Tweet-sized code #1

Author: Sudarshan Murthy


NODE* c=first;while(c?strcmp(c->val,s):0)c=c->next;return c;

1. What does this C fragment do?

2. Ignoring the lengths of variable names and type names, can this segment be any shorter? How, or, why not?

3. As shown, the fragment has a variable declaration, a loop with one statement in its body, and a return statement outside the loop. Is it possible to rewrite the segment to contain just a loop? It is OK if the variable declaration and the return statement are made part of the loop, but the loop body should be empty. It is also OK if the code gets slightly (but not significantly) longer. If it can be done, how? If it cannot be done, why not?

My take in another week or so. I rate these questions Easy.

Bring Tellico to this decade

Author: Sudarshan Murthy


I recently learned about Tellico, an application to catalog pretty much any collection. It includes templates to record details of books, audios, videos, stamps, coins, and other common kinds of collections and it can connect to many popular data sources such as Amazon, IMDB, and PubMed. Tellico is released under GPL.

To me, the best part of Tellico is its committed author, Robby Stephenson: He has actively maintained Tellico since its inception in 2002. And, he even lists alternatives to Tellico right on the Tellico page. Kudos Robby.

I can't comment on Tellico's usability (because I haven't used it enough), but judging by the screenshots, I see it can be quite useful in managing household collections. For example, my wife should be able to use Tellico instead of the MS Excel workbook she currently uses to catalog and track our household items. (Before you ask, my designated role at home is to move items around such that the catalog becomes unreliable.)

But, Tellico's age shows, and here is how.