1/14    Why is NULL defined to be "0" in C++ instead of "((void *) 0)" like in
        C?  I have some overloaded functtions where one takes an integer
        parameter and the other a pointer parameter.  When I call it with
        "NULL", the compiler matches it with the integer version instead of
        the pointer version which is a problem.  Other funny effect is that
        sizeof(NULL) is different from sizeof(myPtr).  Thanks.
	...

4/04    Is there a good way to diff 2 files that consist of columns of
        floating point numbers, such that it only tells me if there's a
        difference if the numbers on a given line differ by at least a given
        ratio?  Say, 1%?
        \_ Use Excel.
           1. Open foo.txt in Excel.  It should convert all numbers to cells in
	...

4/29    Why were C and Java designed to require "break;" statements for a
        "case" section to terminate rather than falling-through to the next
        section?  99% of the time poeple want a "case" section to terminate.
        In fact some compilers issue warning if there is no "break;" statement
        in a "case" section.  Why not just design the languages to have
        termination as the default behavior, and provide a "fallthru;"
	...

7/19    In C or C++, how do I write the code of a function with variable
        number of parameters in order to pass the variable parameters to
        another function that also has variable number of parameters?  Thanks.
        \_ The usual way (works on gcc 3.0+, Visual Studio 2005+):
               #define foo(fmt, ...) printf(fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
           The cool new way (works on gcc 4.3+):
	...

3/7     I have a C question.  I have the following source code in two identical
        files t.c and t.cpp:
                #include <stdlib.h>
                int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
                  const char * const * p1;
                  const char * * p2;
	...

2/4     random C programming/linker fu question.  If I have
        int main() { printf("%s is at this adddr %p\n", "strlen", strlen); }
        and soda's /proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space is 2 (eg; on)
        why is strlen (or any other libc fn) at the same address every time?
        \_ I don't pretend to actually know the right answer to this, but
           could it have something to do with shared libraries?
	...

2/12    I need a way to make a really big C++ executable (~200MBs) that does
        nothing.  No static initialization either.  Any ideas?
        \_ static link in lots of libraries?
        \_ #define a   i=0; i=0; i=0; i=0; i=0; i=0; i=0; i=0; i=0; i=0;
           #define b   a a a a a a a a a a
           #define c   b b b b b b b b b b
	...

9/28    http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html
        Java is #1!!! Followed by C, PHP, C++, Visual Basic, Perl,
        C#, Python, Javascript, then finally Ruby. The good news is
        Pascal is going waaaay back up!
        \_ C is still more popular than C++?  I feel much better about myself
           now.
	...

8/6     In C one can do "typedef int my_index_t;".  What's the equivalent in
        C#?  Thanks.
        \_ C#? Are you serious? Is this what the class of 2009 learn?
           \_ No.  I have to learn .NET code at work.  I am Class of '93.
           \_ python is what 2009 learns, see the motd thread about recent
              cal courses and languages
	...

7/20    For those who care btw, it looks like eclipse is now A Standard Tool
        at UCB ugrad cs, probably replaced emacs.  Furthermore, people get
        angry at seeing Makefiles, (since eclispe takes care of that).  I
        guess it's just a sign of the times.
        \_ The more people at my work use eclipse the less the code is
           managable in emacs.  I'm not sure which application's fault
	...

9/26    I remember there was web version of the motd with search function
        (originally due to kchang ?).  The last time I used it it was hosted
        on the csua website but I can't remember its url (onset of dementia?)
        now. Can somebody plz post it, tnx.
        \_ http://csua.com
           \_ for some reason I couldn't log in since Sept and the archiver
	...

9/4     It looks like there are some issues with wallall at the moment. Any
        plans for it getting fixed? I can run wall, but wallall just gives an
        error.
        \_ Asking questions on the motd will not get any attention from
           any undergrad. You should email politburo or perhaps csua. -ausman
        \_ Asking questions on the motd will not get attention from any
	...

4/19    Motd updater thingy seems to be broken, does anyone know why?
        If not, I will take a look later in the day. -ausman
        \_ /etc/motd.public is not getting copied into /etc/motd for a while.
           \_ Now it works and no one knows why. Strange. -ausman
	...

2/6     Um, what happened to http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~myname ?
        "The requested URL /~myname/ was not found on this server."
        \_ Try emailing root or politburo. I don't think that the
           undergrads use this machine anymore. -ausman
        \_ Ausman is mostly right. LDAP went down due to an expired cert and
           took down most of the rest of our stuff. It's probably a thing with
	...

2/24    What newsreader should I use on soda?
        \_ USENIX? You serious? Everyone switched to RSS.
           \_ I think you mean usenet not usenix.  usenet was generally much
              better than blogs / rss (cf. comp.lang.c, comp.lang.perl,
              the usenet oracle, alt.* with digg, slashdot, etc.)
           link:reader.google.com is the best
	...