I love how I was kind of relatable to this one. It's just that quick gig made me realize how far I have become since I started this journey.
Who wrote this shit?
141–150 of 300 posts
Re: Who wrote this shit?
#142Many people in this thread are saying they are surprised by their own shitty code, 6 month ago. I read this everywhere on the Web. It's like I should myself be finding my code from 6 months ago horrible.
I don't know. I tend to remember what code I wrote, and recognize my own code when seeing it, even years later.
My code from 6 months ago looks good to me. My code from 10 years ago looks "reasonable, if a bit messy". I remember what I was trying to achieve with what level of knowledge I had, and often what I had in mind at this moment (sometimes including unrelated feelings).
I'd probably write this code differently today and it's clear I learned things in the meantime, but a little bit of linting helps turn this code into "reasonable, if a bit less messy" (mainly limiting line length). I definitely find my way in this code and even find it kind of enjoyable. Sure, there are some details I don't remember but things are mostly here.
Do I have an exceptional memory, an exceptional tolerance to execrable code or both?
Re: the article, I've definitely felt "who wrote this shit" but I'm past it. Most surprising things have an explanation and this explanation should be sought before the final verdict… which is often not needed anyway. It's just a negative feeling that achieves nothing.
Re: Who wrote this shit?
#143It's an exhausting cycle of writing code, hiring new people who say it's shit, who write their own code that next year the new batch of hires says it's shit again and needs to be rewritten. Of course all of these developers are too good to write a comment because their code is so easy to read that it's 'self documenting'
Comments shouldn't be the default way of documentation anyway.
For the programmers working with the code, it definitely should be, but please let me know if you think there is a better place for explanations of code functionality other than the code itself. People like you are the reason why code becomes unmaintainable. You think some document separate from the code is a substitute for comments? It is not, your code is not as good as you think it is.
If you have an example on github of something commented the way you think is 'correct' please post it. I hope you're not confusing high level app documentation with code comments.
Re: Who wrote this shit?
#144I usually say that when I am pretty positive it was my code that's now... shit :)
Unfortunately, I was still warned that this may portray an atmosphere of non-acceptance when done in "public" channels since readers might not be aware that this was my code and that I am making a self-deprecating remark.
Honestly, I am not sure whether to keep doing it or not. I like the relaxed and jovial atmosphere that comes out of it (it's more of a joke that all of our past code is shit, and ultimately, that what we are writing today is the shit of tomorrow), but I struggle to come to peace with the PC crowd. Am I really messing it up for someone else?
Re: Who wrote this shit?
#145Negative bonding can be a fast way to feelings of camaraderie, but it can also cause resentment to fester.
Re: Who wrote this shit?
#146Feel like there has been increasingly more cuss / inappropriate words showing up on top page of HN. I recommend HN to my kids. Not that they are not exposed to these words online but I would rather not come this from their parent. Not sure how to feel.
I’m not worried about my kids seeing curse words. I am concerned about the downward pull normalizing unprofessional writing has on my profession. Does it make our whole environment less professional? Does it influence us to be unprofessional in other parts of our craft? Do outside observers view us as less a profession because of it? I don’t know the answers but I certainly worry about it. Though perhaps I’m just agi…
I think there is something to worry about, but it's not 'unprofessional writing' or any kind of external downward pull, I'd say a lot of the problem is how much time professionals now spend in unprofessional contexts, even during working hours (he says, typing while clock-watching...).
This is a post on someone's personal blog with some reflections on something they saw at work. I'm not sure why we should expect him to write professionally (leaving aside the question of whether swearing is acceptable in professional writing or not).
I also wouldn't necessarily expect HN to only carry professional content - although some of what's shared here might be interesting from a professional viewpoint, it's not a portal for professionals (what even is 'hacker' as a profession? What percentage of the HN community are amateur hackers rather than professional hackers?).
Ultimately, it's a discussion forum on the internet, where self-proclaimed hackers share things they think are cool, and if others think it's cool too, then it gets shown to more and more 'hackers' until not enough new people think it's cool enough, at which point it gets shown to fewer and fewer people.
Re: Who wrote this shit?
#147Ah yes, one of the first things I learned when working on my own big code base: I can no longer blame those other idiots for their stupid design decisions. Because suddenly it is all on me.
And that probably made me actually grow as a developer. Because I write good code. I write bad code. Depending on the time of day, my mental condition and external pressures. The same like everyone else.
And I also was once placed in front of a half finished but abandoned PHP project, for me to finish it. That surely was no fun. That code was not good. And I was stressed and angry with it. But today I would no longer direct my anger at that actual person. He also just did, what he could with the given ressources. And venting anger might be therapeutic in some instances, but I am not sure, it helps get stuff done. And it definitely makes for a bad social dynamic.
So anyway, related dilbert comic:
Re: Who wrote this shit?
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
Comments shouldn't be the default way of documentation anyway.
For the programmers working with the code, it definitely should be, but please let me know if you think there is a better place for explanations of code functionality other than the code itself. People like you are the reason why code becomes unmaintainable. You think some document separate from the code is a substitute for comments? It is not, your code is not as good as you think it is. If you have an example on gi…
All I did, was saying comments shouldn't be default for documentation. To which you reply with this.
"People like you are the reason why code becomes unmaintainable."
So ... what do you think, I could say of people like you and something with the internet?
In any case, I use comments in code btw. But way less often nowdays. Because comments have a tendency to be ignored and still remain there, despite the code for that comment changed long ago or was even removed. That can happen with any documenation, sure - but comments are notorious for it.
No comment is way better, than a wrong, missleading comment.
Re: Who wrote this shit?
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
Small claims court. It’s not acceptable to not pay people accordingly.
I talked to a lawyer, and it just wasn't worth going after them for this amount. I wrote it off as a valuable lesson and went to make more money elsewhere.
You don’t need a lawyer for small claims court as far as I know, just an FYI.
Re: Who wrote this shit?
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same here. Sometimes I add comments like "don't change this shit!" to remind myself that there is a reason why it is like that.
Those comments would help if future me would listen to them. "Huh, I wonder why I put that in here... let's see what happens if I change that shit."
"I'm certain I've learned enough in the last 10 months to solve this problem now."
"I did not."