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Ask HN: Do you swear in your code?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you swear in your code?

#21

Post by tx »

Hates_ wrote: post #3

Swearing in comments is unacceptable IMO. You wouldn't write swear words in internal documents, so why do it in code. It's unprofessional and shows a level of dis-respect for your own code and for the people who might end up maintaining it. Plus, heaven forbid a client happened to see it as well.

We aren't building tractors, we're "painting" software and do whatever makes us feel more creative. In fact some really great hackers I knew were very passionate about their code and coding process in general. Once we had a dedicated Yellow Pages book to throw in a brick wall (literally). That was awesome.

BTW, didn't you notice how often good programmers curse in public?

I suspect we work in different industries.

Re: Ask HN: Do you swear in your code?

#22

Post by midnightmonster »

Hates_ wrote: post #3

Swearing in comments is unacceptable IMO. You wouldn't write swear words in internal documents, so why do it in code. It's unprofessional and shows a level of dis-respect for your own code and for the people who might end up maintaining it. Plus, heaven forbid a client happened to see it as well.

True story: During a summer internship years ago, I used Foo and Bar as placeholders throughout a web page comp. My boss sat me down for a serious chat about professionalism. Turns out he had never heard of Foo and Bar. Prior to that conversation, I had never heard of FUBAR.

Re: Ask HN: Do you swear in your code?

#23

Post by ken »

Hates_ wrote: post #3

Swearing in comments is unacceptable IMO. You wouldn't write swear words in internal documents, so why do it in code. It's unprofessional and shows a level of dis-respect for your own code and for the people who might end up maintaining it. Plus, heaven forbid a client happened to see it as well.

I've heard more than one hacker speak about either ignoring or redefining "professionalism" (whatever that means):

JWZ: "I wear my unprofessionalism as a badge of honor." http://www.jwz.org/doc/easter-eggs.html>

PG: "Maybe some aspects of professionalism are actually a net lose" http://www.paulgraham.com/opensource.html>

PG*: "the way that he thought about professionalism did not differ from the thinking of a Mary Kay cosmetics saleswoman: wear nice clothes, drive a clean car, and don't say anything that might offend anyone" http://philip.greenspun.com/ancient-history/professionalism-...;

We speak and write profanity in other contexts, so why not code? It shows respect for future maintainers that we're honest about what truly sucks, instead of watering it down. Plus, we don't care if clients or investors see that we don't wear suits (or even shoes); similarly, they care about what the code does, not what it looks like.

Re: Ask HN: Do you swear in your code?

#27

Post by [deleted] »

midnightmonster wrote: post #20

Do I swear under my breath when code doesn't run how I meant? Often. Do I sometimes put dire warnings or florid descriptions of suckage or even rhyming couplets in my code? Yes. Do I swear in code? No. Swearing is easy and imprecise. If I can't find a more useful way to convey my point, I'm obviously not firing on all cylinders and should take a break. To be fair, nearly everything I work on is one or both of at leas…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Do you swear in your code?

#28

Post by notauser »

ken wrote: post #23
Hates_ wrote: post #3

Swearing in comments is unacceptable IMO. You wouldn't write swear words in internal documents, so why do it in code. It's unprofessional and shows a level of dis-respect for your own code and for the people who might end up maintaining it. Plus, heaven forbid a client happened to see it as well.

I've heard more than one hacker speak about either ignoring or redefining "professionalism" (whatever that means): JWZ: "I wear my unprofessionalism as a badge of honor." http://www.jwz.org/doc/easter-eggs.html&#62 ; PG: "Maybe some aspects of professionalism are actually a net lose" http://www.paulgraham.com/opensource.html&#62 ; PG*: "the way that he thought about professionalism did not differ from the thinking of…

One interesting compiler bug later and your comment could end up in an error message.

Anyway I would only swear when I'm at home with a beer in my hand, so I only put swearwords in my code when I'm working at home with a beer in my hand ;)

Re: Ask HN: Do you swear in your code?

#29

Post by andrewf »

You know how some people swear casually, while others would cringe in shame if the apocalypse happened and a curse word passed their mouth?

Same for when they're writing code.

I don't quite get the shocked reactions.. I can understand thinking swearing is distasteful in certain contexts but would certainly never draw wider conclusions about a person because they swear. Then again, I'm Australian.

Re: Ask HN: Do you swear in your code?

#30

Post by xlnt »

tptacek wrote: post #15
tptacek wrote: post #8

Fuck yes it is.

Addenda: is this perhaps the dumbest fucking question to be asked on this board? Fuckin' A right it is. Can someone draw a line between this topic and something that actually matters to a startup?

if it doesn't matter, why reply?
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