the
computer doctor
617-267-6961
Boston, MA
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617-267-6961 Boston, MA
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THE SOFTWARE CONUNDRUM Unfortunately, the software industry does not reward its programmers for beautiful code anymore. The days of clean, wonderfully written programs that run like the wind and only need 256K of RAM are long since past. What has taken place in the fast paced and completely unregulated world of software development is, in my opinion, a travesty. But it’s something that we need to acknowledge and live with. The software world is made up of thousands of sub-programs that perform certain tasks. Since it’s not cost-effective to reinvent the wheel, the programmers use these pre-written programs and stick them together to achieve what they are trying to do. The result, unfortunately, is more often than not, a really bulky program that may have a bunch of extra code that it really doesn’t need, but it was rushed to market and everyone did what they could. You may have noticed that your computer always needs more RAM and more hard disk space and a better video card with each software upgrade. As with hardware, the major software developers are your best bet. They are programming for the current "industry standards" as far as WEB browsers, video and operating systems. All software has a few glitches, but some of the lesser-known companies may release products that cause problems because they have only been tested in limited environments and platforms. People want to believe that if they are purchasing a nicely packaged CD in a reputable store, it must be a good product. The reality is, when something goes wrong, it is often a result of poorly written software, but it may appear to the average person to be some kind of hardware failure. There are times when even un-installing a program will not erase the problematic results of the installation. Unfortunately, when this occurs, you must be prepared to re-configure your computer back to its original settings in order to determine if the problem is software or hardware related. |