*Miscue's Computer Science Thread*

[Miscue]

FreeBSD is just another UNIX-flavor. Sure it's great for server stuff... but that doesn't mean that's all it's for. Using a paintball analogy... it's like saying: If you're a back player, why aren't you using a cocker instead of a mag? I could just as easily use Linux, or whatever... and it wouldn't make much difference really. I've been using FreeBSD for a while, it's what I'm familiar with. If I go sit at an Alpha or SGI with some UNIX variant, I feel at home because they all work pretty much the same way... whereas Linux is a bit different. I prefer FreeBSD over Linux, but Linux is great too - I have nothing against it... Blondes, brunettes... Different folks, different strokes.

If you haven't used either and you're looking into Linux or FreeBSD... I'd say go for FreeBSD, or at least give it a shot. Installation is easy, once you're done your machine is pretty much ready to go. All the common daemons are already setup for you... there really isn't anything you need to touch for the most part. I changed the standard ftp daemon to proftpd... things like that... but you don't really have to do that kinda thing if you don't want to.

[xmetal2001]

Heres a quick ?

why linux/freebsd/all those other things like that, i know it does alot of server stuff(i dont know anything), but why for C++?

if its a long answer, nevermind, i was just wondering.

or for that matter, what is unix/linux/ o nevermind i'll just look it up on the internet. Ya know, they should have a site for people that know nothing. Absolutly nothing. some of those newbie sites still look like some foreign language to me. a site composed of articles like this thread...

[gimp]

Could you write a little summary on linked lists? I need to learn about them. If you could, please include some code examples, so I can be sure to understand the syntax. Thanks!

[Miscue]

C was originally intended to be the system program language of UNIX... that's what it was made for. Over time it turned into a general purpose programming language... and eventually C++ came about. And of course the language ended up migrating to other platforms. C/C++/UNIX... they're made for each other. If it weren't for UNIX, there would not be C. And without C... we would not have UNIX as we know it. UNIX is incredibly useful, it is something that everyone with interest in computers should learn to use and take advantage of. It's a great tool.

Oh, and you mentioned the newby site... Here's the problem: If you make it simple enough for anybody to understand, you leave out the people who could get really good at it. Conversely, if you make it too complicated... only those who are good at it will benefit. What I'm trying to do is go somewhere in the middle... leaning a bit more towards those who could get good at this stuff.

Originally posted by xmetal2001
Heres a quick ?

why linux/freebsd/all those other things like that, i know it does alot of server stuff(i dont know anything), but why for C++?

if its a long answer, nevermind, i was just wondering.

or for that matter, what is unix/linux/ o nevermind i'll just look it up on the internet. Ya know, they should have a site for people that know nothing. Absolutly nothing. some of those newbie sites still look like some foreign language to me. a site composed of articles like this thread...

[Miscue]

Originally posted by gimp
Could you write a little summary on linked lists? I need to learn about them. If you could, please include some code examples, so I can be sure to understand the syntax. Thanks!

Sure, no problem. I'm assuming that you mean linked lists without using arrays... I'm also assuming you know what a pointer is and how they work... if not let me know.

Here's the basics on how it works:

A linked list is just another way of storing data... a list of data. You have your basic 'node' (some user defined structure)... Part of it contains data, and the other part is a pointer to another node... typically the next node in the list.

It looks kinda like this:

HEAD || A |||* ---> || B |||* ---> || C |||* ---> || D |||* --->'NULL' TAIL

|| X ||| = some data. * = pointer.

To get information from say, node D... you have to start at the head of the list first. You go from A, to B, C, then D... by following the pointers.

With an array, you don't have to do this... you access it dynamically... only one step involved and not multiple. The problem with arrays is that you have to know how big it is going to be beforehand. With a linked list, so long as you got memory for it you can add to it all you want w/o worrying about it. There's other pros/cons but that's one of the important things.

Sure, I could give ya some example code I guess. What language you want to use? And... if you're gonna talk about linked lists... you might as well get into doubly linked lists, queues, stacks... and eventually trees... maybe later. I was planning on starting off with simple things to talk about, like how you add 2 numbers together and stuff... Oh well... will get to that too so everyone else can understand what the heck we're talking about.

[gimp]

Thanks miscue! I learned the double linked lists today. It seems to me that linked lists just make it a lot easier if you want to insert or remove items from the list. Easier than Arrays. I just need to practice with them. I'm sure I'll be doing that a lot this weekend, as I have my mid-term on Monday.

[Zumina]

never liked programming; toiling away for endless hours in front of a computer screen isn't much fun/for everyone. However, if you have a butt of steel, and a pasty complexion, the occupation was made for you.

[Miscue]

http://www.lysator.liu.se/~cardeci/caffeine.html

Things you should understand if you're serious about programming.