School work (no, this isn't a homework problem)

If you’re expected to work with pointers, then my answer would be to use
C. While it may be awkward and difficult for a great number of software
problems, pointer manipulation is NOT one of them! C excels with
pointers. And personally, i think it’s good and useful to learn how to do
many basic algorithms with pointer manipulation, even though it’s a
horrible way to do it in the real world. (Before the language police take
away my license to code, remember that Knuth’s classic books were written
with assembly language!)

Use the right tool for the job. C is a small and rather elegant language,
and not difficult to use within its realm. It only gets ugly when used
outside its intended domain.

Oh, and if you’re using C, make sure you pick up a copy of K&R (The C
Programming Language
, by Kernighan and Ritchie). It’s an invaluable
reference for both C and any languages derived from C. My desk seems
empty without it, even when i’m not using C.

“Peach” ambaxter@bulldog.unca.edu
09/04/02 04:11 PM
Please respond to ruby-talk

···

To: ruby-talk@ruby-lang.org (ruby-talk ML)
cc:
Subject: School work (no, this isn’t a homework problem)

Well, I’m a Ruby Newbie, so this question should be interesting.
I somehow talked my professor at school to let me use Ruby instead of C++
for the algorithm class. Frankly, I find using Ruby much easier than C
(and
it’s children). It just makes sense to me.
In a short amount of time, however, I will have a problem. Pointers will
very quickly become an integral part of our course study. To continue, I
would need to do some meaningful pointer work in Ruby. Does anyone know of
libraries to do such things, or are there other ways? If you could give
some
assistance, I’d be greatly appreciated :slight_smile:
I’d like to stick with Ruby, but if the answer is no I’ll make do.

Thanks in advance!

Adam Baxter; AKA Peach

(Before the language
police take away my license to code, remember that Knuth’s classic
books were written with assembly language!)

I just bought Knuth’s classic books yesterday, and had to tell the world! :smiley:

Use the right tool for the job. C is a small and rather elegant
language, and not difficult to use within its realm. It only gets ugly
when used outside its intended domain.

Oh, and if you’re using C, make sure you pick up a copy of K&R (The C
Programming Language
, by Kernighan and Ritchie). It’s an invaluable
reference for both C and any languages derived from C. My desk seems
empty without it, even when i’m not using C.

C’s a fun language to learn while you’re young. You’re lucky to have
Ruby, too, so your head doesn’t get screwed by it :wink: And K&R’s book is a
great read. I personally find C awful now, but their writing certainly
demonstrates its elegance. Quite expensive for a small, old and popular
book, though.

And don’t shy away from pointers. You’ll appreciate other languages more
after you’ve dealt with them.

Cheers,
Gavin