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Software development topics I've changed my mind on

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Re: Software development topics I've changed my mind on

#391

Post by rixed »

lmm wrote: post #175
rixed wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"None" to represent any type of failure sounds similarly fundamentally flawed too.

That's why you need not just an Either/Result type, but proper monads so that you can use the same functions with both.

Yes, but then you have to handle every possible errors at every call point, and wrap all those you can't handle at the calling site into your own return type... This is well documented.

One should be cautious every time it feels like there is an obviously right way to do something that everybody fails to see :)

Re: Software development topics I've changed my mind on

#392

Post by stackskipton »

The_Colonel wrote: post #140
qaq wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not so much optimization but experience that on any sufficiently large project you gonna run into ORM limitation and end up with mix of ORM and direct queries. So might as well...

Starting with raw SQL is fun. But at some point you find out you need some caching here, then there, then you have a bunch of custom disconnected caches having bugs with invalidation. Then you need lazy loading and fetch graphs. Step by step you'll build your own (shitty) ORM. Same thing for people claiming they don't need any frameworks.

As SRE who dealt with more caching errors then I care to. Alot of caching comes down to YAGNI.

To his point: It's very hard to beat decades of RDBMS research and improvements

Your RDBMS internal caching will likely get you extremely far and speed difference of Redis vs RDBMS call is very unlikely to matter in your standard CRUD App.

Re: Software development topics I've changed my mind on

#393

Post by aranchelk »

> Frontend development is a nightmare world of Kafkaesque awfulness I no longer enjoy

> Objects are extremely good at what they're good at. Blind devotion to functional is dumb.

Blind devotion to anything in engineering is dumb, but if you go full functional on the frontend it’s definitely not “Kafkaesque”

Re: Software development topics I've changed my mind on

#394

Post by danjl »

smallerfish wrote: post #349
bluGill wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is wrong with time++; That seem obvious enough to me without any comments.

Is it ms? seconds? days? weeks? months? How far up do I have to read to figure that out? When I'm looking at a test case is broken, I ideally want context IN the actual test that lets me understand what the test author was thinking when they wrote it. Why does this test exist as it does? Why are the expectations that are in place valid? Write the comments for you-in-2-years.

I would prefer `somethingSec`, where "something" indicates the usage better than "time". E.g. `delaySec` or `elapsedSec`.

Re: Software development topics I've changed my mind on

#395

Post by bbatha »

flir wrote: post #13
Kototama wrote: post #11

> Typed languages are essential on teams with mixed experience levels I like this one because it puts this endless dilemma in a human context. Most discussions are technical (static typing ease refactoring and safety, dynamic typing is easier to learn and better for interactive programming etc.) and ignore the users, the programmers.

UX really is everywhere, once your eyes are opened to it.

Ill plug the "Design of Everyday Things" by Don Norman in case anyone in the thread hasn't read it. Its the classic text on design. You will never think about doors the same again.

Re: Software development topics I've changed my mind on

#396

Post by x3n0ph3n3 »

> Most programming should be done long before a single line of code is written

This definitely contradicts a previous article on Discovery Coding [1]. I can't say I agree with it _at all_, despite 20 years in the business.

1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42860128

Re: Software development topics I've changed my mind on

#397

Post by petesergeant »

I have a grey beard and have earned my right to have opinions on things, so:

> Most programming should be done long before a single line of code is written

I think via programming, and I think we should be building more prototypes. Upfront design almost always falls apart, and if you've invested too much into the design, you end up with some nasty frankenstein code. Get a good prototyping process in place instead, and write code and interfaces as early as possible, just make sure you're very willing to throw them away, review what worked, etc. The sooner you prototype, the sooner the "natural" design appears, and the less you've invested in it.

> Frontend development is a nightmare world of Kafkaesque awfulness I no longer enjoy

I like React much more than the shit I've enjoyed any of the run-up to it, and I've been building websites since the late 90s, working my way through server-side includes, hidden refreshing iframes, XMLHttpRequest, Prototype.js, jQuery ... and today's React just Makes Sense, man.

Re: Software development topics I've changed my mind on

#398

Post by danjl »

zafka wrote: post #317

"93%, maybe 95.2%, of project managers, could disappear tomorrow to either no effect or a net gain in efficiency. (this estimate is up from 4 years ago)" This made me laugh it is so true. My last big project at "Big Co" ( Knee surgery robot ) My small group went through 4 project managers - just for our small team. The entire project had probably 20. While a few where enjoyable to work with, there was very little val…

You can extend this to all varieties of PM. Product/Project/Program. All should be replaced by people who actually create things. E.g. I prefer to have a UX Designer handle the Product Manager tasks, since they already think about the app from the user's perspective, and can actually create solutions to problems.

Re: Software development topics I've changed my mind on

#399

Post by x3n0ph3n3 »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #332
ZaoLahma wrote: post #82

> Most programming should be done long before a single line of code is written Nah. I (16+ years developer) prefer to iteratively go between coding and designing. It happens way too often that when you're coding, you stumble across something that makes you go "oh f me, that would NEVER work", which forces you to approach a problem entirely differently. Quite often you also have eureka moments with better solutions th…

The OP didn't say what it is they're talking about that should be done before writing any code. He might have meant design, and I'm not sure about that. But the other thing i think of is: Understanding the problem. It's hard to do too much of that before you start coding, and easy to do too little. It overlaps with design to some extent, because once you understand the problem better, some designs will naturally seem…

Then the author should have said "Most software development should be done long before a single line of code is written"

Programming is specifically about the authorship of code.

Re: Software development topics I've changed my mind on

#400

Post by petesergeant »

xnorswap wrote: post #35
latexr wrote: post #22

> Most won't care about the craft. Cherish the ones that do, meet the rest where they are > (…) > People who stress over code style, linting rules, or other minutia remain insane weirdos to me. Focus on more important things. What you call “stressing over minutiae” others might call “caring for the craft”. Revered artisans are precisely the ones who care for the details. “Stressing” is your value judgement, not neces…

The solution is to have computers enforce the code style. Pick a linter, pick a set of rules, and then forget about them. Things I beleive: - If you're picking up on code-style in PRs then your toolchain is backward. - If you're changing linting rules every month then you're focussed on the wrong things - It's better to have a consistent style than a perfect style

100%. Enforcing lint rules is very important. What those lint rules should say is generally very unimportant because the editor should be doing all the work, and most of the time "that's just like, your opinion, man".
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