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Please learn to write

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41–50 of 124 posts

Re: Please learn to write

#41

Post by mgkimsal »

edw519 wrote: post #23

Source of my problems: design issues 5% architecture constraints 5% language shortcomings 1% mental blocks 5% personal time management 4% personal energy 5% communication with others 75% I waste more time just trying to figure out what others are trying to say, sometimes in person and by voice, but mostly in writing. For most emails, I have to click "reply" or call back simply because what you're trying to tell me is…

Similarly, I tell people that I can count on one hand the number of times I've had a project fail (or nearly fail) because I or someone on the team couldn't open a database connection, or write to a file, or shrink an image, or what have you (it's happened, but very rarely, and usually because of some arcane weirdness or a truly incompetent person).

Overwhelmingly, projects I've been involved in that failed or nearly failed did so because of basic communication problems - misunderstanding someone, not clarifying, not getting enough detail, making assumptions, etc. Yet these skills are hardly ever taught anywhere. Hard tech skills in schools, certification progams, etc. all cover less than half of what makes a truly useful developer.

Re: Please learn to write

#42

Post by samspot »

MartinCron wrote: post #37

I'm (primarily) a coder and I've started writing a short weekly newsletter for the users of the application I'm supporting and extending. The basic format is "what happened this week" and "what may happen next week" as well as a "please communicate with us if you have concerns or ideas". I'm now 14 weeks into this experiment, and I've found a things worth sharing. 1. Explaining to your entire user base what you're up…

This advice sounds fantastic, and I've bookmarked it for reference. Thank you for sharing!

Re: Please learn to write

#43

Post by backspace »

edw519 wrote: post #23

Source of my problems: design issues 5% architecture constraints 5% language shortcomings 1% mental blocks 5% personal time management 4% personal energy 5% communication with others 75% I waste more time just trying to figure out what others are trying to say, sometimes in person and by voice, but mostly in writing. For most emails, I have to click "reply" or call back simply because what you're trying to tell me is…

A great engineer is superior to an average engineer mostly due to their communication skills.

Re: Please learn to write

#45

Post by MartinCron »

samspot wrote: post #42
MartinCron wrote: post #37

I'm (primarily) a coder and I've started writing a short weekly newsletter for the users of the application I'm supporting and extending. The basic format is "what happened this week" and "what may happen next week" as well as a "please communicate with us if you have concerns or ideas". I'm now 14 weeks into this experiment, and I've found a things worth sharing. 1. Explaining to your entire user base what you're up…

This advice sounds fantastic, and I've bookmarked it for reference. Thank you for sharing!

I'm glad you like it. I just remembered another thing I've learned from the experience and added it (#7 - have an editor)

Re: Please learn to write

#46

Post by MartinCron »

edw519 wrote: post #23

Source of my problems: design issues 5% architecture constraints 5% language shortcomings 1% mental blocks 5% personal time management 4% personal energy 5% communication with others 75% I waste more time just trying to figure out what others are trying to say, sometimes in person and by voice, but mostly in writing. For most emails, I have to click "reply" or call back simply because what you're trying to tell me is…

Did I just end that sentence with a preposition?

A preposition is a perfectly acceptable thing to end a sentence with. Seriously. If you find yourself re-writing it as "with which to end a sentence" you're going to come across as stilted and awkward.

Re: Please learn to write

#47

Post by theorique »

_delirium wrote: post #28
hkmurakami wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making the online communications situation worse is the proliferation of "short" communication methods (ex: IM, Twitter, FB Status messages, etc.). Written communication is naturally more challenging than face to face verbal communication. These "short" communication modes make things worse, opening up all sorts of possibilities for misinterpretation and miscommunication. I felt so shackled by IM conversations, that…

I've tried both, and for coding-related stuff, I really dislike phone (or Skype), ranking it just about the worst possible option. I'd much rather IRC or IM, where at least we can exchange code and links and there's a bit of a scrollback buffer. Twitter and FB status messages I put in a different category, because it's difficult to have a proper conversation with them. It's pretty easy to have a proper conversation o…

There are a bunch of collaborative text editing web sites where two or more people can work on the same document.

I've used them for technical phone interviews and they work well. Combine that with phone and skype and you can make things happen (of course it's hard to run code in this).

Perhaps a screen sharing / webex approach would work in the case where you really need to run code together.

Re: Please learn to write

#48

Post by augusto_hp »

sarenji wrote: post #34
augusto_hp wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a series of posts that uses it to self-promotion? IMHO yes.

It was a reference to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Considered_harmful Namely -- Frank Rubin published a criticism of Dijkstra's letter in the March 1987 CACM where it appeared under the title 'GOTO Considered Harmful' Considered Harmful. The May 1987 CACM printed further replies, both for and against, under the title '"GOTO Considered Harmful" Considered Harmful' Considered Harmful?. Dijkstra's own response to…

My (really) bad! Shame on me.

Re: Please learn to write

#49

Post by easp »

I suppose I could get a blog post out of this, but I can't be bothered, so:

Please learn to use a phone to make a voice call.

I value effective written communication, but part of effective communication is understanding your audience, and in many situations, you audience is only a handful of people. In that case it is a much more efficient use of your time, and theirs, to just have a conversation.

IRC or IM is a reasonable substitute, and a face-to-face conversation, if practical, is even better.

(Writing this in a spare moment before talking to someone face-to-face. Last night I spent the better part of an hour trying to figure out how to address the issue over email before concluding that a short conversation would be more effective)

Re: Please learn to write

#50

Post by squarecat »

"I tweeted Jeff Atwood’s piece because, well, I agree that it’s pretty silly to think that the world is going to be a better place if the Mayor of New York City learns how to code. I agree with Atwood that his valuable time would be better spent elsewhere."

Oh yeah? And who the fuck are YOU, sir?? Or Mr. Atwood?

For all you know, the world would be infinitely better if the Mayor of New York City learns how to code.

But I suppose we'll never know, because no one should ever do anything other than what they are to be doing right then.

Only.

Forever.

In that case, stop writing and go back to whatever it is you were doing before, because the world is not a better place when you blog -- your valuable time would be better spent elsewhere.

Is not history itself defined by breaking patterns? They don't call it a "turning point" because it sounds nice.

How many events that altered the path of mankind were part of "The Plan"? How many were arrived at by strictly adhering to a well-defined path?

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