Are the posted questions getting worse?

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Are the posted questions getting worse?

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ChiragNS One Orange Chip Points: 26137 More actions · Answer 1

Jeff Moden (2/25/2009)
Hey! By the way, Steve... is there a way to enforce a max width limit on the code windows? Say, at 120 characters so when some of these folks post, it doesn't come out a 1,000 characters wide?

Such a feature would be nice.

"Keep Trying"

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004409 More actions · Answer 2

RBarryYoung (2/25/2009)
Jeff Moden (2/25/2009)
I'm going to give up my formatting habits on this forum... from now on, I'm going to post all code with no comments, all upper case, and, heh... no spaces... 😛
[font="Courier New"]SELECTTOP11000IDENTITY(INT,1,1)ASNINTODBO.TALLYFROMMASTER.DBO.SYSCOLUMNSSC1,MASTER.DBO.SYSCOLUMNS
SC2ALTERTABLEDBO.TALLYADDCONSTRAINTPK_TALLY_NPRIMARYKEYCLUSTERED(N)WITHFILLFACTOR=100GRANTSELECTONDBO.TALLYTOPUBLIC[/font]
So now, you're an IBM JCL programmer? 😀

Wow... THAT does bring back memories! Holy shades of punched cards, Batman!

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

StarNamer SSCrazy Eights Points: 8746 More actions · Answer 3

Roy Ernest (2/25/2009)
We could have a thread here that fights out the best practice list and we can provide a final list to the Newbies. 😀

Then someone could write an article about it and all the 'Newbies' could ignore it the same was they ignore the Best Practices Article[/url]

Actually, one basic thing that would improve readability is if more OPs used the IFCode '[ code ]' and '[ /code ]' tags for data, code and results so that the formatting doesn't look like a complete mess. However, since they're already displayed in the editing box, I can't think of any way to make people use them.

Derek

StarNamer SSCrazy Eights Points: 8746 More actions · Answer 4

Jeff Moden (2/25/2009)
Wow... THAT does bring back memories! Holy shades of punched cards, Batman!

Hole-y punched cards? :blush:

//DWDX JOB DWD

//X EXEC PGM=IEFBR14

//F DD DSN=POST.TEXT,DISP=(MOD,DELETE,DELETE),UNIT=DASD

Derek

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004409 More actions · Answer 5

Derek Dongray (2/26/2009)
Roy Ernest (2/25/2009)
We could have a thread here that fights out the best practice list and we can provide a final list to the Newbies. 😀
Then someone could write an article about it and all the 'Newbies' could ignore it the same was they ignore the Best Practices Article[/url]
Actually, one basic thing that would improve readability is if more OPs used the IFCode '[ code ]' and '[ /code ]' tags for data, code and results so that the formatting doesn't look like a complete mess. However, since they're already displayed in the editing box, I can't think of any way to make people use them.

Heh... nope... that would just make it all in Courier... and probably too wide. A lot of the stuff I've seen has come from the query designer of either EM or SMS and that makes a mess of things... leading commas and all in SMS. 😉

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Jack Corbett SSC Guru Points: 184394 More actions · Answer 6

Grant Fritchey (2/25/2009)
Bob Hovious (2/25/2009)
Hey G 🙂
It's not barrier to entry. Nobody has to take a test on the material. It's just something that first time OPs should read before they ask their question. If they spend five minutes reading it, they might even get their question answered faster.
This community is committed to helping everyone, regardless of their skill level, which is a great thing. The point is that the more people you can teach to ask correctly, the faster you can get their questions answered and the more time will be available to help others. Also, as was previously pointed out, sometimes just setting up the question helps an OP see the answer.
Many of you have heard the old saying "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and he can feed himself for a lifetime." Just out of curiousity, how many of you see this forum's ultimate objective to be giving people fish, or teaching them to fish?
I agree with the sentiment, absolutely, but I do think forcing anyone to read stuff is going to do one of two things, chase away people who need help and really will benefit from it, get scanned about as fast as those user agreements that MS makes me agree to prior to installing their software. Either way, I don't think we're doing a service to the people that we're trying to talk to.

Back to trying to get newbies to read the articles, instead of having a popup or anything, is there a confirmation email that goes out when you register for SSC? It's been so long since I registered I don't remember, but if there is how about adding a list of suggested articles to that email. This is not as annoying as a popup, but still gets the articles in front of them.

Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
Check out these links on how to get faster and more accurate answers:
Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help
Need an Answer? Actually, No ... You Need a Question

Grant Fritchey SSC Guru Points: 398909 More actions · Answer 7

RBarryYoung (2/25/2009)
Jeff Moden (2/25/2009)
I'm going to give up my formatting habits on this forum... from now on, I'm going to post all code with no comments, all upper case, and, heh... no spaces... 😛
[font="Courier New"]SELECTTOP11000IDENTITY(INT,1,1)ASNINTODBO.TALLYFROMMASTER.DBO.SYSCOLUMNSSC1,MASTER.DBO.SYSCOLUMNS
SC2ALTERTABLEDBO.TALLYADDCONSTRAINTPK_TALLY_NPRIMARYKEYCLUSTERED(N)WITHFILLFACTOR=100GRANTSELECTONDBO.TALLYTOPUBLIC[/font]
So now, you're an IBM JCL programmer? 😀

I thought it was LISP. One long string with a bunch of commas.

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt

Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

ChrisM@Work SSC Guru Points: 186127 More actions · Answer 8

Jack Corbett (2/26/2009)
Back to trying to get newbies to read the articles, instead of having a popup or anything, is there a confirmation email that goes out when you register for SSC? It's been so long since I registered I don't remember, but if there is how about adding a list of suggested articles to that email. This is not as annoying as a popup, but still gets the articles in front of them.

Nice one Jack, this gets my vote.

^{“Write the query the simplest way. If through testing it becomes clear that the performance is inadequate, consider alternative query forms.” - Gail Shaw}

For fast, accurate and documented assistance in answering your questions, please read this article.
Understanding and using APPLY, (I) and (II) Paul White
Hidden RBAR: Triangular Joins / The "Numbers" or "Tally" Table: What it is and how it replaces a loop Jeff Moden

RBarryYoung SSC Guru Points: 143329 More actions · Answer 9

Grant Fritchey (2/26/2009)
RBarryYoung (2/25/2009)
Jeff Moden (2/25/2009)
I'm going to give up my formatting habits on this forum... from now on, I'm going to post all code with no comments, all upper case, and, heh... no spaces... 😛
[font="Courier New"]SELECTTOP11000IDENTITY(INT,1,1)ASNINTODBO.TALLYFROMMASTER.DBO.SYSCOLUMNSSC1,MASTER.DBO.SYSCOLUMNS
SC2ALTERTABLEDBO.TALLYADDCONSTRAINTPK_TALLY_NPRIMARYKEYCLUSTERED(N)WITHFILLFACTOR=100GRANTSELECTONDBO.TALLYTOPUBLIC[/font]
So now, you're an IBM JCL programmer? 😀
I thought it was LISP. One long string with a bunch of commas.

Nope, LISP is "Lots Of Insipid Parenthesis", not commas. Plus I'm pretty sure that it's case-sensitive.

[font="Times New Roman"]-- RBarryYoung[/font], [font="Times New Roman"] (302)375-0451[/font] blog: MovingSQL.com, Twitter: @RBarryYoung [font="Arial Black"]
Proactive Performance Solutions, Inc. [/font][font="Verdana"] "Performance is our middle name."[/font]

Grant Fritchey SSC Guru Points: 398909 More actions · Answer 10

Heck. I thought LISP was stacks of comma's. What am I thinking of then. I worked with some damned language back in '92 or '93 where the code looked like:

exec ,3,,,,5,6,dude,,5

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt

Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

Roy Ernest SSC-Dedicated Points: 38780 More actions · Answer 11

Grant Fritchey (2/26/2009)
Heck. I thought LISP was stacks of comma's. What am I thinking of then. I worked with some damned language back in '92 or '93 where the code looked like:
exec ,3,,,,5,6,dude,,5

I worked with it during the same period as well, but I dont even remember anything. ES9000. Yea, that was fun times 😛

Especially when you have to code something in Cobol. Your hands will get sore when you done since you have type soo much....:hehe:

-Roy

StarNamer SSCrazy Eights Points: 8746 More actions · Answer 12

Roy Ernest (2/26/2009)
Grant Fritchey (2/26/2009)
Heck. I thought LISP was stacks of comma's. What am I thinking of then. I worked with some damned language back in '92 or '93 where the code looked like:
exec ,3,,,,5,6,dude,,5
I worked with it during the same period as well, but I dont even remember anything. ES9000. Yea, that was fun times 😛
Especially when you have to code something in Cobol. Your hands will get sore when you done since you have type soo much....:hehe:

I don't recognize Roy's language, but it could be any of several which make heavy use of positional arguments.

An amusing site for programming languages is 99 Bottles of Beer[/url] where you'll find the song "99 Bottles of Beer" programmed in 1253 computer languages (last time I checked). Someone even managed to do it with IBM JCL. Naturally, there's a Transact-SQL version; unfortunately, it seems broken (2 NULL records at the end :(), but Jeff would approve of the technique as it sets up a tally table to produce the solution! 😀

Derek

Grant Fritchey SSC Guru Points: 398909 More actions · Answer 13

Since there are so many hard core SF readers on here, I thought I'd pass on what I just heard. Phlip Jose Farmer has died. http://reason.com/blog/show/131886.html

I read tons and tons of his books when I was a kid and young adult, including some porn he wrote that my mother bought for me, not knowing what it was. I loved the ways he messed with classic characters like Doc Savage & Tarzan.

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt

Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

Gail Shaw SSC Guru Points: 1004504 More actions · Answer 14

While following links from that, I ran across this: http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=searchByTag&tag=Wheel%20of%20Time%20re-read

A re-read and summary of the entire Wheel of Time, reducing each chapter to what looks like 500-700 words. At that rate, all 11 books should come to no more than the size of the Lord of the Rings trilogy 😀

Should be a little more readable than the full thing (which occupies an entire shelf on my larger bookshelves)

Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

We walk in the dark places no others will enter
We stand on the bridge and no one may pass

GSquared SSC Guru Points: 260824 More actions · Answer 15

Grant Fritchey (2/26/2009)
Since there are so many hard core SF readers on here, I thought I'd pass on what I just heard. Phlip Jose Farmer has died. http://reason.com/blog/show/131886.html
I read tons and tons of his books when I was a kid and young adult, including some porn he wrote that my mother bought for me, not knowing what it was. I loved the ways he messed with classic characters like Doc Savage & Tarzan.

I just re-read the Riverworld series over Christmas. Still good stuff. He was definitely a fun author.

- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
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"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon