Berkeley CSUA MOTD:Entry 52622
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2025/05/28 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
5/28    

2009/2/23-26 [Computer/SW/Languages/C_Cplusplus] UID:52622 Activity:low
2/23    Has anyone read Anathem yet? How good (or bad) is it in comparison
        to Cryptonomicon?
        \_ Depends: what did you like/dislike about Cryptonomicon?
           \_ I started to dislike the overlapping WW2 and present day stories
              by the 1/2 half of the book.  And it seemed like a lot of the
              technical details were thrown in to prove how smart Stephenson
              was rather than to add anything to the narrative.
              \_ Paradoxically, those were the parts I enjoyed. Anyway,
                 Anathem is comprised significantly of technical details and
                 philosophy of science/math. If you thought C was too clever
                 for its own good, you may find A suffers from the same.
                 That said, I enjoyed it as much as C, less than System of
                 the World, about as much as Diamond Age, less than Snow
                 Crash.
                 \_ In the first half of C, I liked the overlapping narrative
                    b/c it kept me guessing how the two stories were related,
                    but I found it tiresome and confusing in the 2d half.
                    WRT the technical details - it just felt like I was reading
                    a watered down, inarticulate version of Applied Crypto.
                    Maybe I will get Anathem a try. Thanks.
                 \_ What if you just thought C was too smarmy for its own
                    good?
                    \_ Don't know that I'd call A smarmy. It does have its
                       fair share of being interested mostly in itself,
                       though.
2025/05/28 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
5/28    

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2011/2/5-19 [Computer/SW/Languages/C_Cplusplus] UID:54027 Activity:nil
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        \_ static link in lots of libraries?
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        \_ C is still more popular than C++?  I feel much better about myself
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           \_ python is what 2009 learns, see the motd thread about recent
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