Being a rock star programmer
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Nicholas Wigant wrote:
Glengarry Glen Ross
Don't think I've ever seen that movie. Helluva a cast, though. I might have to check that out this weekend. BW
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
-- Steven WrightABC, Always Be Closing... ------------------------------------- Do not do what has already been done. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.. but it ROCKS absolutely, too.
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Was the code that works your first draft or have you rehashed it a few times? And the code as it is now, are you happy with it in other terms apart from "it works"? regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry! K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
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doGet this (sorta shows were I'm comming from) > 10 years ago a prototype was done. > Mgt gave the project the go ahead > The prototype was used as the base implementation :confused: (this is where all the problems stem from) All this was done in another unit of our company, at the time were were application using these services. Last year we transfered this service over here (we now 'own' it), fixed all outstanding bugs, changed a few things for better performance and left it at that. It works so I'm happy (mgt not bugging us, no news is good news) the code is a mess, complete shit, completely over engineered, a nightmare to trace through, maintenance is a pain in the ass. This is why we are rewriting the application. Prototyped it, searious code reduction, performance increase, got the go ahead and currently implementing The prototype is only being used as a reference for the methodoligy behind the use cases and nothing else. Imp. 'Out of Office Auto Reply' The email server is unable to verify your server connection and is unable to deliver this mesage. Please restart your computer and try sending again. '(The beauty of this is that when you return, you can see how many in-du-viduals did this over and over).
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The best way to improve is to study code that is better than your own. Read good code written by experts, in a variety of programming languages. Study it until you understand how it works and what makes it good. That's it.
The One Tip That Rules Them All[^] The IronMonkey claims that the one tip to being a better programmer is the above. To read good code. Anyone care to agree or disagree? (And you can skip his waffle at the begining of the post.) regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry! K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
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doReading good code of guru's has certainly been a boon to me. I would add the qualification though, that it has served me best when I have spent some time working in the problem domain for a period of time myself. Once I have some experience trying to tackle a problem, seeing truly elegant, efficient solutions really helps boost me to a new level. My two cents... Dan Remember kids, we're trained professionals.
Don't try this at home! -
ABC, Always Be Closing... ------------------------------------- Do not do what has already been done. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.. but it ROCKS absolutely, too.
Sounds like a financial saying. regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry! K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
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Reading good code of guru's has certainly been a boon to me. I would add the qualification though, that it has served me best when I have spent some time working in the problem domain for a period of time myself. Once I have some experience trying to tackle a problem, seeing truly elegant, efficient solutions really helps boost me to a new level. My two cents... Dan Remember kids, we're trained professionals.
Don't try this at home!I absolutely agree that you have to be in the problem domain to get the most benefit. Once you can map the code you are reading to a mental concept it falls into place. regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry! K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
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ABC, Always Be Closing... ------------------------------------- Do not do what has already been done. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.. but it ROCKS absolutely, too.
NBC = Nothing But Crap ABC = Anything But Cool CBS = Constantly Broadcasting Shit (I just made that one up) Jeremy Falcon
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Sounds like a financial saying. regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry! K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
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doSales saying. Closing the deal. ------------------------------------- Do not do what has already been done. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.. but it ROCKS absolutely, too.
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The best way to improve is to study code that is better than your own. Read good code written by experts, in a variety of programming languages. Study it until you understand how it works and what makes it good. That's it.
The One Tip That Rules Them All[^] The IronMonkey claims that the one tip to being a better programmer is the above. To read good code. Anyone care to agree or disagree? (And you can skip his waffle at the begining of the post.) regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry! K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
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doI would add that to be a better programmer would be to write better code than your last project... My Programming Library /* You are not expected to understand this */
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Write an article and submit it on CP :-D
C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot; C++ makes it harder, but when you do, it blows away your whole leg
:laugh::laugh::laugh: My Programming Library /* You are not expected to understand this */
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ihoecken wrote:
But there is more than reading code.
If you re-read the original post, you will see that it does not say that reading code is the ONLY way. It says that reading code is the best way.
Yes I read it. But when it says "reading code is the best way" then I think I just have to read good code, analyse it and then start it for myself. But there is more to do. You can easy learn programming without reading good code, but you the most can't easy learn programming just with reading good code. So, I say: this isn't the best way! Greetings, Ingo ------------------------------ PROST Roleplaying Game War doesn't determine who's right. War determines who's left.
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The best way to improve is to study code that is better than your own. Read good code written by experts, in a variety of programming languages. Study it until you understand how it works and what makes it good. That's it.
The One Tip That Rules Them All[^] The IronMonkey claims that the one tip to being a better programmer is the above. To read good code. Anyone care to agree or disagree? (And you can skip his waffle at the begining of the post.) regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry! K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
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doDo what I did today: I managed to have a C++ destructor recursively call itself. This Is A Bad Thing. :sigh:
Software Zen:
delete this; -
The best way to improve is to study code that is better than your own. Read good code written by experts, in a variety of programming languages. Study it until you understand how it works and what makes it good. That's it.
The One Tip That Rules Them All[^] The IronMonkey claims that the one tip to being a better programmer is the above. To read good code. Anyone care to agree or disagree? (And you can skip his waffle at the begining of the post.) regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry! K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
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doWhat are we talking about, coding, programming or software engineering? And what are they? And how do you measure them? Coding: The act of writing code. What is good and bad code? Good layout? Efficient use of stack or heap regarding variable declaration? Good choice of variable and function names so the code reads well? Or speed? Refining an algorithm to perfection? Developing good, logical algorithm? Or is it writing maintenable code? Programming: Is it the same as coding? Is it understanding the platform? Software engineering: Designing the architecture? Modularising the code into logical, reusable chunks? All well and good, but if the customer doesnt like it it is all wasted efort. Getting the product out on time at the right quality and the right price is the only criteria. Nunc est bibendum
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Do what I did today: I managed to have a C++ destructor recursively call itself. This Is A Bad Thing. :sigh:
Software Zen:
delete this;Quite appropriate to your sig then. Trying to think of an instance, already destructed, that is meant to call it's own destructor... regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry! K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
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What are we talking about, coding, programming or software engineering? And what are they? And how do you measure them? Coding: The act of writing code. What is good and bad code? Good layout? Efficient use of stack or heap regarding variable declaration? Good choice of variable and function names so the code reads well? Or speed? Refining an algorithm to perfection? Developing good, logical algorithm? Or is it writing maintenable code? Programming: Is it the same as coding? Is it understanding the platform? Software engineering: Designing the architecture? Modularising the code into logical, reusable chunks? All well and good, but if the customer doesnt like it it is all wasted efort. Getting the product out on time at the right quality and the right price is the only criteria. Nunc est bibendum
So you have no opinion then? regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry! K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
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The best way to improve is to study code that is better than your own. Read good code written by experts, in a variety of programming languages. Study it until you understand how it works and what makes it good. That's it.
The One Tip That Rules Them All[^] The IronMonkey claims that the one tip to being a better programmer is the above. To read good code. Anyone care to agree or disagree? (And you can skip his waffle at the begining of the post.) regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry! K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
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doThey're both right.
- You need good tools - if you spend all your time fighting with your tools, you won't spend time improving your skills.
- You need to be a bit introspective - if you can't look critically at your own output and the practices that led to it, you won't be motivated to improve.
- You need to find and recognize work that is better than your own. Looking only at your own code, it's too easy to become blind to alternative ways of doing things better. And if you never read code in languages other than what you use, you'll find it hard to break out of the mindset that your language was written towards.
I was glad to see "#4 Don't learn APIs too well" - as bad as it is to find someone wasting effort re-implementing something that their platform already provides, it's almost as bad to find someone unwilling to attempt a task because their API of choice doesn't provide a clear path to it, or using a convoluted program structure in order to fit with some API or framework (MFC doc/view, i'm looking at you). If you approach a problem with the idea that you'll be writing your own API and then save time by finding bits that are already done, you'll be far happier and more productive.
---- Scripts i've known... CPhog 0.9.9 - make CP better. Forum Bookmark 0.2.5 - bookmark forum posts on Pensieve Print forum 0.1.1 - printer-friendly forums
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The best way to improve is to study code that is better than your own. Read good code written by experts, in a variety of programming languages. Study it until you understand how it works and what makes it good. That's it.
The One Tip That Rules Them All[^] The IronMonkey claims that the one tip to being a better programmer is the above. To read good code. Anyone care to agree or disagree? (And you can skip his waffle at the begining of the post.) regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry! K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
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doOne must know the client or it would be like knowing a language in another country, but not knowing the culture. It also implies that you could become a master chief by just reading a cook book which is clearly not the case. We have a validation error here (-: David David
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The best way to improve is to study code that is better than your own. Read good code written by experts, in a variety of programming languages. Study it until you understand how it works and what makes it good. That's it.
The One Tip That Rules Them All[^] The IronMonkey claims that the one tip to being a better programmer is the above. To read good code. Anyone care to agree or disagree? (And you can skip his waffle at the begining of the post.) regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry! K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
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doReading good code is meaningless. For someone without talent it is as Solomon once said "a chasing after the wind...". Without ability it cannot be done. Without desire there is no need to do it. Being a rock start programmer requires three things: 1. Talent 2. Ability 3. Desire If you have the talent with the ability driven by desire you will become a rock star programmer. Regards, John McPherson "Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Arthur C. Clark, inventor of the telecommunications satellite
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Troposphere wrote:
Nobody said that reading good code would turn just anybody into a good programmer. It is a given that the advice refers to people who are already programmers, have significant talent, AND have the motivation to improve their skills.
No of course not. But there is more than reading code. You need background information. Programming is like writing not only practice. There is a theoretical part. Of course there are writers and programmers who learned it just by reading, but the most have to do more. Otherwise nobody would have to go to a university. Greetings, Ingo ------------------------------ PROST Roleplaying Game War doesn't determine who's right. War determines who's left. -- modified at 8:26 Thursday 30th March, 2006
I Would agree 100%...i have never been to school for programing and i have a good job doing it www.aes4you.com[^] I was in prison for 5 years and i taught myself by reading books. I got out April 1st (perfect day lol) and got a job within a few months of being out...not because of a degree but because i have read so much code and so many books that I just know what im doing. I can program in 12 languages profesionaly, and know enough of others that i could use them profesionaly givin a short amount of time to review them. Pablo
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The best way to improve is to study code that is better than your own. Read good code written by experts, in a variety of programming languages. Study it until you understand how it works and what makes it good. That's it.
The One Tip That Rules Them All[^] The IronMonkey claims that the one tip to being a better programmer is the above. To read good code. Anyone care to agree or disagree? (And you can skip his waffle at the begining of the post.) regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry! K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
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doI'm not sure that counts as a ROCK star programmer. I mean, rock is all about being loud and a little bit crazy. So pristine perfect code doesn't seem very rock n roll to me.... And I'm pretty sure to be a rock star programmer you would have to code in all caps to emphasize the loudness. And a punk rock programmer would be all about the open source "do it yourself" languages. I could go on all day with this stuff.... ;)
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The best way to improve is to study code that is better than your own. Read good code written by experts, in a variety of programming languages. Study it until you understand how it works and what makes it good. That's it.
The One Tip That Rules Them All[^] The IronMonkey claims that the one tip to being a better programmer is the above. To read good code. Anyone care to agree or disagree? (And you can skip his waffle at the begining of the post.) regards, Paul Watson Ireland Feed Henry! K(arl) wrote: oh, and BTW, CHRISTIAN ISN'T A PARADOX, HE IS A TASMANIAN!
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doI agree completely. If you read the paragraph, the fifth word is IMPROVE. There's nothing about beginning. What I take from this is simply never stop trying to improve. I do this all the time. I spend hours every week downloading code from various sites to see how other people do things. Someone mention in another message that going back to your old code doesn't help. I disagree. By going back to your old code you have the chance to implement what you're learned. Not only that, you can't learn something from the code unless you actually step through it. Just reading a snippet will give you the structure of the language. But it will not show you exactly what it does. To do that you have to fire it up and step through the code. That's where actually using it reinforces the concept.
