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Closure, from why the lucky stiff (2013)

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Re: Closure, from why the lucky stiff (2013)

#41

Post by preseinger »

booleandilemma wrote: post #39
preseinger wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it characterizes programming in a way that is basically incoherent to most stereotypical programmers (i agree with you, for the record, it was gobbledegook to me too) the question is: does programming represent some kind of subjective expression, or some kind of objective precision? why's little zine says it's the former, but that's not how i see it at all programming is, for me, like working on math problems, or bal…

There's a reason one of the most famous computer scientists and programmers titled his series of books "The Art of Computer Programming".

it's definitely possible to model programming as an art, and there is value in that model, but (imo) that model is neither productive nor accurate in most programming contexts

Re: Closure, from why the lucky stiff (2013)

#42

Post by kjs3 »

ornornor wrote: post #13
masto wrote: post #8

Would anyone be willing to explain this? Who is "us", what is a PCL, what is a spool, what are these random words? Is this supposed to be a puzzle?

PCL is postscript common language or something like that, basically an alternative to PDF as far as I know.

No, it's HP Printer Command Language[1]; it's the 'native tongue' of things like HP LaserJets. It predates and is different from PS and PDF[2] and isn't an alternative for PDF in that you don't store documents 'in PCL'.

[1] https://developers.hp.com/hp-printer-command-languages-pcl [2] https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06242096

Re: Closure, from why the lucky stiff (2013)

#43

Post by bloopernova »

cobaltoxide wrote: post #37

What is this?

Why the lucky stiff wrote a great, poignant guide to Ruby. A lot of people loved it and demanded more from Why. They decided they didn't want to be in the public eye even a little, and wrote a goodbye. I think CLOSURE is that goodbye?

Re: Closure, from why the lucky stiff (2013)

#44

Post by lubujackson »

preseinger wrote: post #34
ornornor wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never got it. Everyone says it’s fantastic, I feel like an idiot for absolutely not getting it at all when it came out and still not today.

it characterizes programming in a way that is basically incoherent to most stereotypical programmers (i agree with you, for the record, it was gobbledegook to me too) the question is: does programming represent some kind of subjective expression, or some kind of objective precision? why's little zine says it's the former, but that's not how i see it at all programming is, for me, like working on math problems, or bal…

Worth noting that mathematicians also argue over the art vs. science approach to math itself. Ask one what makes a formula "elegant", for example, can lead to some hand-waving that boils down to "you know it when you see it."

My take: the art is always about the human communication through the medium. As soon as programming is abstracted beyond the 1s and 0s, every choice represents a mental model for communicating intent from a human to a computer and by extension, from a human to a human. Writing "elegant code" is all about communicating intent to other programmers.

You can say the same about math - so much of the human-ness of math is backed into the symbols we use to represent things and relationships. Just think of the human impact of doing multiplication in Arabic numerals vs. Roman numerals and you can understand how math is totally a human construct.

But underneath it, the logic of multiplication is non-human and those that focus on that are the "science-minded" ones. But so much of our human understanding comes from the "art-minded" ones, for obvious reasons.

Re: Closure, from why the lucky stiff (2013)

#45

Post by thom »

mjw1007 wrote: post #38
thom wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was very much of a time and place, and obviously people are welcome to take or leave it. I certainly cringe that every language now seems to need its own twee, jokey, book-long tutorial, like Learn You a Haskell for Great Good and Clojure for the Brave and True. But Why’s (Poignant) Guide captured the playfulness and nostalgia for lost time that the Ruby community evoked for a lot of people back then, especially t…

I don't think the jokey book-long tutorial is a new phenomenon. I learned Fortran in the 80s from the Fortran Coloring Book.

I now also see Comic Pascal from 1984, fair enough.

Re: Closure, from why the lucky stiff (2013)

#47

Post by steveklabnik »

masto wrote: post #8

Would anyone be willing to explain this? Who is "us", what is a PCL, what is a spool, what are these random words? Is this supposed to be a puzzle?

1. "Us" is the Ruby community (and arguably programming at large)

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_Command_Language

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spooling#Print_spooling

4. They are individual titles of each page

5. yes, this was a puzzle of sorts, though the answers were kind of given to us beforehand, so you can argue that it wasn't a difficult puzzle. The PDF is the "answer" to the puzzle, if you will.

Re: Closure, from why the lucky stiff (2013)

#48

Post by steveklabnik »

bloopernova wrote: post #43
cobaltoxide wrote: post #37

What is this?

Why the lucky stiff wrote a great, poignant guide to Ruby. A lot of people loved it and demanded more from Why. They decided they didn't want to be in the public eye even a little, and wrote a goodbye. I think CLOSURE is that goodbye?

This is broadly correct, yes. _why decided to leave, and did so. Years later, his website reappeared, containing the information I've collected here. CLOSURE is the title I gave it, because that is what I think it represents.

Re: Closure, from why the lucky stiff (2013)

#49

Post by pailey »

masto wrote: post #8

Would anyone be willing to explain this? Who is "us", what is a PCL, what is a spool, what are these random words? Is this supposed to be a puzzle?

A few weeks/months before _why published this book, this page appeared on his "public print queue" on his site, hinting that the print queue would become active on April 18: https://github.com/steveklabnik/CLOSURE/blob/master/PDF/DESO...

A day or two before April 18, this page appeared containing a hand-written OCaml script you could use to hook up your own printer to _why's public print queue: https://github.com/steveklabnik/CLOSURE/blob/master/PDF/HOME...

On April 18, a bunch of us gathered in an IRC chat room (https://viewsourcecode.org/why/CLOSURE/ircLog.html). A few of us got the script working on our machines, and so every 10-15 minutes our printers would suddenly start up and print the next page as _why slowly published them one at a time throughout the day. Steve Klabnik gathered all the pages into one PDF and gave it the name "CLOSURE".

This article does a good job of giving more context around the book itself (as well as a partial summary): https://kev.town/2013/04/30/why-did-why-the-lucky-stiff-quit...

Re: Closure, from why the lucky stiff (2013)

#50

Post by steveklabnik »

pailey wrote: post #49
masto wrote: post #8

Would anyone be willing to explain this? Who is "us", what is a PCL, what is a spool, what are these random words? Is this supposed to be a puzzle?

A few weeks/months before _why published this book, this page appeared on his "public print queue" on his site, hinting that the print queue would become active on April 18: https://github.com/steveklabnik/CLOSURE/blob/master/PDF/DESO... A day or two before April 18, this page appeared containing a hand-written OCaml script you could use to hook up your own printer to _why's public print queue: https://github.com/ste…

I am still kinda sad that the only place I kept the video of my printer printing out pages was Vine. Oh well.

EDIT: I am now realizing that, ironically, maybe that is appropriate...

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