CP Article Kudos
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Idley bumming around the site, and reading lots of articles, can't help noticing the preponderence of, basically, crap articles seemingly cobbled together by people with only a fleeting grasp of software development and the specific technology about which the article is loosley based. Now, not having written any CP articles, I realize that words like "stones" and "greenhouse" come to mind, but the reason I've not written any is because between work, family and non-work fun, I don't have the time to do a CP article justice. So it makes me wonder whether people clammer to submit "something" to CP, just to gain some notional kudos "being published on CP" might present to their colleagues, friends, wife/girlfriend, employers etc.
- "I'm not lying, I'm just writing fiction with my mouth"
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Idley bumming around the site, and reading lots of articles, can't help noticing the preponderence of, basically, crap articles seemingly cobbled together by people with only a fleeting grasp of software development and the specific technology about which the article is loosley based. Now, not having written any CP articles, I realize that words like "stones" and "greenhouse" come to mind, but the reason I've not written any is because between work, family and non-work fun, I don't have the time to do a CP article justice. So it makes me wonder whether people clammer to submit "something" to CP, just to gain some notional kudos "being published on CP" might present to their colleagues, friends, wife/girlfriend, employers etc.
- "I'm not lying, I'm just writing fiction with my mouth"
Phil Harding but the reason I've not written any is because between work, family and non-work fun, I don't have the time to do a CP article justice.
Which is just another way of saying that you have other priorities. There's nothing wrong with that, but I'd come out and say it like it is--writing a quality article for CP isn't a priority. And that's TOTALLY FINE. But it DOES shed light on why there are quality articles out there and why there aren't. It comes down to balancing how much time one devotes to the article vs. other interests and necessities. [edit] And the quality varies because everyone has a very different idea of what a quality article is, based on many factors, such as their goal with the article, the priority it takes in their life, etc.[/edit] For example, CP articles aren't of the same quality as, say, a professional publication, where there's lots of research of the subject done, lots of references, and a consistency in grammar, etc. But that's cool to, IMO, because I like the personal touch much more so than the distant, detached, "we" kind of writing you find in professional journals (which is why I don't read them).
Phil Hardingjust to gain some notional kudos "being published on CP" might present to their colleagues, friends, wife/girlfriend, employers etc.
There's certainly that. There's other people that don't know how to write but at least they try. There's others that don't have clue about what's wrong with copying someone else's work or copying an MSDN page. Etc. The beauty of the Internet, and places like CP, and concepts like blogging, is that it creates accessibility to people, their thoughts and ideas, their successes and failures. This is as revolutionary as the printing press, IMO. And like books and other printed material (and other mediums like television), I find I criticize more the choices one makes in what one reads rather than the author of the material. When standing in line at the grocery store, I don't ask "why would anyone write that crap", but rather "why would anyone read that crap". So, why are you reading bad articles? ;P Marc
People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
There's NO excuse f -
Phil Harding but the reason I've not written any is because between work, family and non-work fun, I don't have the time to do a CP article justice.
Which is just another way of saying that you have other priorities. There's nothing wrong with that, but I'd come out and say it like it is--writing a quality article for CP isn't a priority. And that's TOTALLY FINE. But it DOES shed light on why there are quality articles out there and why there aren't. It comes down to balancing how much time one devotes to the article vs. other interests and necessities. [edit] And the quality varies because everyone has a very different idea of what a quality article is, based on many factors, such as their goal with the article, the priority it takes in their life, etc.[/edit] For example, CP articles aren't of the same quality as, say, a professional publication, where there's lots of research of the subject done, lots of references, and a consistency in grammar, etc. But that's cool to, IMO, because I like the personal touch much more so than the distant, detached, "we" kind of writing you find in professional journals (which is why I don't read them).
Phil Hardingjust to gain some notional kudos "being published on CP" might present to their colleagues, friends, wife/girlfriend, employers etc.
There's certainly that. There's other people that don't know how to write but at least they try. There's others that don't have clue about what's wrong with copying someone else's work or copying an MSDN page. Etc. The beauty of the Internet, and places like CP, and concepts like blogging, is that it creates accessibility to people, their thoughts and ideas, their successes and failures. This is as revolutionary as the printing press, IMO. And like books and other printed material (and other mediums like television), I find I criticize more the choices one makes in what one reads rather than the author of the material. When standing in line at the grocery store, I don't ask "why would anyone write that crap", but rather "why would anyone read that crap". So, why are you reading bad articles? ;P Marc
People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
There's NO excuse fMarc, While there are rough articles out there, one of the best things about CP articles is they are written by programmers who have a first hand experience with the issues or subjects they are trying to tackle. This is probably the best things about these articles, they are very attached to the real world. I have learned allot more from reading articles on CP than in most books, as the articles focus on similar issue specific topics that I am more likely to face in my day to day programming. The other important thing to note is that others read and provide feedback on the article, creating a process of improvement to the articles content. I find the whole process to be greatly stimulating and increases community involvement. These articles do not exist in a vacuum but in a dynamic community of like minded professionals and hobbyists. My brief 2cents worth.
_____________________________________________________________________ Our developers never release code. Rather, it tends to escape, pillaging the countryside all around. The Enlightenment Project (paraphrased comment) Visit Me at GISDevCafe
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Marc, While there are rough articles out there, one of the best things about CP articles is they are written by programmers who have a first hand experience with the issues or subjects they are trying to tackle. This is probably the best things about these articles, they are very attached to the real world. I have learned allot more from reading articles on CP than in most books, as the articles focus on similar issue specific topics that I am more likely to face in my day to day programming. The other important thing to note is that others read and provide feedback on the article, creating a process of improvement to the articles content. I find the whole process to be greatly stimulating and increases community involvement. These articles do not exist in a vacuum but in a dynamic community of like minded professionals and hobbyists. My brief 2cents worth.
_____________________________________________________________________ Our developers never release code. Rather, it tends to escape, pillaging the countryside all around. The Enlightenment Project (paraphrased comment) Visit Me at GISDevCafe
Aaron VanWieren wrote:
The other important thing to note is that others read and provide feedback on the article, creating a process of improvement to the articles content.
Which is only good if the author is willing to act on the feedback. One article I read this morning had a comment that the author had not acted on comments on previous articles and was still producing poor quality articles.
Upcoming events: * Edinburgh: Web Security Conference Day for Windows Developers (12th April) * Glasgow: Introduction to AJAX (2nd May), SQL Server, Mock Objects My website
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Aaron VanWieren wrote:
The other important thing to note is that others read and provide feedback on the article, creating a process of improvement to the articles content.
Which is only good if the author is willing to act on the feedback. One article I read this morning had a comment that the author had not acted on comments on previous articles and was still producing poor quality articles.
Upcoming events: * Edinburgh: Web Security Conference Day for Windows Developers (12th April) * Glasgow: Introduction to AJAX (2nd May), SQL Server, Mock Objects My website
Then you don't read his articles as you know he is non responsive. This site requires involvement from the readers and the writers. There are some writers I just totally ignore as they are non responsive and the articles are not very good. If an article is so so but the author is responsive to questions and suggestions then it is worth reading and commenting. I guess you gotta take the good with the bad.
_____________________________________________________________________ Our developers never release code. Rather, it tends to escape, pillaging the countryside all around. The Enlightenment Project (paraphrased comment) Visit Me at GISDevCafe
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Marc, While there are rough articles out there, one of the best things about CP articles is they are written by programmers who have a first hand experience with the issues or subjects they are trying to tackle. This is probably the best things about these articles, they are very attached to the real world. I have learned allot more from reading articles on CP than in most books, as the articles focus on similar issue specific topics that I am more likely to face in my day to day programming. The other important thing to note is that others read and provide feedback on the article, creating a process of improvement to the articles content. I find the whole process to be greatly stimulating and increases community involvement. These articles do not exist in a vacuum but in a dynamic community of like minded professionals and hobbyists. My brief 2cents worth.
_____________________________________________________________________ Our developers never release code. Rather, it tends to escape, pillaging the countryside all around. The Enlightenment Project (paraphrased comment) Visit Me at GISDevCafe
Aaron VanWieren wrote:
My brief 2cents worth.
Excellent points, and worth more than 2c. :) Marc
People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
There's NO excuse for not commenting your code. -- John Simmons / outlaw programmer
People who say that they will refactor their code later to make it "good" don't understand refactoring, nor the art and craft of programming. -- Josh Smith -
Idley bumming around the site, and reading lots of articles, can't help noticing the preponderence of, basically, crap articles seemingly cobbled together by people with only a fleeting grasp of software development and the specific technology about which the article is loosley based. Now, not having written any CP articles, I realize that words like "stones" and "greenhouse" come to mind, but the reason I've not written any is because between work, family and non-work fun, I don't have the time to do a CP article justice. So it makes me wonder whether people clammer to submit "something" to CP, just to gain some notional kudos "being published on CP" might present to their colleagues, friends, wife/girlfriend, employers etc.
- "I'm not lying, I'm just writing fiction with my mouth"
Just because an article is 'crap' doesn't mean it can't contain useful information. We all know the guy who can cobble together 1000 lines of perfectly working code in 5 minutes but couldn't write a 1 page description of how to do it if his life depended on it, conversely theres the guy who can write a 30 page detailed report on a new 'project' but doesn't have a clue about coding. Both could submit useful articles and both articles might be considered 'crap' for one reason or another. Of course, you're right there are crap articles about too!
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Idley bumming around the site, and reading lots of articles, can't help noticing the preponderence of, basically, crap articles seemingly cobbled together by people with only a fleeting grasp of software development and the specific technology about which the article is loosley based. Now, not having written any CP articles, I realize that words like "stones" and "greenhouse" come to mind, but the reason I've not written any is because between work, family and non-work fun, I don't have the time to do a CP article justice. So it makes me wonder whether people clammer to submit "something" to CP, just to gain some notional kudos "being published on CP" might present to their colleagues, friends, wife/girlfriend, employers etc.
- "I'm not lying, I'm just writing fiction with my mouth"
I suspect that you may be right that there is a certain element of wanting kudos when some people post their articles. Unfortunately for these people, the Internet can be a very democratic place, so if they post bad articles they are going to get voted down. There is no kudos in getting bad votes and lot's of people posting criticisms. People who do this have 2 choices. 1 - remove the articles and stop posting them, or 2 - improve the quality of their articles. I would hope that people would take option 2. More importantly, there is a wide difference of opinion on what constitutes a bad article. Just because I find a particular article to have no merit and be a complete load of horse hooey, it doesn't mean that for somebody else this might be the answer they need or spark to go on and produce something truly wonderful. Now, there are the other type of people who post onto CP. These tend to be the people who want to give something back. I tend to find that their articles are much better because they are motivated by the desire to help. I've been fulsome in my praise of Marc before - because even if his articles haven't immediately helped me with a point, they always give me something to think about and sometimes they spark that little bit of creativity that solves the problem that I've got. There are many others who have produced definitive works - Colin with his article on Sql Injection attacks, Josh Smith with articles on WPF (even though it embarasses me how far behind the curve I am with it). The list goes on. I'll take 10, even 100 bad articles just for the one gem of an article in there and that's why I keep coming back.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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Idley bumming around the site, and reading lots of articles, can't help noticing the preponderence of, basically, crap articles seemingly cobbled together by people with only a fleeting grasp of software development and the specific technology about which the article is loosley based. Now, not having written any CP articles, I realize that words like "stones" and "greenhouse" come to mind, but the reason I've not written any is because between work, family and non-work fun, I don't have the time to do a CP article justice. So it makes me wonder whether people clammer to submit "something" to CP, just to gain some notional kudos "being published on CP" might present to their colleagues, friends, wife/girlfriend, employers etc.
- "I'm not lying, I'm just writing fiction with my mouth"
Phil HardingI realize that words like "stones" and "greenhouse" come to mind
I believe the phrase you're looking for is, _People who live in glass houses shouldn't get stoned.
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
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Phil HardingI realize that words like "stones" and "greenhouse" come to mind
I believe the phrase you're looking for is, _People who live in glass houses shouldn't get stoned.
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
_
Christopher Duncan wrote:
People who live in glass houses shouldn't get stoned
Presumably this is because the police can see them getting high.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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Phil HardingI realize that words like "stones" and "greenhouse" come to mind
I believe the phrase you're looking for is, _People who live in glass houses shouldn't get stoned.
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
_
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Phil Harding but the reason I've not written any is because between work, family and non-work fun, I don't have the time to do a CP article justice.
Which is just another way of saying that you have other priorities. There's nothing wrong with that, but I'd come out and say it like it is--writing a quality article for CP isn't a priority. And that's TOTALLY FINE. But it DOES shed light on why there are quality articles out there and why there aren't. It comes down to balancing how much time one devotes to the article vs. other interests and necessities. [edit] And the quality varies because everyone has a very different idea of what a quality article is, based on many factors, such as their goal with the article, the priority it takes in their life, etc.[/edit] For example, CP articles aren't of the same quality as, say, a professional publication, where there's lots of research of the subject done, lots of references, and a consistency in grammar, etc. But that's cool to, IMO, because I like the personal touch much more so than the distant, detached, "we" kind of writing you find in professional journals (which is why I don't read them).
Phil Hardingjust to gain some notional kudos "being published on CP" might present to their colleagues, friends, wife/girlfriend, employers etc.
There's certainly that. There's other people that don't know how to write but at least they try. There's others that don't have clue about what's wrong with copying someone else's work or copying an MSDN page. Etc. The beauty of the Internet, and places like CP, and concepts like blogging, is that it creates accessibility to people, their thoughts and ideas, their successes and failures. This is as revolutionary as the printing press, IMO. And like books and other printed material (and other mediums like television), I find I criticize more the choices one makes in what one reads rather than the author of the material. When standing in line at the grocery store, I don't ask "why would anyone write that crap", but rather "why would anyone read that crap". So, why are you reading bad articles? ;P Marc
People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
There's NO excuse f -
Phil HardingPeople in glass houses shouldn't throw stones"
Or throw while stoned.;P
He was a snowflake, like other "unique" snowflakes, falling down, getting stepped on, and pushed aside to disappear.
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Idley bumming around the site, and reading lots of articles, can't help noticing the preponderence of, basically, crap articles seemingly cobbled together by people with only a fleeting grasp of software development and the specific technology about which the article is loosley based. Now, not having written any CP articles, I realize that words like "stones" and "greenhouse" come to mind, but the reason I've not written any is because between work, family and non-work fun, I don't have the time to do a CP article justice. So it makes me wonder whether people clammer to submit "something" to CP, just to gain some notional kudos "being published on CP" might present to their colleagues, friends, wife/girlfriend, employers etc.
- "I'm not lying, I'm just writing fiction with my mouth"
My motivation for posting is always the same: I'm working on something and I have a tricky or difficult problem to solve, I find a solution that doesn't seem to be documented anywhere else and I think to myself "I sure wish I knew this before I had to go through all that trouble" so I post it. I do think there should be a great weeding taking place on CP to remove redundant or very low rated articles periodically.
"110%" - it's the new 70%
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My motivation for posting is always the same: I'm working on something and I have a tricky or difficult problem to solve, I find a solution that doesn't seem to be documented anywhere else and I think to myself "I sure wish I knew this before I had to go through all that trouble" so I post it. I do think there should be a great weeding taking place on CP to remove redundant or very low rated articles periodically.
"110%" - it's the new 70%
That is actually happening constantly. It's just hard to see when there's 15,000 articles...
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP