[computer-go] C++ parameter passing (long)

[Peter Drake]

On Aug 11, 2006, at 10:25 AM, Mark Boon wrote:
> So the moral of the story is it's OK to be obsessed with speed but  
> you need to keep an eye on the big picture. I'm using Java because  
> I am convinced that given the limited time I have I'll be able to  
> make a faster program than if I'd be using C or C++. Is Java the  
> best choice for programming Go? I honestly don't know, but I'm  
> pretty sure it's not C.
>
> I don't have the illusion that I'll convince you C/C++ die-hards  
> out there but I couldn't help myself for a minute :-) I understand  
> my advice already comes too late for some Assistent Professor from  
> the Lewis & Clark College.

I'm not about to become a C/C++ die-hard. I've done four summers of  
work on this project in Java, and I believe that was the right  
choice. What pushed me over was the fact that our current Monte Carlo  
algorithm is both fairly simple and depends heavily on time and space  
efficiency. If I were writing a life checker, ladder reader,  
influence detector, and so forth, I would be very reluctant to do it  
in C++.

I also would not advocate C++ as a teaching language. So many special  
cases, so much going on behind the scenes -- shudder!

Section 12.5 in the Weiss book, listing C++ features that are missing  
in C, fills me with dread. One of my colleagues here is a C junkie; I  
don't know how he gets anything done. :-)

Peter Drake
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
Lewis & Clark College
http://www.lclark.edu/~drake/





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