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Anti Mediocracy Manifesto for Software Development

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Re: Anti Mediocracy Manifesto for Software Development

#71

Post by qwertyuiop924 »

king_magic wrote: post #58
qwertyuiop924 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you missed the point: The point is, if the requirements for a piece of code are so complex that you NEED to write a requirement analysis, that you NEED to do anything other than plan out your code, and write it, than your software is already too complicated. You need to narrow the scope. Lots of small systems is better than one large system.

Yeah, sorry, but real life software doesn't work that way. Real life software is often inherently complex.

I disagree. Complexity can arise through interactions between simple pieces of software. Given, planning that out may be complex, but certainly less complex than writing it all in one go.

Re: Anti Mediocracy Manifesto for Software Development

#72

Post by neogodless »

I really think you mean "mediocrity" or "the quality or state of being mediocre" rather than "mediocracy" or "a dominant class consisting of mediocre people, or a system in which mediocrity is rewarded."

I say this because you're trying to "give developers a code to live by that will increase the quality of code and coders." However, you're not talking about a "dominant class" or a "reward system." So I think the word choice is off.

Re: Anti Mediocracy Manifesto for Software Development

#73

Post by neogodless »

daveloyall wrote: post #69

I stopped reading 14 words in because gobbling != globbing. For that matter, manifest != manifesto. Probably English isn't the author's first language. I should forgive him and carry on, but a quick scroll reveals the words idiot and whiskey. TL;DR

...and mediocrity != mediocracy.

Re: Anti Mediocracy Manifesto for Software Development

#74

Post by deong »

amelius wrote: post #40
arpa wrote: post #15

While very idealistic and beautiful in a way as all manifests tend to be, we (along the author) tend to forget certain truths - the middle of the gaussian curve is fattest; all natural distributions follow that curve, and developers are no exception. Most of us, by definition, are mediocre. There's nothing that can be done about it. We should not shun, but rather embrace that. Not by deluding ourselves that if we fol…

One solution comes to mind: allow only the people who are >2 sigma above the average to design the software (i.e., be architects), and to do QA.

In my experience, this usually leads to having a team of "architects" whose job it is to sit in meetings with people actually building things and tell them how to do it. I've yet to meet anyone who can do that job well. No one is good enough to reliably prescribe solutions from afar without getting their hands dirty. There will be weirdness and corner cases and overlooked details that have to be accounted for. Going back to the architect who has been doing other things for the last six months isn't likely to yield much insight in what to do about that.

I think that in pretty much all cases, you'd be better off just taking that architect and telling him to write the code. If you don't think you have enough good people to do the amount of work you need to do with that approach, you're trying to do too much work.

Re: Anti Mediocracy Manifesto for Software Development

#75

Post by btilly »

oldmanjay wrote: post #61

I don't mean to be purely negative but this is so wrong as to be harmful. My one solace is that my marketplace competition may read this and thereby make themselves less effective pursuing some silly ideal of purity while I'm busy getting shit done.

Absolutely.

This looks to me like a developer who is frustrated that nobody listens to him, who wrote a manifesto saying that everyone should do things in the way that HE thinks they should be done. Reading through the manifesto, it is obvious to me why nobody is listening to said developer.

Re: Anti Mediocracy Manifesto for Software Development

#76

Post by ktRolster »

arpa wrote: post #15

While very idealistic and beautiful in a way as all manifests tend to be, we (along the author) tend to forget certain truths - the middle of the gaussian curve is fattest; all natural distributions follow that curve, and developers are no exception. Most of us, by definition, are mediocre. There's nothing that can be done about it. We should not shun, but rather embrace that. Not by deluding ourselves that if we fol…

   >the middle of the gaussian curve is fattest; all natural distributions follow that curve
Skill-level tends to be distributed with an exponential distribution, not a gaussian distribution.

Re: Anti Mediocracy Manifesto for Software Development

#77

Post by ktRolster »

glaberficken wrote: post #34
arpa wrote: post #15

While very idealistic and beautiful in a way as all manifests tend to be, we (along the author) tend to forget certain truths - the middle of the gaussian curve is fattest; all natural distributions follow that curve, and developers are no exception. Most of us, by definition, are mediocre. There's nothing that can be done about it. We should not shun, but rather embrace that. Not by deluding ourselves that if we fol…

Couldn't agree more with this. It's something I repeat at work almost once every week. Look I'm average, most of us at work will be average. The question is how to we design our processes to take that into account? instead of constantly pointing fingers for mistakes that happened.

It'd be kind of cool if you tried to improve your skill level, too. That is something you can do.

Re: Anti Mediocracy Manifesto for Software Development

#78

Post by ktRolster »

Mimu wrote: post #54

I'll never understand comparing code to art. Not the first time I'm seeing it but for me it couldn't be further apart. There is no best way to make a drawing. There is no best way to make a movie. There is no best way to tell a story. There is no best way to make a painting. There is no best way to create a song. ... There is (almost?) always a best way to do a piece of code. Code has nothing to do with emotions. I'm…

There is (almost?) always a best way to do a piece of code.

Nah....we can't even decide on a 'best' language to use. Or how to best indent, or where to put the braces, or what variable names to use. The code you write is a reflection of what's inside your mind, just like art.

Re: Anti Mediocracy Manifesto for Software Development

#79

Post by [deleted] »

vintageseltzer wrote: post #13

> ... it's not about gobbling together the right tools and do some plumbing to make it work. No, it's using tools to craft a work of art. Anyone not recognizing this is an inferior software developer by definition ... So — if you don't prioritize your ego and personal sense of artistry over accomplishing the task, you are an inferior developer? I would never want a person like this on my team.

[deleted]

Re: Anti Mediocracy Manifesto for Software Development

#80

Post by glaberficken »

ktRolster wrote: post #77
glaberficken wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Couldn't agree more with this. It's something I repeat at work almost once every week. Look I'm average, most of us at work will be average. The question is how to we design our processes to take that into account? instead of constantly pointing fingers for mistakes that happened.

It'd be kind of cool if you tried to improve your skill level, too. That is something you can do.

Of course I can and I do but the wider group will still always have a Gaussian distribution of skills more or less always. (as pointed out by parent comment)
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