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Mastering Programming (2016)

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Re: Mastering Programming (2016)

#21

Post by saltedmd5 »

twic wrote: post #14
Dowwie wrote: post #6

Make it run -> make it right -> make it fast

This is good advice in general, and so it amuses me when i come across problems which invert this order. Now and then, you can say "if we could do this thing that currently takes time T in T/100, it would be a game-changer" - it would enable whole new approaches, businesses, etc. In that case, your primary goal is to make it fast, and if often doesn't matter if it crashes, fails, or gets a slightly wrong answer 10% o…

This depends on the definition of "right," though - if "close enough" really is enough, then "close enough" _is_ right.

"Right" doesn't necessarily mean "precise."

Re: Mastering Programming (2016)

#22

Post by tangue »

rcdwealth wrote: post #7

For heaven's sake you could not choose better hosting website but the bloody Facebook.

Side discussion : Discoverability of Facebook articles is non-existent. Kent Beck other posts are quite interesting but to find them you have to go to his profile, click on a mysterious "more" menu item and then you can select his articles...

Re: Mastering Programming (2016)

#24

Post by hota_mazi »

Having spent entire days years ago poring through the JUnit 3 source code and having been completely dejected by the quality of the code there, I don't really trust Kent Beck to give advice on anything related to programming.

Re: Mastering Programming (2016)

#26

Post by wyldfire »

hota_mazi wrote: post #24

Having spent entire days years ago poring through the JUnit 3 source code and having been completely dejected by the quality of the code there, I don't really trust Kent Beck to give advice on anything related to programming.

Maybe his strength is in recognizing and articulating the qualities of good programmers and not in programming itself?

Re: Mastering Programming (2016)

#27

Post by Kenji »

saltedmd5 wrote: post #19
d--b wrote: post #3

Distillating years of experience in such tiny concepts is a bit harsh on the reader. Without any concrete example, the advice could easily be very misunderstood, or not understood at all. Being a fairly seasoned developer myself, I kind of intuit what they mean, but I could very well be projecting what I think I am doing right into each of these, and conclude that I'm a master programmer... yay!

This is the crux of the problem with a lot of software engineering culture as it stands today - blog posts and talks frequently deliver abstract concepts that only really make sense to people who have already grasped/discovered those concepts. The enlightened sit nodding along, while the unenlightened go away confused or misled. Positioned this way, half-understood ideas frequently do more harm than good. TDD is a gr…

> The enlightened sit nodding along, while the unenlightened go away confused or misled.

It's the same with maths. It's even worse when the concepts are explained in a circular way. Go to wikipedia and search for a random mathematical concept. I guarantee you that most of the terms used in the explanation have wikipedia articles that link back to the concept you looked up in the first place! Frustrating beyond belief. You need to get a foot in the door and then it's easy, but before that it's hell.

Re: Mastering Programming (2016)

#29

Post by geodel »

wyldfire wrote: post #26
hota_mazi wrote: post #24

Having spent entire days years ago poring through the JUnit 3 source code and having been completely dejected by the quality of the code there, I don't really trust Kent Beck to give advice on anything related to programming.

Maybe his strength is in recognizing and articulating the qualities of good programmers and not in programming itself?

That kind of quality is seen in linkedin style thought leaders. Mostly blathering about obvious or obviously stupid things.
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