The Whiteboard

Duga

12:08 AM

Programmers.SE: why getMonth() starts with 0 — esqew 1 min ago

Duga

12:42 AM

This may be better suited for Programmers. — Chief Two Pencils 57 secs ago

Duga

2:12 AM

@ChiefTwoPencils this has already been closed on P.SE. The community on P.SE tends to take a rather dim view of questions about certificates: Why do certification questions keep getting closed? I would also suggest reading What goes on Programmers.SE? A guide for Stack Overflow as career and education advice (such as this) is specifically listed as off topic there. — MichaelT 30 secs ago

user55340

For a 'fun' time... create a document with the EURion constellation embedded in it, and try to get someone to give you a printout or copy of it.

user55340

EURion constellation

The EURion constellation (also known as Omron rings) is a pattern of symbols incorporated into a number of banknote designs worldwide since about 1996. It is added to help imaging software detect the presence of a banknote in a digital image. Such software can then block the user from reproducing banknotes to prevent counterfeiting using color photocopiers. Research shows that the EURion constellation is used for color photocopiers and is likely not used for computer software. == Description == The name "EURion constellation" was coined by Markus Kuhn, who uncovered the pattern in early 2002 while...

user15026

@MichaelT embeds it in her resume

Duga

7:04 AM

Welcome to Stack Overflow. Please read the About page soon. I think that it is hard to provide solid answers to this; answers will be primarily opinion based, which is one of the reasons for closing a question. You should check to see whether Programmers would be a suitable place to ask this sort of question. — Jonathan Leffler 1 min ago

Duga

8:18 AM

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is off topic here, see meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/274963/… . Try programmers.stackexchange.com — AdrianHHH 2 mins ago

dcorking

10:59 AM

@psr - The object database article at Wikipedia seems to be have attracted mentions of databases that don't seem to store entire objects (values, graph, behavior). MUMPS documentation says it is a hierarchical database. Do you think it fits in the object database article?

Duga

11:16 AM

@ratchetfreak Thank you for the link which, by the way, says software licensing questions are on topic. I also checked in programmers.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic and this question appeared to be a good match for the two bulleted lists. The Q&A I referenced above also recommends programmers.s.c so could you please explain where I went wrong. — AdrianHHH 25 secs ago

Thomas Owens

11:45 AM

This is horrible and hacky...but it works.

ratchet freak

@ThomasOwens oh?

Thomas Owens

I should get this to a small example and post on CR...there has to be a better way.

Thomas Owens

11:57 AM

Just finishing up a refactoring before I minimize and post. But the short story is that I want to emulate a union. Enums (my original implementation) don't work since you can't make a type hierarchy out of them in Java. So I made a public abstract class with the common public final elements and a private constructor. Inside of that class, I defined a few public static classes that extend the abstract class. So now, I have a hybrid enum union.

Duga

There are other sites in the Stack.-Network which might be better suited for that questions, since SO is mainly oriented towards bug-fixing ;-) Have a look at softwarerecs.stackexchange.com or programmers.stackexchange.com — MBaas 21 secs ago

@MBaas This question is not appropriate for Programmers. Recommendations for software packages are, just like here on Stack Overflow, off-topic. In the future, please don't suggest that people go to sites if you don't understand what that community accepts. — Thomas Owens 14 secs ago

durron597

1:04 PM

This question is super old, needs 2 more CV: programmers.stackexchange.com/review/close/97158

Thomas Owens

1:40 PM

Hey guys, I wanted to throw out a question here before going to Meta.

We have a line in our FAQ's on-topic page that I'd like feedback on.

> coding tools, such as compilers, debuggers, and IDEs (ask on Stack Overflow instead)

Does this imply that there are some tools (requirements management tools, architecture and design tools, test tools, project management tools) that are OK to ask about here?

These are certainly not "coding tools". But are tools that support the on-topic areas on-topic on Programmers?

Specific examples: DOORS, Enterprise Architect, Dia (?), certain Eclipse plugins, StarUML. You can go further and bring in code review tools, like Gerrit and Collaborator. I'd recommend ecxcluding build tools like Jenkins, though.

Or should coding tools be changed to "tools" and refer users to both Stack Overflow's /help/on-topic and Super User's /help/on-topic and make all tool questions off-topic?

Ampt

2:00 PM

Geez I need to start watching BBCA more often... yesterday it was Dr. Who, Hells Kitchen and Top Gear, now it's ST:TNG

Thomas Owens

BBC America is awesome.

If you haven't got into Orphan Black yet, do it.

Ampt

@enderland ugh, I'm starting to think all of us here should just start our own company. One with beer! and hookers!

Duga

2:22 PM

Ok.. Thanks for the feedback. SO is supposed to be the go-to place for programmers to ask questions. Also not sure how this question was "off-topic" as I'm trying to figure out how to design my cookbooks. — Nick 1 min ago

user55340

The Java / JavaScript DSL question could use a better title.

user55340

@ThomasOwens tools: all tool questions is simpler to understand. That there are two sites where such questions are on topic helps clearly define the bounds in scope rather than fuzzy lines.

Thomas Owens

2:41 PM

@MichaelT That's one way of thinking about it. But are questions about using design tools for model based development or requirements management tools actually going to get good answers on Stack Overflow and Super User, or is the kind of audience that we want on Programmers also the people needed to answer those questions?

durron597

@ThomasOwens Sounds to me like this should be taken to Meta in it's own question

Thomas Owens

@durron597 I think I'll write one up at lunch.

user55340

2:58 PM

@ThomasOwens you might want to build on (or refute) the where does my git question go.

user55340

19

Q: Where does my git question go?

You've got a question about git. Its not uncommon, lots of people have questions about git. But where should the question be asked?

Thomas Owens

@MichaelT I think your git answer is correct.

user55340

I do to... That's why I wrote it. ;-). The specifics of a how to do something vs how to use something is the nuance between where a tool question goes.

Thomas Owens

@MichaelT I guess my concern is that Programmers tends to be geared toward people working in a company environment. Stack Overflow is for everyone writing code. I think more people on Programmers are likely to be able to answer questions about how to use DOORS, Rhapsody, Enterprise Architect, etc. than people on Stack Overflow or Super User. That could be a faulty assumption, though.

There is a good mix of answered and unanswered questions on SO for [doors] and [enterprise-architect].

user55340

Note the difference between how do I do specific task in tool vs how do I use this tool to aide in this workflow.

Thomas Owens

3:09 PM

@MichaelT I'm specifically referring to "how do I do specific task" questions.

user55340

I really don't want "how do I chsnge the color in Microsoft project" questions.

Thomas Owens

Yeah. It's a weird line.

I think I'm going to change "coding tools" to "tools" in the proposed FAQ on Meta and add a link to Super User.

user55340

That is probably safest.

user55340

Note that we don't close the use questions - there are even a few on the front page now.

Thomas Owens

Maybe we need a "Where do I ask my tools?" question on Meta that's part of a FAQ. Because development tools go to SO, general tools go to SU, but there's also the Apple and Unix/Linux sites that could be good for OS-specific tools.

Can I write that up at lunch?

Robert Harvey

3:19 PM

By all means.

user15026

@Ampt This would solve my current unemployment....

user114359

The Snowman is back from the dead

Ampt

Did you un-melt?

Robert Harvey

user114359

New job, been extraordinarily busy

Ampt

3:31 PM

as compared to not having a job? I would assume that would be extraordinarily busy inded

Jimmy Hoffa

peter prettied up an old answer for me and I got +20 for it... god love that guy...

34

A: Is there an anti pattern for historically grown software?

You refer to technical debt. We all accrue technical debt in the products we develop over time; refactoring is one of the very common and effective ways of reducing this technical debt, though many companies never pay down their technical debt. These companies tend to find their software extreme...

durron597

@MichaelT In the three days since I've had CV powerz, the CV queue has dropped from almost 100 to 9 posts :)

Ampt

shows 34 here

go do the first post one real quick too, since you're an eager beaver :)

those need special attention

Jimmy Hoffa

Though he always makes me feel like the worst writer in the world

@durron597 well done

enderland

3:47 PM

I've never voted to close!

durron597

@Ampt nah I just want to crush people's hopes and dreams, not help them out

Ampt

damn, you've already succomed to the evilness of your powers

durron597

@Ampt I have the SO steward cv badge

Now that's a thankless job

user114359

There are currently 43 in the CV review queue, is that what you meant?

durron597

@Snowman I see 9, probably because I've reviewed nearly all of them ;)

Ampt

3:54 PM

@GlenH7 This was voted as too broad, do you concur?

I say it's borderline, since you were able to answer it, but it's not great

Thomas Owens

4:20 PM

0

A: Where does my tool question go?

Question is About a Development Tool If the tool that you are using is a tool that is used to design and develop software and is used primarily in a software development environment, you should check out Stack Overflow. A number of development tools already have questions and answers on Stack O...

Comments and edits appreciated, btw.

psr

@dcorking It's hard to answer because it isn't clear exactly when you are an object database and when you aren't. ANSI standard MUMPS doesn't support objects in the language, so that seems dubious. The biggest MUMPS vendor today, Intersystems, has added OO extensions to MUMPS, including a framework for persisting objects. The "pointers" to other objects aren't disk locations though, just a key (possibly compound) used to find the referenced object in a B-Tree(ish?) structure.

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