Code and cars

Almost as if on instinct, I updated my resume last month. And today, I discovered that the local office of the towing company will be closing its doors. Sure, I could move to where the office is relocating. But I really can't justify the commute, especially at a driver's pay rate. While it's been fun to drive a tow truck, and I definitely have gotten my exercise, it's time to return to the software industry. UPDATE: Off the market again. And since there's been a server crash, I haven't uploaded the old files.

Ah, sibling rivalry. C++ is one year older than Objective C, and while they have the same parent, C, they're quite different. But, sometimes, you want to harness code written in C++ from your nice and comfy Cocoa-based app. Sure, you can try Objective C++, the hybrid as of late, but you risk losing Objective C's pure superset abilities, and the compiler takes a speed hit trying to be bilingual. And if other coders either can't or won't handle C++, well, then it's time to break out some pure C wrappers and contain things. Here's a few tips I've learned the hard way.

I have often joked that my first language isn't English, as I'm more fluent in C. Truth be told, while I can't claim to be bilingual in any real sense (I understand some french, and have picked up only a few spanish words), I do pride myself in being a polyglot in that I know several computer languages. Of course, C is my core language, as I can claim consistent coding proficiency in it all the way back to my college years. But beyond that, I know quite a few other languages, including assembly, C++, and as of late, Objective-C.

Not only that, but on the languages that I have used but have since forgotten, I've made sure to remember a few of the design patterns from them. For example, the Eval/Apply loop used in Scheme's interpreter. There's an aphorism to the effect of "A language which doesn't change the way you think isn't worth learning." I'm a firm believer in the contrapositive: All languages worth learning will change the way you think.

With that in mind, it makes me really wonder and ponder about this list that was pointed to in this article.