On Fri, Mar 20, 2015 at 04:02:42PM -0400, Tedd Sperling wrote: > > On Mar 19, 2015, at 11:04 AM, Jim Giner > > <jim.giner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > > > > I find it rare that I have to ever use the acronym in > > conversation.... :) > > I teach college students PHP/MySQLi and I would like to be somewhat > correct. > > For example, for years working by myself in creating Apple software > applications using GUI -- I always pronounced it G-U-I. But then when > I attended a software convention in Vegas and heard other programmers > call it "Gooey". I asked , what's "Gooey" and everyone looked at me > like I came from another planet. I don't want to repeat that > experience and especially with my students. > I'm fully familiar with this and sympathetic. I've functioned almost exclusively as a "lone wolf" developer for decades. So I develop habits or idiosyncracies that are unfamiliar to other people. And I tend to avoid spelling acronyms. So, for example, since almost the beginning of my introduction to the web, I've said, "hitmill" instead of "H-T-M-L". But I've had numerous people act like I was speaking a foreign language. Until I translated for them. Similarly, I avoid "S-Q-L" in favor of "seequell", "G-U-I" favor of "gooey", and so on. Incidentally, because of developing code the way I do, I was for years plagued by insecurity about my code, because I wasn't sure if I was solving problems the "right" or "accepted" way. (When I first started out, I had no one's code to compare mine to.) It wasn't until I started reading other people's code that I realized even if you've never seen anyone else's code, you're liable to come up with a solution similar to what everyone else comes up with. So for all you newbies out there, don't worry too much if you're doing things the "right" way. Chances are, you are. There will always be some snooty, know-it-all coder out there who will imply you're a dolt for not using a ternary operator here or for using a foreach instead of a for loop, or whatever. Patiently listen to them, check your code to see if what they're saying makes a real difference in your code, and politely thank them for their expert guidance. Then go on about your business. If you don't want to use OOP, don't. If you don't like ternary operators, don't use them. And let the snooty know-it-alls continue to think they're God's gift to programming. This also applies to "security" in your code (whether it is considered "secure" or not). Some coders get absolutely obsessed about security and will bug you about every little thing you do that they don't like. Read up on security yourself, and determine for yourself how much security you *really* need. Don't automatically believe everything these guys tell you, just because they *sound* like they know more than you. Security is always a trade-off with expediency. Paul -- Paul M. Foster http://noferblatz.com http://quillandmouse.com -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
