FAQ

How's your name pronounced?

Taa-hir Haash-me. A queer thing - a lot of people get my name completely wrong the first time, unless I spell it out. I didn't know it was that complicated.

What's the meaning of your name?

It is an Arabic word that literally means “Clean” or “Cleansed”, and usually used to mean “Pious”. Tahir was the nickname of one of the two sons of Muhammad Al Mustafa (SAW), the last messenger of God. Both the sons died in their infancy.

Where did you get that logo from?

That logo is my original design. It evolved from a diagram in one of my high school geometry problems. Take a look for yourself. Slowly it evolved to a vertically narrower version and lost all curved lines.

What does the logo depict?

To me it looks like a flying creature, but you are free to interpret it as you wish. In case you have an interesting interpretation, do mail it to me. Scroll to the end of this page for my email address.

Can I use your logo?

I would request you not to use it, except to link something to me or my website. If you really want to use it, please do email me before you do. Thanks in advance for being considerate.

What's the meaning of CodeMartial? (or why this site's called tahir.ws?)

None. No, seriously! It's just that it sounds cool to me. Many of my friends think it's cool too. The dictionary meanings suggest something that has to do with code and war, but I don't care. I first went for hTahir.org but it didn't have an appeal unless someone knew my name. Besides, I had been using code_martial as my alias on a lot of forums since a long time.

So you're a Computer Engineer?

No. I'm a Chemical Engineer (aka Process Engineer) by qualification. I do computers just because I like to.

Where were you born and brought up?

Though I was born in Moradabad, UP (India), I was brought up in Delhi. My Dad had been living there since before I was born.

What kind of stuff do you read?

Oh well, my reading habits keep changing. I started with Hardy Boys and The Three Investigators, switched to classics for a while and finally settled on MacLean and Forsyth titles. In non-fiction I usually read about automobiles, computers, and some stuff related to markets and advertizing.

Why don't you like Java?

Short answer: it's too restrictive and needs the JVM. Long answer:

1. I learnt C++ before Java and I feel very comfortable with the C++ philosophy of the programmer knowing what's right rather than the Java philosophy that considers the programmer to be a hostile creature whose sole motto is to write screwed code.
2. Java doesn't have enums (goddamit!), operator overloading (according to Java text books, this is so because you can overload '+' and make it behave like '-', like you can't make add() behave like subtract()), templates, and MI, in that order of importance.
3. Java I/O library sucks.
4. Java programs require a VM to run, which in itself is a beast.
5. There's nothing that Java can do better than any other P/L. It's just a matter of knowing and choosing the Right Thing™ for the job.

See also, Why I Program in C++.