Difference between revisions of "801: Golden Hammer"
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{{comic | {{comic | ||
| number = 801 | | number = 801 | ||
− | | date = | + | | date = October 4, 2010 |
| title = Golden Hammer | | title = Golden Hammer | ||
| image = golden_hammer.png | | image = golden_hammer.png | ||
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
:[A man with a black hat is going through a door, a bottle in his hand. A voice speaks to him from off panel.] | :[A man with a black hat is going through a door, a bottle in his hand. A voice speaks to him from off panel.] | ||
− | :Person: Seriously? This thing runs <i>Java? </i>It | + | :Person: Seriously? This thing runs <i>Java? </i>It's single-purpose hardware! |
:: | :: | ||
:[The person is sitting at a computer, holding some device which is wired to a box, and pointing at the screen.] | :[The person is sitting at a computer, holding some device which is wired to a box, and pointing at the screen.] | ||
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:: | :: | ||
:[The man with a black hat has a pair of bolt cutters in the hand that had been obscured in the first panel.] | :[The man with a black hat has a pair of bolt cutters in the hand that had been obscured in the first panel.] | ||
− | :Black hat guy: Well, you know what they say -- when all you have is a pair of bolt cutters and a bottle of vodka, everything looks like the lock on the door of Wolf Blitzer | + | :Black hat guy: Well, you know what they say -- when all you have is a pair of bolt cutters and a bottle of vodka, everything looks like the lock on the door of Wolf Blitzer's boathouse. |
− | :Person: I | + | :Person: I'm glad <i>you </i>had a nice night. |
<!-- The transcript can be found in a hidden <div> element on the xkcd comic's html source, with id "transcript". | <!-- The transcript can be found in a hidden <div> element on the xkcd comic's html source, with id "transcript". |
Revision as of 19:39, 12 December 2012
Golden Hammer |
Title text: Took me five tries to find the right one, but I managed to salvage our night out--if not the boat--in the end. |
Explanation
I believe the actual saying is: "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail."
Transcript
- [A man with a black hat is going through a door, a bottle in his hand. A voice speaks to him from off panel.]
- Person: Seriously? This thing runs Java? It's single-purpose hardware!
- [The person is sitting at a computer, holding some device which is wired to a box, and pointing at the screen.]
- Person: I bet they actually hired someone to spend six months porting this JVM so they could write their 20 lines of code in a familiar setting.
- [The man with a black hat has a pair of bolt cutters in the hand that had been obscured in the first panel.]
- Black hat guy: Well, you know what they say -- when all you have is a pair of bolt cutters and a bottle of vodka, everything looks like the lock on the door of Wolf Blitzer's boathouse.
- Person: I'm glad you had a nice night.
Discussion
What is the title referencing? 108.162.216.45 05:25, 12 December 2013 (UTC)
Isn't that one of the original intents of Java, that is embedded systems? Presumably Java does run in several PLC type devices, but I have no first had account on this; Java certainly is not popular or common there. I checked the Wikipedia page and smart TV's were mentioned, this for 1991. 108.162.230.131 21:49, 12 December 2014 (UTC)
- Not all embedded systems are single-purpose hardware. Smart TVs use Java, so other developers can also easily create additional applications for them. Condor70 (talk) 12:40, 15 July 2015 (UTC)
Does anybody know why Randall choose Wolf Blitzer for this comic? Does he have some relation to boats? Condor70 (talk) 12:40, 15 July 2015 (UTC)
- Presumably Randall knows, though it could be something as simple as "He's wealthy enough to have a boat and most people would know who he is". -Pennpenn 108.162.250.162 06:39, 30 September 2015 (UTC)
Nobody outside America has heard of Wolf Blitzer. Just sayin'. Brenda (talk) 00:39, 29 June 2018 (UTC)
Golden hammer is also usual anti-pattern in software design. Means overkill. https://sourcemaking.com/antipatterns/golden-hammer
- A good, brief explanation of golden hammer is found here:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument#Computer_programming
- 173.245.54.49 02:28, 18 August 2020 (UTC)
I dont know who this Wolf Blitzer dude is so I will leave some links. Wikieditor431 (talk) 17:04, 12 February 2021 (UTC)Wikieditor431