Clear is better than clever [pdf]
dave.cheney.net
Clear is better than clever [pdf]
1–10 of 335 posts
Re: Clear is better than clever [pdf]
#2The message is clear, and clever
Re: Clear is better than clever [pdf]
#3> To be clear, I don’t mean to dismiss the work of a lone programmer toiling on programs without anyone to pair with or learn from. I’ve been that person many times in my career as a programmer, it’s not fun.
I'd say it's a lot of fun.
Re: Clear is better than clever [pdf]
#4> To be clear, I don’t mean to dismiss the work of a lone programmer toiling on programs without anyone to pair with or learn from. I’ve been that person many times in my career as a programmer, it’s not fun. I'd say it's a lot of fun.
I’d say it’s in fact where the real fun happens
Re: Clear is better than clever [pdf]
#5> To be clear, I don’t mean to dismiss the work of a lone programmer toiling on programs without anyone to pair with or learn from. I’ve been that person many times in my career as a programmer, it’s not fun. I'd say it's a lot of fun.
I’d say it’s in fact where the real fun happens
Working on personal projects, not having to conform to other people’s requirements, trying a bunch of cool hacks and getting to see how things really work…that’s the most fun part of programming!
Re: Clear is better than clever [pdf]
#6>To be clear, I don’t mean to dismiss the work of a lone programmer toiling on programs without anyone to pair with or learn from. I’ve been that person many times in my
career as a programmer, it’s not fun.
Wait, what? That's the most fun!
Re: Clear is better than clever [pdf]
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’d say it’s in fact where the real fun happens
Working on personal projects, not having to conform to other people’s requirements, trying a bunch of cool hacks and getting to see how things really work…that’s the most fun part of programming!
Side projects are probably the most fun that can be had with programming, not just for the freedom of requirements but also because you can build something you truly enjoy building.
I'm lucky to be writing fun code at work - most of the time -, but the side projects keep me sane for many reasons. Not having to deal with 'bad' code that I didn't write, is also a nice benefit. All the bad code in my personal projects is mine, so no one else to blame :D
EDIT: typos and delete possibly negative statement
Re: Clear is better than clever [pdf]
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’d say it’s in fact where the real fun happens
Working on personal projects, not having to conform to other people’s requirements, trying a bunch of cool hacks and getting to see how things really work…that’s the most fun part of programming!
Oddly enough I find the collaboration more interesting now. Not sure if that’s a getting older thing but I like managing the PR’s, ensuring code is of a high quality and serving the needs of the users.
Re: Clear is better than clever [pdf]
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’d say it’s in fact where the real fun happens
Working on personal projects, not having to conform to other people’s requirements, trying a bunch of cool hacks and getting to see how things really work…that’s the most fun part of programming!
The difference is the 'personal project' bit. If you have to do something, because it's for work and there's a deadline, then the fun hacks produce a general feeling of unease, uncertainty, and of not doing ones job properly.
At work myself i work mostly in isolation on codebases that have been in maintenance mode for years, where the original authors have typically either left the company or moved to another dept, and where there is almost no documentation. Everything is hacks and exploratory work, but it sure ain't fun. Adding relatively uninteresting small changes can take days or weeks.
Working on a broad and deep project as half of a pair is my preferred working mode so far in my career.
Re: Clear is better than clever [pdf]
#10> To be clear, I don’t mean to dismiss the work of a lone programmer toiling on programs without anyone to pair with or learn from. I’ve been that person many times in my career as a programmer, it’s not fun. I'd say it's a lot of fun.
I agree with the author maybe because for first four years of my software development career I was a lone developer. Maybe Dave was in similar situation.