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• Formal Languages, Inductive Proofs &amp; Regular Expressions

  - by MarkPearl

  So I am slogging away at my UNISA stuff. I have just finished doing the initial once non stop read through the first 11 chapters of my COS 201 Textbook - “Introduction to Computer Theory 2nd Edition” by Daniel Cohen. It has been an interesting couple of days, with familiar concepts coming up as well as some new territory. In this posting I am going to cover the first couple of chapters of the book. Let start with Formal Languages… What exactly is a formal language? Pretty much a no duh question for me but still a good one to ask – a formal language is a language that is defined in a precise mathematical way. Does that mean that the English language is a formal language? I would say no – and my main motivation for this is that one can have an English sentence that is correct grammatically that is also ambiguous. For example the ambiguous sentence: "I once shot an elephant in my pyjamas.” For this and possibly many other reasons that I am unaware of, English is termed a “Natural Language”. So why the importance of formal languages in computer science? Again a no duh question in my mind… If we want computers to be effective and useful tools then we need them to be able to evaluate a series of commands in some form of language that when interpreted by the device no confusion will exist as to what we were requesting. Imagine the mayhem that would exist if a computer misinterpreted a command to print a document and instead decided to delete it. So what is a Formal Language made up of… For my study purposes a language is made up of a finite alphabet. For a formal language to exist there needs to be a specification on the language that will describe whether a string of characters has membership in the language or not. There are two basic ways to do this: By a “machine” that will recognize strings of the language (e.g. Finite Automata). By a rule that describes how strings of a language can be formed (e.g. Regular Expressions). When we use the phrase “string of characters”, we can also be referring to a “word”. What is an Inductive Proof? So I am not to far into my textbook and of course it starts referring to proofs and different types. I have had to go through several different approaches of proofs in the past, but I can never remember their formal names , so when I saw “inductive proof” I thought to myself – what the heck is that? Google to the rescue… An inductive proof is like a normal proof but it employs a neat trick which allows you to prove a statement about an arbitrary number n by first proving it is true when n is 1 and then assuming it is true for n=k and showing it is true for n=k+1. The idea is that if you want to show that someone can climb to the nth floor of a fire escape, you need only show that you can climb the ladder up to the fire escape (n=1) and then show that you know how to climb the stairs from any level of the fire escape (n=k) to the next level (n=k+1). Does this sound like a form of recursion? No surprise then that in the same chapter they deal with recursive definitions. An example of a recursive definition for the language EVEN would the 3 rules below: 2 is in EVEN If x is in EVEN then so is x+2 The only elements in the set EVEN are those that be produced by the rules above. Nothing to exciting… So if a definition for a language is done recursively, then it makes sense that the language can be proved using induction. Regular Expressions So I am wondering to myself what use is this all – in fact – I find this the biggest challenge to any university material is that it is quite hard to find the immediate practical applications of some theory in real life stuff. How great was my joy when I suddenly saw the word regular expression being introduced. I had been introduced to regular expressions on Stack Overflow where I was trying to recognize if some text measurement put in by a user was in a valid form or not. For instance, the imperial system of measurement where you have feet and inches can be represented in so many different ways. I had eventually turned to regular expressions as an easy way to check if my parser could correctly parse the text or not and convert it to a normalize measurement. So some rules about languages and regular expressions… Any finite language can be represented by at least one if not more regular expressions A regular expressions is almost a rule syntax for expressing how regular languages can be formed regular expressions are cool For a regular expression to be valid for a language it must be able to generate all the words in the language and no other words. This is important. It doesn’t help me if my regular expression parses 100% of my measurement texts but also lets one or two invalid texts to pass as well. Okay, so this posting jumps around a bit – but introduces some very basic fundamentals for the subject which will be built on in later postings… Time to go and do some practical examples now…

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• How to train yourself to avoid writing “clever” code?

  - by Dan Abramov

  Do you know that feeling when you just need to show off that new trick with Expressions or generalize three different procedures? This does not have to be on Architecture Astronaut scale and in fact may be helpful but I can't help but notice someone else would implement the same class or package in a more clear, straightforward (and sometimes boring) manner. I noticed I often design programs by oversolving the problem, sometimes deliberately and sometimes out of boredom. In either case, I usually honestly believe my solution is crystal clear and elegant, until I see evidence to the contrary but it's usually too late. There is also a part of me that prefers undocumented assumptions to code duplication, and cleverness to simplicity. What can I do to resist the urge to write “cleverish” code and when should the bell ring that I am Doing It Wrong? The problem is getting even more pushing as I'm now working with a team of experienced developers, and sometimes my attempts at writing smart code seem foolish even to myself after time dispels the illusion of elegance.

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• Defining Discovery: Core Concepts

  - by Joe Lamantia

  Discovery tools have had a referencable working definition since at least 2001, when Ben Shneiderman published 'Inventing Discovery Tools: Combining Information Visualization with Data Mining'.  Dr. Shneiderman suggested the combination of the two distinct fields of data mining and information visualization could manifest as new category of tools for discovery, an understanding that remains essentially unaltered over ten years later.  An industry analyst report titled Visual Discovery Tools: Market Segmentation and Product Positioning from March of this year, for example, reads, "Visual discovery tools are designed for visual data exploration, analysis and lightweight data mining." Tools should follow from the activities people undertake (a foundational tenet of activity centered design), however, and Dr. Shneiderman does not in fact describe or define discovery activity or capability. As I read it, discovery is assumed to be the implied sum of the separate fields of visualization and data mining as they were then understood.  As a working definition that catalyzes a field of product prototyping, it's adequate in the short term.  In the long term, it makes the boundaries of discovery both derived and temporary, and leaves a substantial gap in the landscape of core concepts around discovery, making consensus on the nature of most aspects of discovery difficult or impossible to reach.  I think this definitional gap is a major reason that discovery is still an ambiguous product landscape. To help close that gap, I'm suggesting a few definitions of four core aspects of discovery.  These come out of our sustained research into discovery needs and practices, and have the goal of clarifying the relationship between discvoery and other analytical categories.  They are suggested, but should be internally coherent and consistent.   Discovery activity is: "Purposeful sense making activity that intends to arrive at new insights and understanding through exploration and analysis (and for these we have specific defintions as well) of all types and sources of data." Discovery capability is: "The ability of people and organizations to purposefully realize valuable insights that address the full spectrum of business questions and problems by engaging effectively with all types and sources of data." Discovery tools: "Enhance individual and organizational ability to realize novel insights by augmenting and accelerating human sense making to allow engagement with all types of data at all useful scales." Discovery environments: "Enable organizations to undertake effective discovery efforts for all business purposes and perspectives, in an empirical and cooperative fashion." Note: applicability to a world of Big data is assumed - thus the refs to all scales / types / sources - rather than stated explicitly.  I like that Big Data doesn't have to be written into this core set of definitions, b/c I think it's a transitional label - the new version of Web 2.0 - and goes away over time. References and Resources: Inventing Discovery Tools Visual Discovery Tools: Market Segmentation and Product Positioning Logic versus usage: the case for activity-centered design A Taxonomy of Enterprise Search and Discovery

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• What "bad practice" do you do, and why?

  - by coppro

  Well, "good practice" and "bad practice" are tossed around a lot these days - "Disable assertions in release builds", "Don't disable assertions in release builds", "Don't use goto.", we've got all sorts of guidelines above and beyond simply making your program work. So I ask of you, what coding practices do you violate all the time, and more importantly, why? Do you disagree with the establishment? Do you just not care? Why should everyone else do the same? cross links: What's your favorite abandoned rule? Rule you know you should follow but don't

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• Data validation best practices: how can I better construct user feedback?

  - by Cory Larson

  Data validation, whether it be domain object, form, or any other type of input validation, could theoretically be part of any development effort, no matter its size or complexity. I sometimes find myself writing informational or error messages that might seem harsh or demanding to unsuspecting users, and frankly I feel like there must be a better way to describe the validation problem to the user. I know that this topic is subjective and argumentative. I've migrated this question from StackOverflow where I originally asked it with little response. Basically, I'm looking for good resources on data validation and user feedback that results from it at a theoretical level. Topics and questions I'm interested in are: Content Should I be describing what the user did correctly or incorrectly, or simply what was expected? How much detail can the user read before they get annoyed? (e.g. Is "Username cannot exceed 20 characters." enough, or should it be described more fully, such as "The username cannot be empty, and must be at least 6 characters but cannot exceed 30 characters."?) Grammar How do I decide between phrases like "must not," "may not," or "cannot"? Delivery This can depend on the project, but how should the information be delivered to the user? Should it be obtrusive (e.g. JavaScript alerts) or friendly? Should they be displayed prominently? Immediately (i.e. without confirmation steps, etc.)? Logging Do you bother logging validation errors? Internationalization Some cultures prefer or better understand directness over subtlety and vice-versa (e.g. "Don't do that!" vs. "Please check what you've done."). How do I cater to the majority of users? I may edit this list as I think more about the topic, but I'm genuinely interested in proper user feedback techniques. I'm looking for things like research results, poll results, etc. I've developed and refined my own techniques over the years that users seem to be okay with, but I work in an environment where the users prefer to adapt to what you give them over speaking up about things they don't like. I'm interested in hearing your experiences in addition to any resources to which you may be able to point me.

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• Which software development methodologies can be seen as foundations

  - by Bas

  I'm writing a small research paper which involves software development methodologiess. I was looking into all the available methodology's and I was wondering, from all methodologies, are there any that have provided the foundations for the others? For an example, looking at the following methodologies: Agile, Prototyping, Cleanroom, Iterative, RAD, RUP, Spiral, Waterfall, XP, Lean, Scrum, V-Model, TDD. Can we say that: Prototyping, Iterative, Spiral and Waterfall are the "foundation" for the others? Or is there no such thing as "foundations" and does each methodology has it's own unique history? I would ofcourse like to describe all the methodology's in my research paper, but I simply don't have the time to do so and that is why I would like to know which methodologies can be seen as representatives.

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• Where can I find video resources of people programming?

  - by Corey

  This might be a strange question. I'm looking for videos of people actively coding something while explaining it. However, I don't want is a beginner video that delves into what variables and objects are. Nick Gravelyn's tile engine tutorial is a great example of what I'm looking for. (He actually used to host the full, unbroken video files in his site's archive, but I guess he took them down...) I tend to learn best by "action" examples; it's difficult for me to learn by reading through documentation and text tutorials, but if I see somebody actively doing a task, I can immediately register it and apply it myself. I'm hard-of-hearing, so I would really prefer that if the video has a lot of talking, it have captioning or subtitling of some sort, or at the very least, a transcript. The tile engine videos did not have captions, but the code he was writing was very self-documenting, so I understood it for the most part. I've gone through most of the relevant GoogleDevelopers and GoogleTechTalks videos on Youtube, so those need not apply. Are there any resources out there, or even websites dedicated to this kind of thing?

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• What does "enterprise" means in relation to software architecture?

  - by SkonJeet

  I see the term "enterprise" being thrown around software developers and programmers a lot and used loosely it seems. en·ter·prise/'ent?r?priz/ Noun: A project or undertaking, typically one that is difficult or requires effort. Initiative and resourcefulness. Can someone please clarify what this term actually encompasses? "At an enterprise level", "enterprise scale"? There are even "enterprise editions" of things. What exactly does it mean? It obviously doesn't make sense judging by the above definition so more specifically to software what does one mean when using the word enterprise? EDIT: To add a spin on this - how does this term then fit into phrases such as Enterprise Framework Model? What does data access and data context have to do with company-wide descriptions?

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• Alternative to Game State System?

  - by Ricket

  As far as I can tell, most games have some sort of "game state system" which switches between the different game states; these might be things like "Intro", "MainMenu", "CharacterSelect", "Loading", and "Game". On the one hand, it totally makes sense to separate these into a state system. After all, they are disparate and would otherwise need to be in a large switch statement, which is obviously messy; and they certainly are well represented by a state system. But at the same time, I look at the "Game" state and wonder if there's something wrong about this state system approach. Because it's like the elephant in the room; it's HUGE and obvious but nobody questions the game state system approach. It seems silly to me that "Game" is put on the same level as "Main Menu". Yet there isn't a way to break up the "Game" state. Is a game state system the best way to go? Is there some different, better technique to managing, well, the "game state"? Is it okay to have an intro state which draws a movie and listens for enter, and then a loading state which loops on the resource manager, and then the game state which does practically everything? Doesn't this seem sort of unbalanced to you, too? Am I missing something?

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• what are the benefits of closure, primarily for PHP?

  - by Patrick

  I am beginning the process of moving code over to PHP 5.3 and one of the most highly touted features of PHP 5.3 is the ability to use closures. My understanding of closures is that they allow anonymous functions, can be assigned to variable names, and have interesting scoping abilities. From my point of view the only seeming benefits in real world applications is the reduction of clutter in the namespace because closures are anonymous. Am I wrong in this? Should I be trying to put closures wherever I code? EDIT: I have already read this post on Javascript closures.

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• Is there any functional difference between immutable value types and immutable reference types?

  - by Kendall Frey

  Value types are types which do not have an identity. When one variable is modified, other instances are not. Using Javascript syntax as an example, here is how a value type works. var foo = { a: 42 }; var bar = foo; bar.a = 0; // foo.a is still 42 Reference types are types which do have an identity. When one variable is modified, other instances are as well. Here is how a reference type works. var foo = { a: 42 }; var bar = foo; bar.a = 0; // foo.a is now 0 Note how the example uses mutatable objects to show the difference. If the objects were immutable, you couldn't do that, so that kind of testing for value/reference types doesn't work. Is there any functional difference between immutable value types and immutable reference types? Is there any algorithm that can tell the difference between a reference type and a value type if they are immutable? Reflection is cheating. I'm wondering this mostly out of curiosity.

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• Why do you use not free software and what not free software do you use?

  - by 0101

  I prefer to use free software, because I believe its more universal(I can use it anywhere, I can tell people about it and they will have no problem with using it) - i like to say "learn once, use anywhere". I was wondering why people use not free software when free alternatives exists?(for example JIRA, Clover for code coverage, not free marge tools, etc.). P.S. I only use TotalCmd that is not free, but I was not able to find any good alternative(I even wrote one myself, but It was not as great). P.S. I dont want to start any flamewar, Im just curious what is your take on it.

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• Why keyboard layout is acting weird?

  - by uzumaki

  I'm using Ubuntu 12.04. I use English (USA) and Bangla (probhat) layout. Everything regarding keyboard layout was perfect since I've installed Ubuntu about 5 months ago. Suddenly, I can't write bangla anywhere (naming folder etc.) without LibreOffice. when I'm trying to write bangla anywhere only a "square" symbol comes out for each character. Interestingly, when i'm trying to view the keyboard layout, "square" symbol is there instead of each character. Very surprising. Just take a look at the screen shot of the keyboard layout. Really very unusual issue to me.

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• Game Components, Game Managers and Object Properties

  - by George Duckett

  I'm trying to get my head around component based entity design. My first step was to create various components that could be added to an object. For every component type i had a manager, which would call every component's update function, passing in things like keyboard state etc. as required. The next thing i did was remove the object, and just have each component with an Id. So an object is defined by components having the same Ids. Now, i'm thinking that i don't need a manager for all my components, for example i have a SizeComponent, which just has a Size property). As a result the SizeComponent doesn't have an update method, and the manager's update method does nothing. My first thought was to have an ObjectProperty class which components could query, instead of having them as properties of components. So an object would have a number of ObjectProperty and ObjectComponent. Components would have update logic that queries the object for properties. The manager would manage calling the component's update method. This seems like over-engineering to me, but i don't think i can get rid of the components, because i need a way for the managers to know what objects need what component logic to run (otherwise i'd just remove the component completely and push its update logic into the manager). Is this (having ObjectProperty, ObjectComponent and ComponentManager classes) over-engineering? What would be a good alternative?

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• Practical Meta Programming System (MPS)

  - by INTPnerd

  This is in regards to Meta Programming System or MPS by JetBrains. Thus far, from my efforts to learn how to use MPS, I have only learned its basic purpose and that it is very complex. Is MPS worth learning? Is there anyone who already effectively uses MPS to create their own languages and editors for those languages and uses these created editors as their primary way of programming? If so, what types of programs have they made with this? What are the advantages and disadvantages of working with MPS? What is the best way to learn MPS?

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• What change in mindset are needed for a Jave/C# programmer when learning Swift?

  - by Ian

  Swift seem to fit into the same “space” as Java/C# as it was created to make it easier to create end user applications. It is also used to target smart phones like Java/C#. However reading it’s documentation it seems to come from anther universe, you could say it is from Jupiter while C#/Java is from Saturn. As a C# programmer I am finding myself making assumptions that are not true, so what are the conceptual “traps” that I should look out for while leaning about Swift?

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• Methods of learning / teaching programming

  - by Mark Avenius

  When I was in school, I had a difficult time getting into programming because of a catch-22 in the learning process: I didn't know how to write anything because I didn't know what keywords and commands meant. For example (as a student, I would think), "what does this using namespace std; thing do anyway? I didn't know what keywords and commands meant because I hadn't written anything. This basically led me to spending countless long night cursing the compiler as I made minor tweaks to my assignments until they would compile (and hopefully perform whatever operation they were supposed to). Is there a teaching/learning method that anyone uses that gets around this catch-22? I am trying to make this non-argumentative, which is why I don't want to know the 'best' method, but rather which methods exist.

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• Data validation best practices: how can I better construct user feedback?

  - by Cory Larson

  Data validation, whether it be domain object, form, or any other type of input validation, could theoretically be part of any development effort, no matter its size or complexity. I sometimes find myself writing informational or error messages that might seem harsh or demanding to unsuspecting users, and frankly I feel like there must be a better way to describe the validation problem to the user. I know that this topic is subjective and argumentative. StackOverflow might not be the proper channel for diving into this subject, but like I've mentioned, we all run into this at some point or another. There are so many StackExchange sites now; if there is a better one, feel free to share! Basically, I'm looking for good resources on data validation and user feedback that results from it at a theoretical level. Topics and questions I'm interested in are: Content Should I be describing what the user did correctly or incorrectly, or simply what was expected? How much detail can the user read before they get annoyed? (e.g. Is "Username cannot exceed 20 characters." enough, or should it be described more fully, such as "The username cannot be empty, and must be at least 6 characters but cannot exceed 30 characters."?) Grammar How do I decide between phrases like "must not," "may not," or "cannot"? Delivery This can depend on the project, but how should the information be delivered to the user? Should it be obtrusive (e.g. JavaScript alerts) or friendly? Should they be displayed prominently? Immediately (i.e. without confirmation steps, etc.)? Logging Do you bother logging validation errors? Internationalization Some cultures prefer or better understand directness over subtlety and vice-versa (e.g. "Don't do that!" vs. "Please check what you've done."). How do I cater to the majority of users? I may edit this list as I think more about the topic, but I'm genuinely interest in proper user feedback techniques. I'm looking for things like research results, poll results, etc. I've developed and refined my own techniques over the years that users seem to be okay with, but I work in an environment where the users prefer to adapt to what you give them over speaking up about things they don't like. I'm interested in hearing your experiences in addition to any resources to which you may be able to point me.

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• In retrospect, has it been a good idea to use three-valued logic for SQL NULL comparisons?

  - by Heinzi

  In SQL, NULL means "unknown value". Thus, every comparison with NULL yields NULL (unknown) rather than TRUE or FALSE. From a conceptional point of view, this three-valued logic makes sense. From a practical point of view, every learner of SQL has, one time or another, made the classic WHERE myField = NULL mistake or learned the hard way that NOT IN does not do what one would expect when NULL values are present. It is my impression (please correct me if I am wrong) that the cases where this three-valued logic helps (e.g. WHERE myField IS NOT NULL AND myField <> 2 can be shortened to WHERE myField <> 2) are rare and, in those cases, people tend to use the longer version anyway for clarity, just like you would add a comment when using a clever, non-obvious hack. Is there some obvious advantage that I am missing? Or is there a general consensus among the development community that this has been a mistake?

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• Why binding is not a native feature in most of the languages?

  - by Gulshan

  IMHO binding a variable to another variable or an expression is a very common scenario in mathematics. In fact, in the beginning, many students think the assignment operator(=) is some kind of binding. But in most of the languages, binding is not supported as a native feature. In some languages like C#, binding is supported in some cases with some conditions fulfilled. But IMHO implementing this as a native feature was as simple as changing the following code- int a,b,sum; sum := a + b; a = 10; b = 20; a++; to this- int a,b,sum; a = 10; sum = a + b; b = 20; sum = a + b; a++; sum = a + b; Meaning placing the binding instruction as assignments after every instruction changing values of any of the variable contained in the expression at right side. After this, trimming redundant instructions (or optimization in assembly after compilation) will do. So, why it is not supported natively in most of the languages. Specially in the C-family of languages? Update: From different opinions, I think I should define this proposed "binding" more precisely- This is one way binding. Only sum is bound to a+b, not the vice versa. The scope of the binding is local. Once the binding is established, it cannot be changed. Meaning, once sum is bound to a+b, sum will always be a+b. Hope the idea is clearer now. Update 2: I just wanted this P# feature. Hope it will be there in future.

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• How to use html and JavaScript in Content Editor web part in SharePoint2010

  - by ybbest

  Here are the steps you need to take to use html and JavaScript in content editor web part. 1. Edit a site page and add a content editor web part on the page. 2. After the content editor is added to the page, it will display on the page like shown below 3. Next, upload your html and JavaScript content as a text file to a document library inside your SharePoint site. Here is the content in the document <script type="text/javascript"> alert("Hello World"); </script> 4. Edit the content editor web part and reference the file you just uploaded. 5. Save the page and you will see the hello world prompt. References: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5020573/sharepoint-2010-content-editor-web-part-duplicating-entries http://sharepointadam.com/2010/08/31/insert-javascript-into-a-content-editor-web-part-cewp/

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• What you don't like in your web-framework of "choice"?

  - by 0101

  Most of the time we don't have a choice were it comes to web-frameworks, in Java every company is using a different one(big thanks to web-framework developers - you will burn in hell). However now I have a choice of picking which framework we will use, I will probably pick the one I know the best since I know how to by-pass its downfalls. In every comparation we will only see what is good in that frameworks and any downfalls will be swept under the carpet. What are the downfalls of most known frameworks?

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• Agile PLM 9.3 Service Pack 2 (SP2 or 9.3.0.2) is released along with AUT 1.6.2.0 and AutoVue 20 for

  - by Shane Goodwin

  Oracle released Agile PLM 9.3 SP2 on June 14 and the Agile installer for AutoVue 20 for Agile PLM on April 30. Also available are the new versions of AUT and Averify - 1.6.3 for both tools. 9.3 SP2 is a combined English and NLS release for use on any version of 9.3.0. SP2 contains many bug fixes and rolls up several Hot Fixes - please review the Readme for all the details. In addition, this release also addresses some scalability issues when working with very large Exports and Reports. When exporting very large BOMs, the export module will now release objects more efficiently to reduce the amount of memory consumed on the Application Server. Adminstrators can also control the maximum row limits for Users verses system processes, like ACS. Several out of the box BOM reports have also been changed to use a new row limit option. The combination of all these changes will provide more stability on the application server for customers managing very large datasets. 9.3 SP2 also adds support for Oracle Database 11gR2 for Windows, Oracle Internet Directory (OID) and Oracle Access Manager (OAM). Please note that currently the Variant Patch is not intended to be released for SP2. Customers running the Variant Patch should remain on 9.3.0.0 or 9.3.0.1. Back in April, we also released the AutoVue 20 for Agile PLM installer. AutoVue 20 has many new features which will help Agile PLM customers. Large multi-page Word documents and 2D CAD documents will open more quickly to the first page or first rendition. Memory usage is less when working with 3D Models. There are many new formats supported for MCAD, 2D Cad, and EDA. AutoVue 20 is immediately available for Windows and Linux platforms. The new software can be found in Edelivery or Metalink / Oracle Support: - AutoVue 20 for Agile PLM is on E-Delivery with part number B58963-01 - Oracle Agile PLM 9.3 Service Pack 2 (9.3.0.2) My Oracle Support Patch ID 9782736 - AVERIFY 1.6.3 My Oracle Support Patch ID 9791892 - AUT 1.6.3 My Oracle Support Patch ID 9791908 - Agile PLM 9.3 SP2 Documentation is available on the OTN Agile Documentation Page

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• Why is it impossible to produce truly random numbers?

  - by Vinoth Kumar

  I was trying to solve a hobby problem that required generating a million random numbers. But I quickly realized, it is becoming difficult to make them unique. I picked up Algorithm Design Manual to read about random number generation. It has the following paragraph that I am fully not able to understand. Unfortunately, generating random numbers looks a lot easier than it really is. Indeed, it is fundamentally impossible to produce truly random numbers on any deterministic device. Von Neumann [Neu63] said it best: “Anyone who considers arithmetical methods of producing random digits is, of course, in a state of sin.” The best we can hope for are pseudo-random numbers, a stream of numbers that appear as if they were generated randomly. Why is it impossible to produce truly random numbers in any deterministic device? What does this sentence mean?

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• The term 'enterprise'

  - by SkonJeet

  I see the term 'enterprise' being thrown around software developers and programmers a lot and used loosely it seems. en·ter·prise/'ent?r?priz/ Noun: A project or undertaking, typically one that is difficult or requires effort. Initiative and resourcefulness. Can someone please clarify what this term actually encompasses? "At an enterprise level", "enterprise scale". There are even "enterprise editions" of things. What exactly does it mean? It obviously doesn't make sense judging by the above definition so more specifically to software what does one mean when using the word enterprise??? EDIT: To add a spin on this - how does this term then fit into phrases such as Enterprise Framework Model? What does data access and data context have to do with company-wide descriptions?

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