From: Michael \(michka\) Kaplan (michka@trigeminal.com)
Date: Thu Dec 11 2003 - 12:05:10 EST
From: "Peter Kirk" <peterkirk@qaya.org>
> Here I disagree. As an application programmer writing for example some
> kind of linguistic application, it is totally irrelevant to me how much
> actual storage a string takes. Such things should be hidden away from me
> by several levels of system software and compilers. An application
> programmer doesn't even need to know what this concept means! Seriously!
> Beginners, even young children, can be taught simple programming and
> string handling without knowing anything about bits and bytes, certainly
> without having to know whether the e acute they just typed is stored as
> one byte or two.
I think you are mostly mistaken here. All of the programmers I know (i.e.
script kiddies need not apply? <grin>) call APIs. The bulk of those APIs
deal with APIs that have no notion of any of this. They take LPWSTR or WCHAR
* and a developer who does not know what those are or who incorrectly
assumes that they are grapheme clusters will not be able to function very
effectively.
> Just as people can and do learn to drive cars without
> knowing anything about the nuts and bolts or how the engine works.
I think this is more like knowing how to fill the car with gas than knowing
innards. Most programmers (even ones who DO deal with graphene clusters)
need to be working below the level to which you are referring here.
MichKa [MS]
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