The dumbing-down of programming (1998)
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The dumbing-down of programming (1998)
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Re: The dumbing-down of programming (1998)
#2Re: The dumbing-down of programming (1998)
#3We build our computers the way we build our cities -- over time, without a plan, on top of ruins.
Yes, but didn't Christopher Alexander, the Pattern Language guy, praise the way we sometimes build (unplanned) things like villages?
Re: The dumbing-down of programming (1998)
#4At first it looked like link bait, but was well worth the read. Very articulate and for some reason I found it quite comforting.
Re: The dumbing-down of programming (1998)
#5"Run as the root user from the root directory, type in rm -r f * , and, at the stroke of the ENTER key, gone are all the files and directories. Recursively, each directory deleting itself once its files have been deleted, right down to the very directory from which you entered the command: the snake swallowing its tail."
Actually that would be rm -rf * and it wouldn't delete /, the directory from which you entered the command, since with * you've selected all the directories in /, not itself. To do that you'd have to invoke rm -rf . or /, I believe. Though I'm not sure if after deleting all files the system will let you delete / itself? (moot point though)
Sorry if that was obvious to everyone...
Re: The dumbing-down of programming (1998)
#6I like the idea of hard drive as palimpsest.
Re: The dumbing-down of programming (1998)
#7At first it looked like link bait, but was well worth the read. Very articulate and for some reason I found it quite comforting.
Agreed. I especially liked the use of "All the lovely graphical skins turned to so much bitwise detritus" I can visualize the 1's and 0's settling on the bottom.
Despite his discontent for "the wizards", he seems to realize their usefulness in his last sentence with "the tool as convenient information repository." Certainly, especially in their earlier incantations, the wizards can try to do too much, but a decade later I think they are hitting their intended mark as knowledge repositories.
Re: The dumbing-down of programming (1998)
#8She beautifully explained what draws people like myself to GNU/Linux. I have tried to convey some of these ideas to colleagues who are serious about Windows programming, to no avail.
It's not about Microsoft either. In my industry (flight simulation) there are some machines and systems where you can go deep and acquire design-level knowledge, and other systems where you're dealing with black boxes.
Some people prefer the latter; when things go wrong, you cycle the power switch and then contact the manufacturer if the problem still exists. I think some people take comfort in the notion that they are not ultimately responsible for whether the machines work or not. Sorry if that sounds terribly arrogant.
Re: The dumbing-down of programming (1998)
#9Good article, but oh God, when she described the Visual C++ wizard I had these awful MFC flashbacks.
//TODO: Shower.
Re: The dumbing-down of programming (1998)
#10That was beautiful.
Her point about code being incrementally forgotten and IBM having "no on left who understands" was well taken. I think this is where and why open source comes into play. Most programmers understand this basic fact about code that non-programmers don't.
If IBM's air traffic control system had been open source, it likely would have never gotten to the point of obsolescence it reached.