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When coding style survives compilation: De-anonymizing programmers from binaries

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Re: When coding style survives compilation: De-anonymizing programmers from binaries

#21

Post by grundprinzip »

euske wrote: post #17
bambax wrote: post #16

This statement seems debatable: " Since all the contestants implement the same functionality, the main difference between their samples is their coding style. " All the (winning) contestants implement the same functionality, yes, but with possibly wildly different approaches/algorithms, so the main difference between code samples is not just "style" but what could be called "general thinking in and around the problem…

As a professional, I tend to think a distinct coding style is bad. You should try to write a code that is plain and unsurprising and reproducible. To me, this study gives us another reason that we need a more uniform/standardized methodology and good education for the software industry.

Totally agree, in the paper they only look at competitive programming contests. Ideally, it would be interesting if the same could be applied to a larger code base with more authors and if it's possible to find a particular author in such a code base.

Re: When coding style survives compilation: De-anonymizing programmers from binaries

#22

Post by dman »

euske wrote: post #17
bambax wrote: post #16

This statement seems debatable: " Since all the contestants implement the same functionality, the main difference between their samples is their coding style. " All the (winning) contestants implement the same functionality, yes, but with possibly wildly different approaches/algorithms, so the main difference between code samples is not just "style" but what could be called "general thinking in and around the problem…

As a professional, I tend to think a distinct coding style is bad. You should try to write a code that is plain and unsurprising and reproducible. To me, this study gives us another reason that we need a more uniform/standardized methodology and good education for the software industry.

Is this view unique towards programmers or do you extend it to artists and writers as well?

Re: When coding style survives compilation: De-anonymizing programmers from binaries

#23

Post by kyrre »

EGreg wrote: post #4

Well, this puts a damper on my plan to create a secret identity on the internet under which I release software the way Banksy releases art. Unless I stop publicly writing software for a few years.

you can use another language

Re: When coding style survives compilation: De-anonymizing programmers from binaries

#24

Post by superuser2 »

dman wrote: post #22
euske wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a professional, I tend to think a distinct coding style is bad. You should try to write a code that is plain and unsurprising and reproducible. To me, this study gives us another reason that we need a more uniform/standardized methodology and good education for the software industry.

Is this view unique towards programmers or do you extend it to artists and writers as well?

Artists and writers' products are supposed to be aesthetic; code is supposed to be readable and maintainable.

I apply it to journalism, though. Newspapers have long had "house" style guides to keep things consistent across reporters.

Re: When coding style survives compilation: De-anonymizing programmers from binaries

#25

Post by stilist »

dman wrote: post #22
euske wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a professional, I tend to think a distinct coding style is bad. You should try to write a code that is plain and unsurprising and reproducible. To me, this study gives us another reason that we need a more uniform/standardized methodology and good education for the software industry.

Is this view unique towards programmers or do you extend it to artists and writers as well?

Artists and writers don't usually make things that will be modified in the future. Art also faces less risk of dependency hell.

Re: When coding style survives compilation: De-anonymizing programmers from binaries

#26

Post by stephengoodwin »

dman wrote: post #22
euske wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a professional, I tend to think a distinct coding style is bad. You should try to write a code that is plain and unsurprising and reproducible. To me, this study gives us another reason that we need a more uniform/standardized methodology and good education for the software industry.

Is this view unique towards programmers or do you extend it to artists and writers as well?

Call it a best practice for inexperienced artists and writers. If I, for instance, were to take up painting as a hobby, I would try to find some artistic formula or method to follow before branching out into a more unique style.

I would consider this more important for writing than art, since reading novels involves much more of a time commitment from your audiences to appreciate, whereas art gives more flexibility in deciding how long your audience wants to spend with it.

However, there's a difference between bad art and writing and bad programming. Bad art and writing lacks appreciation. Bad programming is full of errors, hard to maintain, and runs slow, giving an overall poor user experience.

Re: When coding style survives compilation: De-anonymizing programmers from binaries

#28

Post by WeAreWorld »

bambax wrote: post #16

This statement seems debatable: " Since all the contestants implement the same functionality, the main difference between their samples is their coding style. " All the (winning) contestants implement the same functionality, yes, but with possibly wildly different approaches/algorithms, so the main difference between code samples is not just "style" but what could be called "general thinking in and around the problem…

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