Friday, October 04, 2002

.Net Lingua Franca I picked up Stan Lippman's C# Primer - the first four chapters are par excellence and along the same incisive lines as his prior books on C++. Recursion Software has introduced the C# Rapid DevKit that is a package of advanced collections and algorithms. I am evaluating the free 30-day package. The C# package costs ~$500 and their comparable Java package costs ~$50. Go figure. Let's hope Microsoft's research on CLR/C# Generics comes out soon - it's a development worth following. With true parameterized types, one can build a more robust collections and algorithms library. The C++ STL effort brought generic programming to a vast pool of developers. Extending the programming language with generics, data structures (collections) and algorithmic libraries is a great idea. In addition to mitigating program complexity, it is what brings "sweetness" to the program. I recall Nicklaus Wirth's - 'Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs' course text book back in the early '80's which made my Pascal programs more decent. Now I am really beginning to date myself. 8:43:03 AM