity in the long run.

Consider the "metro style" rules for applications. Is it worth paying lots of attention to the metro profile? It may disappear soon. We have no way to know.

I agree with rhm and Richard. It is not just windows. It may seem that way perhaps because there is no competition between APIs on windows -- we are forced to swallow whatever comes out, more because of crowd behavior (use this since it is from Microsoft) than added value. This is reinforced by constant reminders that you should do development a certain way, and that way.. and API, is a constantly moving target.

@W3bbo:

1 minute ago,W3bbo wrote

*snip*

So long as you don't do anything silly with pointers, you should be okay...right?

My biggest problem with C++ is the libraries. Any language, no matter how backward or difficult can be made all the better with decent libraries. Qt is great if you want to use C++ as though it were C#, but that's a whole other thousand-page book to memorise before you become any good at it.

Sometimes I have to help clients debug memory corruption created in their code, but occurring in our data structures. You can't force a client to use discipline. I see all kinds of code...

Non-.net developers seem to think .net libraries are pretty hairy as well.

@CKurt: Is there any information about a new immediate mode vector graphics API for .net developers, a new Direct2D wrapper?

@TomboRombo: what if "the wife" is a programmer? She should not talk shop with those idiot husbands?