The data-types tag has no wiki summary.
7
votes
4answers
231 views
Origin of structures and classes
What design and implementation issues did programmers have to solve when they decided first to use structures and classes?
When did this happened and who were the pioneers behind these ideas?
Note, ...
19
votes
9answers
1k views
What is meant by a primitive data type?
My understanding of a primitive datatype is that
It is a datatype provided by a language implicitly (Others are user defined classes)
So different languages have different sets of datatypes ...
2
votes
3answers
190 views
Web Development: is always Typing necessary or can type on demand work?
I realize this idea might seem really foreign but I started thinking about this a bit back.
Far as web sites go, at least in my experience, there is far more time spent retyping things to a String ...
4
votes
5answers
283 views
Why disallow int-to-short assignment but allow multiplication and other math?
In Java, the following code does not compile:
int val = 1;
short shortVal = val; // Incompatible types
Anyone know why Java chooses to complain about this assignment, instead of simply truncating, ...
0
votes
2answers
183 views
When should we use opaque objects? [closed]
The concept of opaque objects pervades the design of the Pthreads API. What was the rationale behind this design decision of using opaque objects.
8
votes
5answers
204 views
Examples of limitations in IT due to different bit length by design
I am teaching the course "Introduction in Programming" for the first-year students and would like to find interesting examples where the datatype size in bits, chosen by design, led to certain known ...
5
votes
3answers
160 views
Eliminating Dependencies vs Eliminating Redundancy
Upon my assignment to a project, I discovered that many message classes were received and then kept intact and passed around inside the receiving application. When these messages changed, code ...
10
votes
3answers
638 views
Why were short, int, and long invented in C?
I'm having trouble understanding, what were the exact purposes of creating the short, int, and long data types in C?
The reason I ask is, it doesn't seem like their sizes are bounded -- they could be ...
1
vote
2answers
100 views
Does hierarchial inheritance belong to the past? [closed]
Recently it came to my attention that hierarchical inheritance may be a relic of thinking of classes as "structs with functions" rather than a product contract-driven mentality.
Consider, as a simple ...
6
votes
3answers
491 views
Is integer used too much as a data type?
Do most application developers use signed integers in places where they really mean to use unsigned integers? I do it all the time, so do my co-workers. I haven't seen a lot of other extensive ...
3
votes
1answer
109 views
What are the advantages of having a built-in datatype in a data interchange format over not having it?
Due to the requirement of a project we had to develop a data interchange format with a built in data types. The format served the purpose well in the scope of that project. But I was thinking that ...
1
vote
2answers
242 views
What Are The Uses of Algebraic Data Types?
I'm reading about Algebraic Data Types (thanks to Richard Minerich I found this excellent explanation of the concept). While I think I understand the notion of sum types and product types etc., what ...
12
votes
21answers
2k views
Is type safety worth the trade-offs?
I began coding in in Python primarily where there is no type safety, then moved to C# and Java where there is. I found that I could work a bit more quickly and with less headaches in Python, but then ...
9
votes
4answers
1k views
C#: Explicitly defining variable data types vs. using the keyword 'var'?
In C#, am I encouraged to use the all-purpose var keyword for every variable declaration? If yes, do I have to mention those special characters for literal values within the variable declaration like ...
16
votes
24answers
955 views
Interesting or unique types in programming languages? [closed]
We have all seen integer, floating point, string, and the occasional decimal type. What are some of the most strange or unique or useful types you have encountered, useful or not?
6
votes
6answers
315 views
Understanding Abstract Data Types (ADTs)
Just browsing through Code Complete last night and I came across the explanation of abstract data types.
I must have read it 5 times, and the Wikipedia article doesn't help much either. So what I'm ...
12
votes
16answers
979 views
What's the idea behind defining rectangles with two points?
It's not that this doesn't make sense, but it just works out awkward 99% of the time.
Often in 2D graphics rectangles are initialized, stored and manipulated as a pair of points. In no particular ...
2
votes
2answers
179 views
Data structures for bioinformatics
what are some data structures that should be known by somebody involved in bioinformatics? I guess that anyone is supposed to know about lists, haseshes, balanced trees etc, but I expect that there ...
