This brings to mind the maxim, "A job, no matter how small, will grow to fit the time and resources available".
Well stated. I will jot it down for my next meeting with my manager :)
The Parable of the Two Programmers (1985)
11–20 of 169 posts
Re: The Parable of the Two Programmers (1985)
#12Re: The Parable of the Two Programmers (1985)
#13Wow, as someone who is going to start doing Computer Science next year, I had already heard that most of programming is about thinking, but had no idea that is was to the point of 5 lines of code per day being exceptional.
don't be discouraged, it's par for the course.
we're talking about quality lines of code: debugged, qa'd, and working as expected. perhaps even after the customer has had a chance to peruse the beta. you will be surprised how much time you'll spend in meetings and how hard navigating and contributing to large projects becomes.
curiously, the number of lines of quality code expected by a developer has not changed much since "the mythical man month" was written, which was about IBM machines in the 60s, despite the obvious advances in programming languages and programming environments. it's still around 10 or so.
Re: The Parable of the Two Programmers (1985)
#14This brings to mind the maxim, "A job, no matter how small, will grow to fit the time and resources available".
Well stated. I will jot it down for my next meeting with my manager :)
Shhh. It's a secret. Use it to your advantage, don't tell your manager!
In all seriousness though, your manager probably won't take kindly to hearing your advice about project management.
Re: The Parable of the Two Programmers (1985)
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is this sarcasm? The article pretty clearly judges in an extremely opinionated way. It's a shame it never actually stated the specification of the program. It seems like that would be the kind of thing you would need to know to form a fair opinion.
It's not sarcasm. I really interpreted the article this way. Might not be the correct interpretation.
You got it right.
Perhaps a better way to put it would be to say that the article teaches by demonstration instead of teaching by assertion.
Re: The Parable of the Two Programmers (1985)
#16This brings to mind the maxim, "A job, no matter how small, will grow to fit the time and resources available".
Re: The Parable of the Two Programmers (1985)
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not sarcasm. I really interpreted the article this way. Might not be the correct interpretation.
You got it right. Perhaps a better way to put it would be to say that the article teaches by demonstration instead of teaching by assertion.
But, it's a fictional story. I can make up a fictional story to demonstrate anything, regardless if it's true in the real world.
Re: The Parable of the Two Programmers (1985)
#18[deleted]
Re: The Parable of the Two Programmers (1985)
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
It might be the most fictional story ever written about programming. It's completely ridiculous.
I don't think it's ridiculous at all. Have you ever worked in the defense industry?
Yes, actually, I have.
So this story isn't ridiculous because it applies to a niche that it never mentions?
Re: The Parable of the Two Programmers (1985)
#20[deleted]
I don't know, maybe it took quite a bit of time and thinking to realize that the problem was simpler than it seemed. Maybe Charles was playing games to occupy his eyes and hands while he was thinking about the problem.