Programmers => Angry Birds ? new story on Puffington Host
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"I hate almost all software. It's unnecessary and complicated at almost every layer … you don’t understand how f*d the whole thing is," rants Ryan Dahl, the much- (and rightly-) lauded creator of Node.js. "It really, truly, is all crap. And it's so much worse than anybody realizes," agrees Zack Morris, who goes on to add, "The industry has backed itself into a corner and can’t even see that the way forward requires thinking outside the box.[^] Or is it ... half-full ? best, Bill
"Use the word 'cybernetics,' Norbert, because nobody knows what it means. This will always put you at an advantage in arguments." Claude Shannon (Information Theory scientist): letter to Norbert Weiner of M.I.T., circa 1940
Yep. I have seen plenty of crap SW (ssen some good too). In my experience crap SW comes form geeky programmers who can't let go of a pet feature, or process even when evident it is not usefull, good, or the best way of doing it, and weak team leaders who havent got the balls to ditch it from the product. This results in weird logic on UIs, unexpected behaviour, inconsistent behaviour (and inconsistent UI layout/functionality) and general bizareness. They arent bugs, and the SW does work, if you can work out HOW to get it to work, but its a pig. Geek engineering is not propper engineering!
============================== Nothing to say.
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"I hate almost all software. It's unnecessary and complicated at almost every layer … you don’t understand how f*d the whole thing is," rants Ryan Dahl, the much- (and rightly-) lauded creator of Node.js. "It really, truly, is all crap. And it's so much worse than anybody realizes," agrees Zack Morris, who goes on to add, "The industry has backed itself into a corner and can’t even see that the way forward requires thinking outside the box.[^] Or is it ... half-full ? best, Bill
"Use the word 'cybernetics,' Norbert, because nobody knows what it means. This will always put you at an advantage in arguments." Claude Shannon (Information Theory scientist): letter to Norbert Weiner of M.I.T., circa 1940
Zack Morris? The Zack Morris? Wow he must have really got his shit together since his Bayside High Years.
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson My comedy.
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"I hate almost all software. It's unnecessary and complicated at almost every layer … you don’t understand how f*d the whole thing is," rants Ryan Dahl, the much- (and rightly-) lauded creator of Node.js. "It really, truly, is all crap. And it's so much worse than anybody realizes," agrees Zack Morris, who goes on to add, "The industry has backed itself into a corner and can’t even see that the way forward requires thinking outside the box.[^] Or is it ... half-full ? best, Bill
"Use the word 'cybernetics,' Norbert, because nobody knows what it means. This will always put you at an advantage in arguments." Claude Shannon (Information Theory scientist): letter to Norbert Weiner of M.I.T., circa 1940
BillWoodruff wrote:
The industry has backed itself into a corner and can’t even see that the way forward requires thinking outside the box
From my perspective, that is SO true. Marc
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The puling infants he's quoting need to seriously man-up and deal with it. Of course web technologies are crap. The web itself is less than 20 years old, and web programming about 15. Maturity? Bah. I'd be surprised if web programming ever matures, given the rate it's still evolving. Scrum? Agile? Test-driven development? Every programming 'methodology' I've ever seen over the last 30 years in this field has had the same essential purpose. Make a machine that you could put mediocre or even poor quality programmers in, turn the crank, and get a quality product out. It won't ever work because it can't. You get good quality software from good quality programmers, who succeed despite whatever moronic methodology you force on them. Certifications are essentially the same thing. It's like giving your auto mechanic a diploma for learning how to use a wrench. Worthless.
Software Zen:
delete this;That is SO quotable. Mind if I quote you on my blog? Marc
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There is so little of substance in Jon's blog that, it it were software, it would be called vaporware. He starts with this gem: "I hate almost all software. It’s unnecessary and complicated at almost every layer..." Example? Nope. And then he quickly follows up with: "It really, truly, is all crap. And it’s so much worse than anybody realizes..." Example? Nope. From these self-serving criticisms, Jon lets fly with some really wild claims: "The industry has backed itself into a corner..." Huh? What does that mean? You mean we locked ourselves into Turing machines too early? Then we are treated to this non-explanation: "...coders ... are in a collective state of angry ferment." I guess I would be angry, too, if I had to read this kind of bullcrap very often. Probably my favorite non-sequitur: "The more you test software, the worse it will be." Jon spends much of the blog flopping around, castigating first a language, then an IDE, and then a development methodology. He ends up with this head-spinner: "...the state of the art isn’t great; but it’s important to recognize that it’s a lot better than it used to be.... Today’s software is generally a mess, yes, but the important thing is that we’re moving in the right direction." And what direction would that be? Who knows, Jon doesn't see fit to tell us. Hopefully it will calm the ruffled feathers of all the angry coders. I think Jon may be having a tough time getting back into the swing of things. He evidently thinks all you have to do to attract coders to your blog is to flap your arms and make moronic pronouncements.
Best wishes, Hans
+5 Now ... that ... was an eloquent vivisection ! :) I thought about titling the post "Puffington Host Breaks Wind," but felt it best to be a bit more subtle. I'd rank this commentator right down there with Mary Jo Foley at Ziff-Davis, Andy "look at my latest freebie from Apple" Ihnatko, John Dvorak, Paul Thurrott, and whoever the editor is at CNET. best, Bill
"Use the word 'cybernetics,' Norbert, because nobody knows what it means. This will always put you at an advantage in arguments." Claude Shannon (Information Theory scientist): letter to Norbert Weiner of M.I.T., circa 1940
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BillWoodruff wrote:
The industry has backed itself into a corner and can’t even see that the way forward requires thinking outside the box
From my perspective, that is SO true. Marc
Marc Clifton wrote:
BillWoodruff wrote:
... uhhh ... No, Jon Evans wrote that puff-piece, and he quotes Ryan Dahl and Zack Morris. This cusinarted worm on a newly mowed blade of old grass writes, with his dying blood: "the industry has not 'backed itself into a corner:' it was born in a corner, it has never been out of the corner, and it's corners all the way to the future." best, Bill
"Use the word 'cybernetics,' Norbert, because nobody knows what it means. This will always put you at an advantage in arguments." Claude Shannon (Information Theory scientist): letter to Norbert Weiner of M.I.T., circa 1940
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That is SO quotable. Mind if I quote you on my blog? Marc
I'd be honored :-\; feel free, Marc.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
+5 Now ... that ... was an eloquent vivisection ! :) I thought about titling the post "Puffington Host Breaks Wind," but felt it best to be a bit more subtle. I'd rank this commentator right down there with Mary Jo Foley at Ziff-Davis, Andy "look at my latest freebie from Apple" Ihnatko, John Dvorak, Paul Thurrott, and whoever the editor is at CNET. best, Bill
"Use the word 'cybernetics,' Norbert, because nobody knows what it means. This will always put you at an advantage in arguments." Claude Shannon (Information Theory scientist): letter to Norbert Weiner of M.I.T., circa 1940
Oh, I like Mary Jo; primarily because she asked me to explain what some slides meant and freely admitted that they were beyond her understanding. I found that level of candour refreshing.
Forgive your enemies - it messes with their heads
"Mind bleach! Send me mind bleach!" - Nagy Vilmos
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I'd be honored :-\; feel free, Marc.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
all the arguments about how to design and code software, and all the methodologies that come and go, i try to apply them to bridge building ... if they make sense for that then they have *some* merit it is amazing how many of them don't though :)
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
Good point. Sorta. Although, I'm not sure if it's entirely applicable, because it's sorta like saying "brain surgery is like bridge building, so the procedures that a brain surgeon would use should be applicable to bridge building otherwise they're crap". But I get the general point, I think.
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