The early Go standard library (before it was hyper-optimized.)
That's a fascinating observation. Do you think code inherently gets "worse" as it becomes more "optimised"?
Ask HN: What's the best source code you've read?
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Re: Ask HN: What's the best source code you've read?
#42One of the most surprisingly clear code bases is LLVM. It’s an old complex beast, yet it’s organized beautifully. I mean, it has a lot of essential complexity but little accidental complexity. That’s usually what I strive for when coding. Complexity is sometimes unavoidable, that’s fine, that’s why it’s essential. However, avoidable complexity should be… well… avoided.
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Re: Ask HN: What's the best source code you've read?
#43The {BSD/OS, Free and Net}BSD sources in the mid-90s, coming from Linux and a source license for a commercial unix, both of which were mostly undocumented and didn't have any version control. The commercial unix was really grody, with lots of copy/paste of the same function with different bugs each time, and comments with bug numbers that meant nothing to us and didn't explain a thing.
The BSD sources were sanely laid out, documented and had a beautiful coding style that made the code easy to read. Free- and NetBSD even had version control.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best source code you've read?
#44It’s not the best, far from it, but it was fascinating to me so I will share. I used to work for a large newspaper. Engineering wasn’t the focus of the business, it was only a means to an end, it was just something they needed to have a competitive website. As a result, the churn rate was very high. But more interesting there was also a very high return rate. Engineers would come and go and return and leave again all…
The book "A Deepness in the Sky" features people living on an ship whose operating system is thousands of years old. One of the main characters is considered a software archaeologist of sorts - he's an engineer, but in a sense also a historical researcher.
I can't emphasize enough that this notion is only a side point in the story and not a main aspect of the plot, sadly, so I wouldn't go reading it in hopes of hearing more. (Although it is a great book regardless.)
I have often considered trying to write a scifi novel centered around this idea because I find it so fascinating.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best source code you've read?
#45Redis. After struggling with extending QBE I thought that was how C was written in general, but Redis restored my optimism.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best source code you've read?
#46My own - hell is other people’s code.
The 7th circle of hell is my own from 3 months ago. I can't even blame someone else for the tragedy.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best source code you've read?
#47I don't know if it is the most elegant, or concise, or l33t, but I am in love with Polly https://github.com/App-vNext/Polly
Briefly used Polly at $OLDJOB and it has “Java” library vibes for me. Being on Node at work these days, I wish more libraries carried this quality.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best source code you've read?
#48I like the redis source code and WebTorrent
Re: Ask HN: What's the best source code you've read?
#49My own - hell is other people’s code.
I have the exact same sentiment.
My code looks like a poem, others looks like chicken scratch.
Re: Ask HN: What's the best source code you've read?
#50One of the most surprisingly clear code bases is LLVM. It’s an old complex beast, yet it’s organized beautifully. I mean, it has a lot of essential complexity but little accidental complexity. That’s usually what I strive for when coding. Complexity is sometimes unavoidable, that’s fine, that’s why it’s essential. However, avoidable complexity should be… well… avoided.
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Why? If you don't mind me asking.