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
	...

7/9     I'm adding a larger and faster HD to my XP machine, and I want
        to move my installation to the new drive, can anyone recommend
        a tool that can do this? I'd perfer somethng inexpensive as
        it's a one time thing.
        \_ There's a lot of software that does this, but Norton/Symantec Ghost
           seems to be the standard and I have used it successfully many
	...

4/28    Win 3.1 was more widely adopted than Win 3.0.  Win XP (5.1) was more
        widely adopted than Win 2k (5.0).  Now it looks like Win 7 (6.1) is
        going to be more widely adopted than Vista (6.0).  Is this a trend on
        Microsoft x.0 versions being bad?
        \_ duh.
        \_ "more widely adopted" ... well... what are you basing these numbers
	...

2/18    Why is there now Firefox 3.5.8 when there was already 3.6 a month ago?
        \_ Why is there Windows XP SP3 when there was already Vista?
           Generally companies manage patches for at least two levels of
           product.  -tom
           \_ I see.  So Fx 3.6 is more like a new version than an update to
              3.5.x.  --- OP
	...

8/3     VMWare + Windows XP + Validation question. I need to test stuff with
        Service Pack 3 installed. I have a valid key that I own (yeah yeah I
        actually *bought* a copy, please don't flame me for supporting evil
        M$). Is it possible to register the key once, and then duplicate it
        for testing purposes?  Will Windows or Microsoft detect copies and
        disable the rest the copies?
	...

5/31    History of winners and losers by *popularity*:
        VHS > Beta Max
        USB2 > Firewire
        x86 > PowerPC > Everything Else > DEC Alpha > Itanium
        BlueRay > HDDvd
        \_ It's too early to tell RE: "Blue"Ray. They may both turn out to be
	...

2/20    I'm using Cygwin/X on XP.  All the X indows (xterm, emacs)
        seem to have a keyboard repeat rate and a repeat delay that's different
        than the one XP uses for other Windows apps.  When I do "mode con
        rate=xx delay=yy", it only changes Windows apps but not the X apps.
        How do I change the keyboard repeat rate and delay for X?  Thanks.
        \_ man xset
	...

11/29   I'm experimenting with virtualization, and as a poor college student
        I'm wondering what the best alternatives for virtualization are, and
        how best to cut my teeth on messing with non-linux platforms (or I
        guess interesting stuff on Linux would work too). Right now I've got
        FreeBSD7 running on KVM on my home computer (on a Core 2 Quad), and am
        somewhat at a loss as to how to use it. (More details: bridged
	...

11/14   I have a bunch of pictures and I find that thumbs.db on
        Windows XP to be very useful, especially when you're on NAS
        and the network is slow. Having that said, my Win XP has
        stopped generating thumbs.db even though I've set it to generate
        thumbs.db (Properties->View->Uncheck "Do not cache thumbnails.").
        How do I force Windows to generate Thumbs.db? Googling seems
	...

10/12   When XP boots up on my PC, the screen reads "Microsoft (R) Windows (R)
        5.01. 2600 Service Pack 3 Multiprocessor Free."  What does "Free" mean?
        Thx.
	...

9/21    So I did it and got myself a Macbook Pro. Any suggestions for the best
        PC->Mac transition?  After finding out that Outlook is not supported
        under Mac; I bought parallels and am installing XP to grab my outlook
        mail archive (~1GB) from the original PC disk (the pc itself is
        basically dead). Any suggestions on a relatively painless import to
        entourage? The Mac Genius guy also reccomended an upgrade to 4GB and
	...