Itkovian.net

There is a neat competition running at The Daily WTF (yeah, I dislike their new name) where one can present the worst possible implementations of a calculator app.

I think they might need one extra entrance. A few years ago, Ghent University decided that it would be to the benefit of all, especially the employees, if we could use the glorious SAP system. At first, they decided a web application would be most suitable for introducing the system, and to let employees learn the ropes. Though of course, that would take little efforst, because the system would ease the entire workflow for everybody involved.

So, the web application was installed (reportedly on a small PC acting as the front end to a giant SUN server). And, miraculously it came with its very own calculator. I've no idea what the real reason might have been -- it probably had something to do with either (a) making things more secure, or (b) filling the pockets of the consultants paid to incorporate the university workflow into the SAP system -- but somehow, evertything one could click on was an image, generated on the fly. So was the calculator. I think you can already see where this leads. Everytime you enter a digit (by clicking) into the calculator it refreshed the entire webpage to show you an updated image containing the digit you just entered or the result of the function you just indicated the calculator should execute. It might not particularly stand out in the WTF competition, I think.

As if that was not enough, they had a similar system for entering dates from a calendar.

Right now, we have a real application, that comes with its own horrors.