Jim Lawrence
accessd at shaw.ca
Fri Dec 30 14:41:18 CST 2005
Thank you Gustav... Programming languages have always been a personal fascination. I my spare time (?) I have been trying to get up to speed in Python, Ruby on Rails and Eiffel (http://www.eiffel.com/downloads/). In the last weeks I have received couple of calls on two great historical packages. Smartware (http://www.visualsmartware.com/), the original fully programmable office suite that ran on both DOS and UNIX. The new system was written/updates by the original project team programmer for MS Access. When he exceeded 50+ years of age, considered by many the outside limit of a programmer competence :-), he was politely edged out of Microsoft but still wanted to keep his hand in; hence a new version of Smartware. The whole system is very new/old as there is no web site, to speak of and there is only three full-time staff. A free download can be had but a temporary username and password must be first acquired. Contact person is: Dr. Jack Perkins... EduServ Inc. Brandon MB Canada 204-727-2895 www.eduserv.biz ...and... Clarion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarion_programming_language), definitely one of the best database programs ever designed (It is related to Modula-2). Only used the DOS version and now someone wants a bill-of-laden module written for the current Windows version (7). Jim -----Original Message----- From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Gustav Brock Sent: December 30, 2005 4:05 AM To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: Memory Lane. IBM Key Punch Hi Jim Oh, don't bother, that dating would not be very precise! I don't know about LISP these days but Prolog is indeed alive and ready on hand: http://www.visual-prolog.com/ The Personal Edition is free to use. Note the alpha version of version 7 which - much to my disappointment - now allows "normal" structures like if-then-else: http://www.visual-prolog.com/vip6/Support/version_news/vip63/news_vip70_alph a.htm I thought we never would see that as it certainly will kill some of the beauty of Prolog. /gustav >>> accessd at shaw.ca 29-12-2005 23:19 >>> Gustav... At the risk of dating myself; I played with both Lisp and Prolog but after progressing beyond the Comodore64 never used it again. Sort of sad. Jim -----Original Message----- From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Gustav Brock Sent: December 29, 2005 12:07 PM To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com Subject: [AccessD] OT: Memory Lane. IBM Key Punch Hi all, not Friday yet, but ... Joel Spolsky is sometimes rambling a bit but his recent blurb is quite entertaining: The Perils of JavaSchools http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/ThePerilsofJavaSchools.html He is not nice with the Java boys but what do we care. Note, however, the picture of the IBM 026 Key Punch. This is before my time but click on it and find a new link: http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/029.html This is the 029 Key Punch which we used at the technical university here. Oh boy, did we punch some cards! I can still remember the unique feeling of the keys and the massive low-frequence sound for every punch. What a piece of machinery! Also, note the link to the Blub Programmers and this quote: Lisp is worth learning for the profound enlightenment experience you will have when you finally get it; that experience will make you a better programmer for the rest of your days, even if you never actually use Lisp itself a lot. I have only "tasted" LISP. All I remember is a feeling of the wonderful different syntax. Has anyone here learned and used it? /gustav -- AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com