ICPUG wrote:
...
To reduce the size by 2/3rds maybe just due to bloat but I find it hard
not to believe that some functionality has been removed as
well - losing some of the inbuilt functions for example.
That is just ICPUG's "belief", and nothing more. Most custom software
packages are unique. Therefore, such packages' optimization steps
might reduce any package size by ANY amount -- including up
to 99.9999% reduction. Same exact functionality is retained:
- A sloppy algorithm may be rewritten to be 10 lines of code
instead of a 1000 lines.
- Compiler switches may be modified to target specific hardware.
- Compiler switches are modified to increase optimization levels, at the
expense of running the compilation hours instead of minutes.
- Removal of debugging variables reduces packages considerably.
- Removing built-in instrumentation code reduces package size.
- Running specialized tools, aimed at abfuscation and encoding may
reduce the package size considerably.
- Substituting High-Level Language code with Low-Level Language
code (inline) may reduce a package's size, and of course the code
will run much faster (for example, Pascal -> assembler code).
- Removing large routines from the package, and loading them
dynamically (runtime) can reduce a package size by up to 99%,
if so desired.
- MANY others...
Your past posts (re dropping gnumeric to make the iso smaller) suggest
you are not a user of spreadsheets and therefore your small version
has probably not been tested very well.
This is a cheap shot, and a low blow to boot. It's uncalled for and certainly
unprofessional. It does not progress any process and only hurts the poster
and the overall forum's professionalism.
If DaveS or some other major spreadsheet user can run a solid test...
Posters are always capable of contacting DaveS themselves. Why didn't
this poster do so directly? Instead, the poster unleashed his private
thoughts on this public forum. Basically, unprofessional behavior.
There are certain Netiquette guidelines that assist net users to
navigate correctly in respectable/professional social environments.
Those who have not run across this concept may start here (it's a good
starting point):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netiquette
The more ambitious, of us, can go here (make sure it's one long URL):
http://www.google.com/search?q=netiquet ... mages&tbs=
Good luck, and may the "code" be with you,
ir