Why can't they design this?

by DavidO

Posted: 16 years ago 6 replies

PROGRAMMING

I know this category is meant for delving into the intricacies of programming but I hope you'll indulge my pet peave. There's no other category that fits this problem...

If computer designers and programmers are so clever why can't they design an escape button that works? It happens nearly every day... some program gets hung up trying to open a web page or carry out some other task and there you sit - stuck!

Escape never works (I think I've seen it work once out of hundreds of attempts). This is not a computer-specific issue. It's been a constant frustration for over ten years and with at least a dozen different platforms.

What is so hard about programming the simple function: whatever you are doing, STOP NOW and revert to a stabile, functioning status?

#design

Mohsin 16 years ago

Welcome to computers? Trust me, it happens to everyone and that's just the way things work in computerverse.
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mywebwork 16 years ago

Your operating system, be it Windows, Linux or OSX, is actually a series of smaller applications that work in harmony to manage all of the resources on your computer. The small applications (mostly DL's in the Windows platform) manage things like your screen, your disk drives and your keyboard. They also allocate memory and other resources to the programs you are running.

If a program misbehaves it can interfere with other programs or with the small applications that make up your operating system. It could either block the application that services your keyboard or use up so much CPU time or memory that the other programs just can't function.

If this is happening to you "nearly every day" then you have another issue, I've had my Linux workstation running constantly since last October without a reboot and I regularly run my Windows 7 machine for several days without encountering any issues. I've been using computers since I hand-wired a Zilog Z80 chip on a piece of perfboard in 1977 and although I've experienced lockups on every OS known (including DOS and CPM) I haven't had them at the frequency you've encountered.

Actually considering the complexity of a modern computer I think they are extremely reliable, and I constantly am amazed at the stability and quality of the applications that fine programmers can produce.

Bill
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- Palusko 16 years ago
  
  Very simplistically:
  Once the portion of a code started to run, it typically goes into a loop and does not react to another input until some output is out. Even though it seems that everything is happening all at once, in reality, it is always just one (tiny) thing at a time. Most of the time esc is simply there for you if you change your mind and want to quit what you have started after an output is out or the loop did not start yet.
  
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  DavidO 16 years ago
  
  Thanks for all your replies. I had imagined some sort of endless loop repeating itself forever in cyberspace.
  
  Still, if anyone can build a computer with an escape button that works 100% they'll get my business!
  
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- FortressDewey 16 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by mywebwork
  
  is actually a series of smaller applications that work in harmony to .......
  
  one hopes it works in harmony!!!
  
  best quote of the day so far
  
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