Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2015 April 10

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April 10

How do different parts of a program talk to each other

Can a program be programmed in different languages? If yes, how do they exchange information? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bickeyboard (talk • contribs) 00:07, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

For methods of communication between different processes, which might be written in different languages but be running as separate processes of a single "program", see Inter-process communication. -- ToE 01:27, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

It is also sometimes possible to write a program which runs as a single process but with some routines written in one language and some in another. One example is Perl and C, where, with the help of some libraries, it is possible to call a C routine from withing a perl program, or to execute perl code within a C program. These libraries help the separate routines access the data they are sharing in a native way. I don't know how common this capability is between languages or what the proper name for this capability is called. -- ToE 01:58, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Yes, I've written programs like that myself (for a past employer) using Perl mixed with C. We used Perl's Inline::C module. The C code, as ToE says, uses a set of library functions designed to manipulate the same data structures that the compiled version of a Perl program uses internally—which means that the programmer needs to be familiar with those data structures as well as the library functions. Another example of a facility for mixing languages in one program is part of IBM's XL Fortran. I'm not familiar with this one myself, but a quick look at that page suggests that the programmer faces similar concerns. --65.95.176.148 (talk) 02:11, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

I've done C to FORTRAN calls and vice versa. Rather messy as I recall. There was passing by address versus pointer versus value, arrays typically starting at 0 in C and 1 in Fortran, strings needing terminators in C, etc. StuRat (talk) 05:00, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

The general term for this is language binding. -- BenRG (talk) 02:34, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

They normally agree on a calling convention. For C programs, this can be C or Pascal, for C++, it can be C, C++, or Pascal. Other languages have their own one. The function's declaration will indicate what calling convention it is using. LongHairedFop (talk) 09:36, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Programs normally don't communicate with the outside world in the same language they are written in. Some languages, however, have such a powerful notation for data that it may serve as a general-purpose data exchange format, which programs written in those languages then tend to use because it's so handy. Asmrulz (talk) 12:17, 11 April 2015 (UTC)

I can has hamburger button?

Hello, WP:RD/C people.
I've started Hamburger button, which appears to be a notable thing. Or should it be re-directed to some other article?
From what I can see, it looks like ubiquitous GUI component, especially for apps and on websites optimized for viewing on smartphones.
And that's the extent of my knowledge about this GUI thingummy-bob. Could you possibly have a little look at the article?
PS: it would be great if someone who can actually drive Inkscape would create a nice little SVG for it.
Your friendly neighborhood IT- and maths-challenged "sysop" aka --Shirt58 (talk) 11:17, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Is this app notable? I don't see it.--Aspro (talk) 18:08, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

I believe that the problem is the name. I've never heard anyone call it a Hamburger button and I work with computer interface designers on a daily basis. I've heard it called a menu button many times. I've heard it called an index button by those more on the database side of things. So, the nickname is not notable. The function may be notable (I don't think so). Overall, it simply falls under common user interface icons. Do we have an article on the magnifying glass icon or the little pointing finger icon? 209.149.113.89 (talk) 18:54, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Then compare the Google images search results for 'menu button' and 'hamburger button'. The latter gives much more results with the icon we discuss here. --CiaPan (talk) 19:14, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Using a hit count from Google has been the cause of many problems on Wikipedia. Check on the history of the "coati" as an example of assuming Google's hit count indicated significance. (And now, because Wikipedians assumed the hit count meant something, they inadvertently made a joke a reality.) 75.139.70.50 (talk) 00:15, 11 April 2015 (UTC)

I agree that using hitcounts often leads to poor results, but I'm not sure the relevance of the coati example. The only thing which seem close to relevant is the fact “Brazilian aardvark” was listed as an alternative name for a while, but I don't see any evidence hitcount was ever a factor in that. Instead it's apparently a combination of uncaught vandalism combined with citogenesis [1] or circular reporting. The only person I can see referring to hitcounts was actually arguing against the inclusion of the term, and even in that case the hitcount was only a minor consideration. Nil Einne (talk) 15:06, 12 April 2015 (UTC)

Learn reading—I am not talking about Google hits COUNT, I'm talking about Google HITS. See them, just first two pages for both queries, then dicuss. As 209.149.113.89 said, (s)he 'never heard anyone call it a Hamburger button', so the Google results show many examples of the term use.
CiaPan (talk) 06:20, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
BTW, in Hamburger vs Menu: The Final AB Test James Foster mentions also other names for the symbol being discussed here: 'This icon [img] has lots of names: hamburger, sandwich, and even hotdog ?! What it actually is, is a list icon. We’ve just co-opted it to mean a navigation menu.' --CiaPan (talk)

All that the google results show is that people who use the term "hamburger button" use it to refer to this type of button, not that the common name for this type of button is "hamburger button". If 1% of the population used the word "flabblepony" to refer to a car, then all the pictures in a google image search for "flabblepony" would be of cars. MChesterMC (talk) 13:34, 13 April 2015 (UTC)

Is it possible to find the individual videos in compilation videos?

Is there some website or program that would search the web/YouTube for any videos that contain part of the video I provide? For example, I put in a compilation video, would it be able to search the web/YouTube for all instances of any of that video being there? Sometimes when I see a compilation video I want to see one of the full length individual video. 2.102.184.246 (talk) 20:36, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Our article reverse image search does not mention videos, but its history includes this strange edit which labeled an unrelated reference as, "Video searching with Frompo", but I don't see such a function on that site. -- ToE 15:29, 11 April 2015 (UTC)

I found [2] an investor site that says it should be at [vechos.com] but that site seems to be down. KonveyorBelt 01:12, 12 April 2015 (UTC)