A letter from _why • Hacker News Board

Re: A letter from _why

#71

Post by glassx » Tue, Aug 23, 2011, 2:18 PM UTC

javadyan wrote: post #45

rbanffy wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's okay, but he is also indirectly encouraging a beginner to not care about the quality of the code he produces You really should not be using (or maintaining) code written by beginners, should you?

Yes, but that is not the point. The point is, best practices should be taught as early as possible, so that people don't acquire bad programming habits.

I know this might be an unpopular opinion, but nobody really _learns_ good practices just by having somebody tell them. They might _use_ them, but _learning_ requires something more. It is important for programmers to think by themselves!

Getting beginners to experiment with their own code is a very natural way of teaching them what is good and what is bad, and why exactly it is good/bad - since they're the ones who'll have to maintain it.

Also, unrelated, but "having fun" is an amazing metric for good code. If some coding activity is boring as hell you're probably 1) on the wrong job or 2) using the wrong abstractions.

Re: A letter from _why

#72

Post by raganwald » Tue, Aug 23, 2011, 2:29 PM UTC

officemonkey wrote: post #41

grimen wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Example: Do you paint and/or build because you feel like it, or because it pays your bills? I doubt a child got bills to pay, so why do they paint and/or build LEGO? Code can be art and play too.

I'll go even further. If you're a kid and coding isn't fun, then please stop doing it. The last thing you need is to sacrifice your career to something you don't like doing.

I'll go further. Drop the "kid" qualifier, or allow for the possibility that we're all kids:

If coding isn't fun, please stop doing it. The last thing you need is to sacrifice your career to something you don't like doing.

Re: A letter from _why

#73

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Aug 23, 2011, 2:32 PM UTC

hrabago wrote: post #59

First, you have to learn the rules. Then you have to master the rules. You have to really know what they're for, how they make things better. Then, finally, you can start breaking the rules.

[deleted]

Re: A letter from _why

#74

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Aug 23, 2011, 2:36 PM UTC

javadyan wrote: post #6

> They aren’t afraid to write dangerous or “crappy” code. If you worry too much about being clean and tidy, you can’t push the boundaries. Yes, of course. You push the boundaries, move on, and at the end of the day, we have to maintain the stinking pile of "experiments" you left us with. Ugh.

[deleted]

Re: A letter from _why

#75

Post by mtogo » Tue, Aug 23, 2011, 2:45 PM UTC

wyclif wrote: post #35

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #2

Please add [2005] to the title. You had my hopes up there for a moment.

Ditto here. Too much excitement this early in the morning, only for a letdown.

Too much excitement? _why was generally a cool guy, but why (no pun intended) would you get yourself excited over his return? He's just a person, just another developer, not the messiah or anything.

Re: A letter from _why

#76

Post by pygy_ » Tue, Aug 23, 2011, 2:47 PM UTC

pygy_ wrote: post #33

jessedhillon wrote: post #4

Can someone write an explanation for why this is important? Who is this person?

He's a top notch high and low-level programmer with excellent taste for API design (and a language geek). He's also a talented poet/writer, painter/cartoonist/web designer and composer/singer/musician. From ~2002 to 2009, he released a tremendous amount of material (dozens of code projects, thousands of blog posts), then disappeared abruptly, deleting almost everything he had ever published. His blog posts were humor…

> It's a pity he left so many things unfinished.

I realize that ending the description in such a bitter way misses the big picture.

He offered a slew of free/libre programs and art, and more. Bickering over a few abandoned projects is ridiculous.

_why, if you happen to read this: it was fun while it lasted. Thanks a lot for the ride, and best wishes for your current and future endeavors.

Re: A letter from _why

#77

Post by pwang » Tue, Aug 23, 2011, 2:48 PM UTC

mtogo wrote: post #75

wyclif wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ditto here. Too much excitement this early in the morning, only for a letdown.

Too much excitement? _why was generally a cool guy, but why (no pun intended) would you get yourself excited over his return? He's just a person, just another developer, not the messiah or anything.

Oh, but he's part of the lore and the canon, so even though the sixth patriarch tells you to stare at the moon and not the fingers pointing the moon, on HN there's a lot of finger-worship going on.

Re: A letter from _why

#78

Post by billmcneale » Tue, Aug 23, 2011, 3:04 PM UTC

"I do not write tests for my code. I do not write very many comments. "

and then:

"I admire programmer who take risks"

Denial much?

By the way: this was written in 2005.

Re: A letter from _why

#79

Post by misuba » Tue, Aug 23, 2011, 3:19 PM UTC

api wrote: post #64

"Until an asteroid," By far the best byline I have ever read.

And an apt title for his biography.

Re: A letter from _why

#80

Post by wyclif » Tue, Aug 23, 2011, 3:27 PM UTC

mtogo wrote: post #75

wyclif wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ditto here. Too much excitement this early in the morning, only for a letdown.

Too much excitement? _why was generally a cool guy, but why (no pun intended) would you get yourself excited over his return? He's just a person, just another developer, not the messiah or anything.

Don't read too much into it. I just thought it might be fun to see him resurrected.