Re: gEDA-user: Flame about XML (was: Some footprints I tried to create)

[Dave McGuire <mcguire@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mar 15, 2007, at 6:56 AM, Tomaz Solc wrote:
> I would like to add that I see the same trend in electronics. Students
> are taught that you don't need to know much about details for example
> about amplifier design. You just pick the right chip from the shelf.
> Analog electronics itself appears to be dying. Adding microcontrollers
> is advocated as the right answer to all problems. A local magazine for
> example publishes simple DIY electronics projects - for a couple of
> years now they all include PIC processors, even for tasks like  
> blinking
> lights where two transistors would accomplish the same task.

  I have seen this as well, it is most disturbing.  With the general  
public, I think this started with the advent of the audio CD.  It was  
touted as being "better" primarily because it is "digital".  That  
means anything that is digital is better.  Which, to simple people,  
means anything that's not digital is "bad".

  Don't worry, though...while hobbyist and college emphasis on  
analog electronics may be on a downswing, it can never really die.   
Any idiot can flash an LED with a PIC after a weekend of instruction,  
but when they try to move much beyond that, they'll be faced with  
things like I/O source/sink capabilities, propagation delay, signal  
integrity, etc...and will fall flat on their faces.  And don't forget  
interfacing to the real world, which will always be an analog place.

  ALL electronics is, at the core, analog..."Digital" components and  
circuits are merely analog circuits that are specified in digital  
terms.  Any designer will have at least SOME analog background, or he/ 
she simply won't get very far in the field...and will likely never  
amount to much more than a hobbyist who can flash an LED with a PIC.

> However I fail to see why XML format itself is problematic. It is  
> often
> abused, but it has its proper uses
<snip>

  The problem here is that it's almost always abused when it is  
used, especially by inexperienced developers.  And with the ever- 
worsening "cheapness" of companies, inexperienced developers make up  
most of the people writing code...so you see what happens.

            -Dave

--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL




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