Cargo cult programming (2020)
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Cargo cult programming (2020)
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Re: Cargo cult programming (2020)
#2Article summed up: there’s this thing called cargo cult programming and it’s bad.
Re: Cargo cult programming (2020)
#3If every programmer doesn't understand the nuance of any random section of code in their product they are bad...
Re: Cargo cult programming (2020)
#4Not enough evidence or reasoning to make an interesting argument. "Doing something everyone else is doing only because everyone else is doing it is bad" is obvious already. This article leaves a lot to be desired..
Re: Cargo cult programming (2020)
#5I guess I do a lot of cargo cult programming by the metrics in the article: if someone approaches me and demands a detailed explanation of the design principles involved in some minor function I wrote months ago, plus a list of the programming books I consulted (printed books -- no online resources, please!), I will probably score poorly in "eloquence" since I'll just be standing there slack-jawed and bewildered.
Re: Cargo cult programming (2020)
#6Cargo culting is basically doing something you don't understand, hoping that it'll accomplish your goals.
Following this person's advice to not learn from blogs and articles, and instead only learn from books, sounds like cargo culting to me.
The source of the information doesn't matter. What matters is learning new concepts, knowing how to apply them, and understanding the reasons for applying them. You can learn that from anywhere: a book, a blog, a leprechaun, inspiration from above, something written on a cake, etc.
Edit: some of those may be better sources of information than the others, but I think you get my point.
Re: Cargo cult programming (2020)
#7Its the antithesis to "design patterns", "best practices" and whatever other buzzword comes along.
Re: Cargo cult programming (2020)
#8I guess I do a lot of cargo cult programming by the metrics in the article: if someone approaches me and demands a detailed explanation of the design principles involved in some minor function I wrote months ago, plus a list of the programming books I consulted (printed books -- no online resources, please!), I will probably score poorly in "eloquence" since I'll just be standing there slack-jawed and bewildered.
Who remembers their sources anyway? Once you learn a concept or a principle, the source of that knowledge fades away pretty fast while the concept remains.
Re: Cargo cult programming (2020)
#9"Ask them to explain in detail, a small part of the product. Yes! In detail! ... Everything is explainable in layman’s terms…" - so now you dependent on the teaching/explaining talent rather than code.
Re: Cargo cult programming (2020)
#10I guess I do a lot of cargo cult programming by the metrics in the article: if someone approaches me and demands a detailed explanation of the design principles involved in some minor function I wrote months ago, plus a list of the programming books I consulted (printed books -- no online resources, please!), I will probably score poorly in "eloquence" since I'll just be standing there slack-jawed and bewildered.
Who remembers their sources anyway? Once you learn a concept or a principle, the source of that knowledge fades away pretty fast while the concept remains.
Getting a bit off topic but I definitely have some strong associations between concepts and the time & place or people I learned them from.