Talk:Bootstrapping
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Bootstrapping is commonly used to describe a programming language compiler which is "written in itself". For example, writing a C++ compiler in C++. This can be done in several ways:
1) Initially using an existing compiler for that language possibly from a 3rd party vendor. 2) Initially coding the new compiler in a different language altogether to get a working compiler then rewrite the compiler in the new language. 3) Write the compiler in the target language and "hand-compile" the code using a hexadecimal or octal editor.
I've heard this term used to describe the PC boot process quite often and wonder if this is in error. I'm really not sure. Possibly two definitions? -Robert Lee
- Bootstrapping a compiler and bootstrapping a PC are two different things. By the way, can anyone remember the PDP-8 paper tape bootstrap sequence? I used to know it off by heart, and toggle it in twice daily... The Anome
I moved "Bootstrap" to "Bootstrapping". "To bootstrap" is a verb, whereas articles should be titled according to nouns (here, "bootstrapping".) Aside from that principled reason, "bootstrap" also "just sounded weird" as a title. --Ryguasu 21:33 Apr 4, 2003 (UTC)
- A good move, Ryguasu. It's always called "bootstrapping", and the "most common form" rule applies. Tannin
- Bootstrap is a verb??? Weird! No, it's not always called "bootstrapping"; the word "bootstrap" is used as a noun, and obviously was originally a noun. Michael Hardy 00:24 Apr 28, 2003 (UTC)
Little problem with the redirect of 'bootstrap' to 'bootstrapping': there's a theory in physics by Geoffrey Chew called "Bootstrap (Theory, Approach, Philosophy, etc)". It's an outdated term to my knowledge, but it deserves an entry. Naysayer 06:31 June 5, 2005 (UTC)
Why does it make sense to link to Baron Münchhausen from this article? The former does not discuss anything obviously related to "pulling oneself up by the bootstraps". --Ryguasu 15:42 Apr 27, 2003 (UTC)
- I changed some in both articles. - Patrick 00:20 Apr 28, 2003 (UTC)
- Baron Münchhausen did, according to stories, pull himself out of a swamp, but by his own hairs, not by his bootstraps. There's even a German saying that goes "to pull oneself out by one's own hairs" when somebody somehow manages to get out of an apparently hopeless situaton. So, it should be "hairpulling" if the etymology is correct.--84.135.220.161 10:58, 30 Aug 2004 (UTC) (Anno)
I briefly discussed the origin of the term bootstrapping with Doug Engelbart, and he seemed to think it originated with stories of Paul Bunyan, who could lift "himself by his bootstraps to peer over the forest" [1] (http://www.blueoxen.org/boa/name.html). MichaelMcGuffin 19:09, 27 Aug 2004 (UTC)