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Programmers and Life — Parallax Forums

Programmers and Life

xanatosxanatos Posts: 1,120
edited 2014-03-12 05:17 in General Discussion
A programmers wife asks him to go to the store and get a loaf of bread.

"If they have eggs," she says, "get a dozen."

The programmer returns with a dozen loaves of bread.

Comments

  • RDL2004RDL2004 Posts: 2,554
    edited 2014-03-10 18:57
    That's actually pretty funny. I laughed.
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2014-03-10 19:02
    Sadly, I laughed too, but it makes perfect sense!
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2014-03-10 21:02
    His wife's brother, the logician, analyzes the situation carefully. What does if prove about the store's egg supply? Nothing really. He just might like lots of bread. However, if he had returned with one loaf of bread an no eggs, it would prove that the store had no eggs. But what if he didn't return at all? That would mean that the store had between one and eleven eggs, that he understood his wife correclty, and that he was in an endless loop, waiting for his egg buffer to be filled.

    -Phil
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2014-03-10 21:07
    In France, the programmer would return with a single egg.

    Why? Because in French, one egg is un œuf.

    (yes, "enough")
  • ErlendErlend Posts: 612
    edited 2014-03-11 02:01
    Hilarious laughter!

    Erlend
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-03-11 02:19
    Q. How many software engineers does it take to change a light bulb?
    A. None. It's a hardware problem.

    This is the very old jokes thread right?
  • GenetixGenetix Posts: 1,754
    edited 2014-03-11 15:10
    Xanatos's joke is a good example of what happens when a specification is vaguely written.
    10 programmers will do 10 different things such as Alarm on an error condition.
  • xanatosxanatos Posts: 1,120
    edited 2014-03-11 15:21
    I just loved it because it reminds me of so many of my earlier programming errors, and my reaction always was "OK, why the he## did it do that???" :)
  • SavageCircuitsSavageCircuits Posts: 257
    edited 2014-03-11 15:41
    @Xanatos - I have one very similar on my site. http://www.savagecircuits.com/showthread.php?288-Being-A-Programmer

    @Phil Pilgrim - That was funny stuff!
  • PJAllenPJAllen Banned Posts: 5,065
    edited 2014-03-11 20:19
    It's like that sentence -
    John spoke to Mary in medieval garb.
    [Actually, "medieval garb" is my adaptation. This is a "family show" afterall.]
    Yes, it's John who's in medieval garb. Everyone knows that - everyone but me, I guess.
    Maybe too many years around ESL-types where I see "valid sentences" like that as fraught with peril, anathema to effective communication.

    Edwin Newman may not have been a "linguist", but he made a point better than Noam Chomsky.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2014-03-11 20:22
    PJ Allen wrote:
    Edwin Newman may not have been a "linguist", but he made a point better than Noam Chomsky.

    Apparently, an expert with a pencil sharpener! :)

    -Phil
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-03-12 01:55
    Also:

    Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
  • RforbesRforbes Posts: 281
    edited 2014-03-12 05:17
    His wife's brother, the logician, analyzes the situation carefully. What does if prove about the store's egg supply? Nothing really. He just might like lots of bread. However, if he had returned with one loaf of bread an no eggs, it would prove that the store had no eggs. But what if he didn't return at all? That would mean that the store had between one and eleven eggs, that he understood his wife correclty, and that he was in an endless loop, waiting for his egg buffer to be filled.

    Seems to me the eggs are the root cause of the issues for all three people. Maybe an egg beater is the solution to everyones problem.
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