A curse on Bill Gates....! 2

[jmw]

Following a comment in another thread of mine, I finally decided it was time to play with Visual Basic again.
Rather than simply update my Excel Spreadsheets, I thought I might turn them into proper applications...
The last time I used Visual Basic was years ago and it was always hit and miss because the company had a limited number of licences and when I finally did get a break in the chain so I could use it I'd get bumped again pretty quick.
Then I discovered that Microsoft offer the express version free.

Take it from me, there is no such thing as a free lunch.
It came packaged in Visual Studio (for some reason following a visual basic on an MS site leads to this conclusion) which required some other damn application downloaded first (Web Developer Installer or something) and being MS it downloaded tons of stuff I didn't think I needed and then came up with an install failure message, something about the SQL data base something or other file already existing (why not just overwrite liek every sensible program on the planet?).

It then took me half a day to uninstall some of this junk (a failed install where you can't re-install over the top usually means the uninstaller won't work properly either) and about when I am ready to do a system restore I suddenly get some control back.

But I now have all sorts of new Net files and exes, Silverlight in various versions and god knows what else installed, useless and seemingly uninstallable...

Also it was the wrong thing to install in the first place.
That'll teach me not to use the MS web sites because MS lead me from Visual basic to installing this garbage.

I had to go to an independent web site to find a link to the right download, Visual Basic 2010 Express. (which installed easily)

Now if anyone knows what all the bits are that MS installed and what I should now delete before turning lose CC cleaner, please let me know.
(The omens aren't good for me not to crash my computer a few times with VB6)


JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[Enginerd9]

Well, I'm an advocate for both packages: Excel and MatLab. A LOT of my undergraduate work was done in one or both of those programs... there's nothing wrong with either. It's only a preference thing; I want to keep my codes isolated to a single platform to avoid translation issues, in addition to the things already mentioned.

I like how someone put it... using a sledge hammer as a fly swatter. MatLab might be a bit too powerful for something like a sorting algorythm, especially when Excel can do it so elegantly.

 

[IRstuff]

Conversely, one can simply consider one's toolbox. You've got screwdrivers, wrenches, sockets, pliers, files, and yes, even hammers.

So, given that you've got that many tools, why would you limit yourself to a single, or even just two, tools for what is ostensibly a much broader and more complex environment in engineering?

The more tools you are familiar with, the less likely it will be for you to try and misuse an incorrect tool because you'll know what the right tool is. Or, the less likely it will be that you'll be stuck without a paddle trying to beat your one tool into doing something that it simply cannot do.

I don't necessarily see any plus side for someone to boast that they use "XYZ" for "everything." Since XYZ must have some limits, an engineer that only uses XYZ also has limits. And, that's a BAD thing.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[Enginerd9]

"So, given that you've got that many tools, why would you limit yourself to a single, or even just two, tools for what is ostensibly a much broader and more complex environment in engineering?"

I think the thing to remember here is: right tool for the right job. Try unscrewing a wood screw with a hammer.

Nobody's saying "use Excel only, forget about the other packages!" We're simply saying, why make it more complicated than it needs to be? Why create computational overhead unless it's absolutely necessary?

The key is to use the right tool for the right job. Don't over do it, don't overcomplicate it. Keep it simple, keep it concise.