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Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

marco.org

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Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#31

Post by antirez »

Well maybe I live in another world but I think more or less the opposite. You can write about programming and people will love it, and in our industry there are a great deal of people that are at the same time not gross and with good arguments. But...

there are many ways to write about programming: one is to actually write about programming, that is, posts containing some experience to share about some technology, or a pattern one writer noticed about programming languages that is interesting, or how to implement such algorithm in a better way, or just this-is-how-I-made-this-stuff and so forth. People tend to love this stuff, if you search the HN / progreddit / slashdot archives.

Then there is another way to write about programming: the speculation. A few well known blogs really master this art, as they are able to run successful programming blogs for years without actually ever really writing about programmings. In this blogs you'll find a mix about obvious things narrated in an inspirational way, a few rants about why people should do A instead of B, and so forth.

My impression is that the latter kind of blogs, not really designed to share what you think, but more to think about what you could share to be interesting and cool, are the ones more often subject to criticisms.

Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#32

Post by kscaldef »

madair wrote: post #19

He didn't say it's not worthwhile, on the contrary, Marco laments the loss to programmers and tech writing. What he said is that for him it's not worth the risk of putting himself out there: Some people claim that they don’t care and that they can ignore it. I don’t know if Joel can. I can’t, which is one of the reasons why I rarely write about programming: it’s just not worth the risk of putting myself out there on…

It's rather ironic that the submitter went and changed the title, isn't it?

Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#33

Post by codexon »

RyanMcGreal wrote: post #29

Comments are disproportionately critical and/or argumentative, but that's because it's a waste of bandwidth to post a comment saying, "I agree!" That's what the up-arrow is for.

Blogs don't usually have up arrows.

Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#34

Post by aufreak3 »

For quite a while now, I really did feel that Joel has run out of things to say and stopped reading him. So this comes as no surprise (and no loss). His books are still good reads though. Wisdom is also something that is subject to evolution I guess.

Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#35

Post by whyenot »

greenlblue wrote: post #2

Nice article and the lessons apply to mathematicians as well. Few mathematician are willing to engage in civil meta-mathematical discourse and usually all such discussions end up in a shouting match about the intellectual inferiority of whoever is involved.

Yes. I've found it very intimidating as a grad student. I wonder though if it's really worse in math, or if most academic disciplines don't have the same problem.

Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#36

Post by aristus »

amackera wrote: post #13
petercooper wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone who doesn't seem to aloof and distant from other people will be better off (take _why for example). _why isn't the best example - he was awesome, but part of his appeal was that he was distant and not on the same plane as the rest of us.. just not in a negative way. Nonetheless, before he disappeared he tweeted: programming is rather thankless. u see your works become replaced by superior ones in a year. unab…

This is something that has bothered me a lot in the past. Other engineers build bridges and towers and monuments that stand for years and years. The beautiful code written by a good programmer might be replaced 8 months later by a junior who doesn't understand it. I suppose in our profession we are able to perpetuate ourselves by communicating our ideas into the world. Our influence is felt in posterity through the i…

Comparing a Rails library to a bridge isn't quite right. Most things lone hackers write are bike sheds and family homes. No one builds a bridge alone.

You want a legacy? Move up the food chain and start discovering new data structures and algorithms. Or work on a large project like GMail.

Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#37

Post by greenlblue »

whyenot wrote: post #35
greenlblue wrote: post #2

Nice article and the lessons apply to mathematicians as well. Few mathematician are willing to engage in civil meta-mathematical discourse and usually all such discussions end up in a shouting match about the intellectual inferiority of whoever is involved.

Yes. I've found it very intimidating as a grad student. I wonder though if it's really worse in math, or if most academic disciplines don't have the same problem.

It's much worse in math because mathematicians are an argumentative bunch to begin with and many novice mathematicians have their entire being built around their intellectual abilities so they get quite defensive when their views are challenged.

Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#38

Post by bootload »

"... He has outlasted the relevance of all of them. His first articles would have been frontpaged on whatever came before Slashdot. ..."

Not quite true. Slashdot is from about '96 and JOS is from about 1999-2000. Could the real reason be a bit simpler as suggested Joel is running out of new ideas? Is it possible the upcoming IPO might also play part?

"... I can’t, which is one of the reasons why I rarely write about programming: it’s just not worth the risk of putting myself out there on that subject because the risk of strongly negative feedback is higher than with most other content that I can produce. It’s much easier to share my breakfast than my easily argued, easily disproven, intellectually vulnerable thoughts on programming. ..."

And all loose out. Has this kind of negative feedback held people back from conversing in past times?

Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#39

Post by ddaymace »

Programmer critics can be very difficult, often just as difficult and insulting as the unintelligent critics. However, I find the ignorant people are usually worse and more frequent and are there just to troll or make shocking remarks without even trying to backup with logic. I have seen programmer critics get really bad, nitpicking everything. It's like they have no lives or respect at the worst, trashing everyone like they are smartest in the cosmos.

Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#40

Post by forkandwait »

In the egalitarian listserv world that I frequent, programmers generally are extremely helpful, more patient than necessary, and write remarkably good prose. Perhaps because jerks like to comment on blogs because doing so doesn't have ramifications in a repuation based ecosystem in which there is less asymmetry. It is easy and safe to bad mouth the gods, not so in the assembly...
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