Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string

From	Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.c
Subject	Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string
Date	2014-06-11 14:59 -0700
Organization	None to speak of
Message-ID	<lnbntzkszs.fsf@nuthaus.mib.org> (permalink)
References	(1 earlier) <ln52p6$ri6$1@speranza.aioe.org> <ln71rg$vhk$2@dont-email.me> <lnoaxzl8fr.fsf@nuthaus.mib.org> <b675676e-a941-4dc2-8b80-1c2facd63a67@googlegroups.com> <fw3mv.331405$B%3.18532@fx23.am4>

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"BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> writes:
> "Malcolm McLean" <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> wrote in message 
> news:b675676e-a941-4dc2-8b80-1c2facd63a67@googlegroups.com...
>> On Wednesday, June 11, 2014 5:25:44 PM UTC+1, Keith Thompson wrote:
>>>
>>> My common sense as a developer tells me that I need an unambiguous
>>> specification.  If I can't get one, I'll probably write one myself
>>> and verify that it's consistent with what's actually needed.
>>>
>> If someone instructed you to go through  a text, and replace every
>> instance of "her" with "him", how would you respond?
>
> I would probably change "I told her so" to "I told him so".
>
> I wouldn't change "There are several herds" to "Thime are several himds".
>
> I would have to think a little about changing "Here was her coat" to "Here 
> was him coat" (but would not be tempted to write "Hime was him coat".
>
> (I would probably also change whole words of "her", "Her" and "HER" to 
> "him", "Him" and "HIM" respectively.)
>
> So yes, when presenting a challenge, you do have to spell these things out. 
> (And also why when I re-stated this problem, I talked about byte-sequences 
> rather than text.)

And if the actual intent is to implement C code that performs the
equivalent of

    sed 's/him/her/g'

then most of these assumptions would be wrong.  This is why we need
context.  Even with perfectly precise requirements, knowing the actual
goal can help both in understanding the requirements and in judging
whether they're written correctly.

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) kst-u@mib.org  <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
Working, but not speaking, for JetHead Development, Inc.
"We must do something.  This is something.  Therefore, we must do this."
    -- Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, "Yes Minister"

Thread

Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string DFS <nospam@dfs.com> - 2014-06-06 00:08 -0400
  Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string DFS <nospam@dfs.com> - 2014-06-06 04:34 -0400
    Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2014-06-06 10:04 +0000
    Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Mark Storkamp <mstorkamp@yahoo.com> - 2014-06-06 07:27 -0500
    Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2014-06-06 11:55 -0500
      Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Johannes Bauer <dfnsonfsduifb@gmx.de> - 2014-06-06 20:47 +0200
  Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Ike Naar <ike@iceland.freeshell.org> - 2014-06-06 06:05 +0000
    Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Noob <root@127.0.0.1> - 2014-06-06 10:17 +0200
      Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2014-06-08 21:20 +1200
  Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2014-06-06 14:41 +0100
    Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2014-06-06 16:29 +0100
      Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2014-06-06 17:27 +0000
      Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2014-06-06 22:16 +0100
        Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2014-06-06 23:26 +0100
          Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2014-06-06 23:38 +0100
    Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2014-06-06 08:31 -0700
      Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2014-06-06 22:12 +0100
    Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Chad <cdalten@gmail.com> - 2014-06-07 12:19 -0700
      Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Chad <cdalten@gmail.com> - 2014-06-07 13:38 -0700
        Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2014-06-08 10:34 +0000
    Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string DFS <nospam@dfs.com> - 2014-06-07 18:30 -0400
      Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2014-06-08 13:09 +0100
        Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string DFS <nospam@dfs.com> - 2014-06-08 12:42 -0400
          Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2014-06-09 01:44 +0100
            Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Siri Crews <chine.bleu@yahoo.com> - 2014-06-08 22:15 -0700
              Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2014-06-09 12:58 +0100
            Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Ike Naar <ike@iceland.freeshell.org> - 2014-06-09 06:40 +0000
              Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2014-06-09 13:04 +0100
                Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2014-06-09 15:27 +0100
                Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2014-06-09 16:22 +0100
                Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2014-06-09 18:06 +0100
                Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2014-06-09 22:38 +0100
      Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2014-06-10 00:57 -0700
  Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string DFS <nospam@dfs.com> - 2014-06-07 17:36 -0400
    Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2014-06-08 09:57 +0100
      Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string DFS <nospam@dfs.com> - 2014-06-08 12:43 -0400
        Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2014-06-08 15:27 -0700
        Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2014-06-09 10:02 +0100
          Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2014-06-09 08:03 -0700
    Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2014-06-08 04:43 -0700
      Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string DFS <nospam@dfs.com> - 2014-06-08 13:26 -0400
      Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2014-06-08 15:24 -0700
        Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2014-06-09 08:39 -0700
          Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2014-06-09 08:57 -0700
            Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2014-06-09 09:52 -0700
              Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2014-06-09 11:25 -0700
                Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2014-06-09 13:42 -0700
                Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2014-06-09 15:02 -0700
                Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2014-06-09 16:04 -0700
                Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2014-06-10 10:23 +0000
          Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2014-06-09 16:57 +0000
            Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2014-06-10 10:06 +0000
  Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string "Chris M. Thomasson" <no@spam.invalid> - 2014-06-09 12:43 -0700
    Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string "Chris M. Thomasson" <no@spam.invalid> - 2014-06-09 14:32 -0700
      Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string "Chris M. Thomasson" <no@spam.invalid> - 2014-06-09 16:09 -0700
      Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2014-06-09 21:35 -0400
    Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string DFS <nospam@dfs.com> - 2014-06-10 09:39 -0400
      Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2014-06-10 11:26 -0400
      Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2014-06-11 16:16 +0000
      Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2014-06-11 09:25 -0700
        Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2014-06-11 13:48 -0700
          Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2014-06-11 22:04 +0100
            Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2014-06-11 14:59 -0700
          Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Ike Naar <ike@iceland.freeshell.org> - 2014-06-11 21:35 +0000
          Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2014-06-11 14:56 -0700
            Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2014-06-12 02:24 -0700
              Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2014-06-12 09:09 -0700
                Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2014-06-13 00:40 -0700
                Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2014-06-13 09:17 +0100
  Re: Challenge: tightest code to find-replace a string "Chris M. Thomasson" <no@spam.invalid> - 2014-06-14 13:12 -0700

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