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Why must you laugh at my back end?

blog.pud.com

31–40 of 230 posts

Re: Why must you laugh at my back end?

#31
Some weird part of me loves this, and I don't know why.

That said, I'm very confused. The post says these sites are running off of your "awesome" backend:

  * http://www.pud.com
  * http://adhdinc.com
But those are just pages with links to other services? Furthermore, while some of those services (TinyLetter, FaqMe) do seem to be produced by ADHD, others (Blippy, AdBrite) do not seem to be, though it seems you claim to have participated in them in some way, shape or form.

I don't really care one way or the other, but my real question here is: Which websites in your list are actually running off of the backend described here?

Re: Why must you laugh at my back end?

#32
If you don't mind working alone, work with whatever you like. If it's important to your business to attract the best talent, you need to use the best tools. I'm leaving my job largely because of tools & tech, and passed on a lucrative offer to pursue a different job with better tech.

Re: Why must you laugh at my back end?

#33
post #15
post #9

This is great. Seriously. I cut my teeth in the early 2000s writing the type of PHP code that would make your eyes bleed. Global variables everywhere. HTML/PHP/MySQL in the same file. Career-wise I ended up going down a backend/database developer path, so if I do anything with consumer-facing web applications, it's on my free time. I'm working on such an app now, and right now the fastest way I can get anything done…

I have respect for people that can deliver, regardless of what they use. The allure of cool tech is strong but tech doesn't make products: people do. I cannot see what is wrong with your using plain PHP if you can get the job done faster (as long as you avoid things that make exploits easy, such as raw mysql db functions). When the time for a framework comes, you'll know. Stop worrying about what others think and goo…

+1 to both of you!

Re: Why must you laugh at my back end?

#35
post #22
post #12

Is that the same pud that did fuckedconpany? It was a hilarious site where people made fun of over valued companies during the first boom. Unfotunately the site eventually became overrun by nazis (not kidding) and had to be shut down.

Indeed.

Wow! Blast from the past! You might need to resurrect that site if the current bubble continues ;)

Re: Why must you laugh at my back end?

#37
post #9

This is great. Seriously. I cut my teeth in the early 2000s writing the type of PHP code that would make your eyes bleed. Global variables everywhere. HTML/PHP/MySQL in the same file. Career-wise I ended up going down a backend/database developer path, so if I do anything with consumer-facing web applications, it's on my free time. I'm working on such an app now, and right now the fastest way I can get anything done…

Use what works for you. For me, the main benefit of a framework is scalability of new developers. If you have to bring on someone else to extend & maintain your code, it's incredibly helpful to be able to point them to documentation.

Re: Why must you laugh at my back end?

#38
I wonder if some of the laughing isn't so much at you and your stack, but at the laugher's experiences with those (or similar) technologies.

We've all worked with technologies that cause us pain in our development process. Sometimes, the pain becomes so great that we look for, and find, something that we like better. Changing to this new techonology eases said pain, and allows us to be (or at least feel) more productive.

I believe it's possible that some people laugh because they remember when they used one or more of those technologies, and the pain they felt while using it. They laugh and suggest other technologies because they assume you have the same pains they've had, and they'd like to offer you what they consider a better alternative that might ease some of the pains. After all, it worked for them!

It appears that you've had some pains with this stack, but that you've found ways to deal with those pains that don't involve leaving your current technologies. Good for you. You've built successful applications on them. Also good for you. These are, of course, the things that really matter.

Re: Why must you laugh at my back end?

#39

I don't hang out with a lot of programmers and I guess this is the reason. This "laughing" the op alludes to. This endless discussion of what language or back end is the best. I find it impossible to talk about programming with people who would rather indoctrinate me on the benefits of their chosen language than talk about, say, data structures. It's like arguing about what colour is the best. It's pointless. So big…

Talking about the differences between, say, assembly language and Ruby is very different than arguing about what color is the best. I guarantee that some projects will be successful if written in one of those languages, and not the other (webapp in assembly? bootloader in Ruby?).

Also, in your view, how is talking about data structures any better than talking about languages? Wouldn't that just be "indoctrinating me on the benefits" of your chosen data structure? If the only thing that matters is that the program works, then why does it matter what kind of balanced binary tree is in use behind the scenes, any more than the language matters?

Tools do matter. Maybe you're not interested in incremental improvements in your productivity as a programmer, but those who are will probably spend time talking about their tools (hopefully balanced by spending even more time actually using them).

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