Talk:BASIC
From Maze
(Difference between revisions)
(Replied to Patsy's comments) | |||
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| − | '''''Patsy's Edit Notes''''' | + | == Patsy's Edit Notes == |
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| + | '''Comments in bold by Nick''' | ||
Changed nothing major. It reads very well. Things left to do: | Changed nothing major. It reads very well. Things left to do: | ||
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1."Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine by Louis Menebrea" needs a footnote. | 1."Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine by Louis Menebrea" needs a footnote. | ||
| + | '''A reference, yes; I added one. Our book has no footnotes yet and I hope it won't need them.''' | ||
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2. Fuegi & Francis page number needed in text. | 2. Fuegi & Francis page number needed in text. | ||
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| + | '''The entire article is about this point.''' | ||
3. "an algorithm delineated in mathematical notation" = ""an algorithm expressed as mathematical notation"??? | 3. "an algorithm delineated in mathematical notation" = ""an algorithm expressed as mathematical notation"??? | ||
| + | '''I revised this. It's a really simple idea here. Of all the way to write computer programs, she expressed an algorithm in mathematical notion (not in machine language, English, etc.)''' | ||
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4. Strange that "Out of the Woods" has no author, online version; PB will check print magazine. | 4. Strange that "Out of the Woods" has no author, online version; PB will check print magazine. | ||
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| + | '''Thanks.''' | ||
5. "borrowing time from Harvard's computer and was (as Microsoft has acknowledged)" -- is this a repeated acknowledgment, or do we know when and where this was first acknowledged. The timing may be symptomatic, if ironically so, of the sharing/open culture trading in BASIC encouraged. | 5. "borrowing time from Harvard's computer and was (as Microsoft has acknowledged)" -- is this a repeated acknowledgment, or do we know when and where this was first acknowledged. The timing may be symptomatic, if ironically so, of the sharing/open culture trading in BASIC encouraged. | ||
| + | '''Changed "has" to "always." Microsoft never pretended to invent BASIC, they cited Dartmouth and Kemeny & Kurtz from the first release of Altair BASIC.''' | ||
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6. Where and when was Gates' "Second and Final Letter" published? | 6. Where and when was Gates' "Second and Final Letter" published? | ||
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| + | '''Added a reference.''' | ||
7. Both Gates letters need to be added to the bibliography. | 7. Both Gates letters need to be added to the bibliography. | ||
| + | '''Done.''' | ||
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8. "In discussing software, I don't want to leave out the most important aspect..." quotation needs a footnote. | 8. "In discussing software, I don't want to leave out the most important aspect..." quotation needs a footnote. | ||
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| + | '''There are no footnotes, but I added a reference.''' | ||
9. Does "the programmer Murray ''spirals downwards in his code quality'' after the apparent death of his only friend" mean? That the quality of his code plummets? Or, literally that Murray falls into some rabbit hole of bad code? For thos who don't know the story, it may be worth fleshing the story out just a bit more. | 9. Does "the programmer Murray ''spirals downwards in his code quality'' after the apparent death of his only friend" mean? That the quality of his code plummets? Or, literally that Murray falls into some rabbit hole of bad code? For thos who don't know the story, it may be worth fleshing the story out just a bit more. | ||
| + | '''Fixed this, the sentence just became unclear after revision. We can't spend too much time glossing this story when we're really just interested in what it says about memory and code.''' | ||
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10... and perhaps more precisely as well: e.g. "hacked his body" -- whose? Murray's body or Murray's friend's body? | 10... and perhaps more precisely as well: e.g. "hacked his body" -- whose? Murray's body or Murray's friend's body? | ||
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| + | '''Clarified: own.''' | ||
11. I realize it may be easy enough to find, but George Miller's "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two" (1956) needs to be added to the bibliography. -- DONE | 11. I realize it may be easy enough to find, but George Miller's "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two" (1956) needs to be added to the bibliography. -- DONE | ||
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12. Review details of bibliographic formatting. Patsy will do that. | 12. Review details of bibliographic formatting. Patsy will do that. | ||
| + | '''Thanks!''' | ||
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13. Ultimately, only the paragraph about "opcodes" was still opaque to me; since it may be clear to the rest of you, I only point that out, without suggesting anything specific to change. | 13. Ultimately, only the paragraph about "opcodes" was still opaque to me; since it may be clear to the rest of you, I only point that out, without suggesting anything specific to change. | ||
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| + | '''It wasn't clear. I tried to improve it by explaining opcodes and operands, and the difference between them, more clearly. It's a bit arcade, but seems important if we're going to explain why assembly was an improvement over machine language.''' | ||
