31–40 of 98 posts
As a general statement, I feel like this is objectively false. Just look at how much code gets added to Github daily.
> This programming bible earned a famous comment from Bill Gates: "It took incredible discipline, and several months, for me to read it." I know he's a trillionaire and all and probably smarter than me but still - as somebody who spent a full three years reading and working through the problems in the first three books, I wonder how deep an understanding he could really have walked away with after just a few months.
I did a google search of Art of Computer Programming and see a ton of math problems. I was expecting more along the lines of actual code like assembly or machine code or something . Like actual code. How is summing an infinite series supposed to help me code better (summing the series is much easier, ill grant you that..combining ajax +css+php is hard )
You mean like the MIX (and later MMIX) assembly code used extensively throughout the books?
They have to know how to get help outside of an office or even a project team when working remotely and alone. Aside from Stack Overflow, which dominates the Q&A platform for programming market, there are documentation and code repositories that a professional programmer must know how to navigate. Those who previously only relied on colleagues and friends will now lose to those who know how to learn from the entire I…
Have you ever employeed a programmer, or worked as one? Stack overflow is a valuable resource. I'd be pissed if my boss told me not to use it.
They have to know how to get help outside of an office or even a project team when working remotely and alone. Aside from Stack Overflow, which dominates the Q&A platform for programming market, there are documentation and code repositories that a professional programmer must know how to navigate. Those who previously only relied on colleagues and friends will now lose to those who know how to learn from the entire I…
Have you ever employeed a programmer, or worked as one? Stack overflow is a valuable resource. I'd be pissed if my boss told me not to use it.
Suppose candidate A tends to communicate in terms of specs and reference implementations. Candidate B tends to communicate in terms of accepted answers and discussions on Stack Overflow.
All other things being equal that should be an easy choice.
As an aside, was a gigabyte of memory only $1000 back in 2000? I seem to remember it being higher than that.
If you had enough memory slots on the motherboard.
> This programming bible earned a famous comment from Bill Gates: "It took incredible discipline, and several months, for me to read it." I know he's a trillionaire and all and probably smarter than me but still - as somebody who spent a full three years reading and working through the problems in the first three books, I wonder how deep an understanding he could really have walked away with after just a few months.
I did a google search of Art of Computer Programming and see a ton of math problems. I was expecting more along the lines of actual code like assembly or machine code or something . Like actual code. How is summing an infinite series supposed to help me code better (summing the series is much easier, ill grant you that..combining ajax +css+php is hard )
> Programmers have to know how to write maintainable code... He implies that this somehow falls into “socitech” ability, which it is not. Maintainable code is precise, well-factored code — almost pedantic — which requires an orthogonal (if not counterpointed) talent to the more “social” talents. I would go further to say that a mathematical understanding or at least inclination is required to write maintainable code.…
Maintainable code is more an act of writing than of mathematics.
The author of that piece quotes EWD, but not in full, which is odd -- were he to have done so, it would have strengthened his thesis, viz.: "Simplicity is a great virtue but it requires hard work to achieve it and education to appreciate it. And to make matters worse: complexity sells better." -- Edsger W. Dijkstra
"Programmers do not need to write much code anymore; all they need to do in most cases is wire together already available components." As a general statement, I feel like this is objectively false. Just look at how much code gets added to Github daily.