Interesting read:
http://dotmac.rationalmind.net/2010/08/ ... ogramming/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Some lesser-known truths about programming
Re: Some lesser-known truths about programming
My code tends to be pretty messy a lot of the time... does that make me a bad coder? XD
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It works on my machine...
Re: Some lesser-known truths about programming
" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;gogeta70 wrote:My code tends to be pretty messy a lot of the time... does that make me a bad coder? XD
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Re: Some lesser-known truths about programming
nope, just makes you a business savvy coder....gogeta70 wrote:My code tends to be pretty messy a lot of the time... does that make me a bad coder? XD
Re: Some lesser-known truths about programming
The classic book about it is The Mythical Man Month
I don't agree with all the things posted there. The amount of time spent writing code and the amount of code written per day obviously depends on the state of the project.
I do think there is a huge difference in skill between the best programmer and the worst. Programmers can be so bad as to actually have a net negative influence on whatever it is they're busy with.
The remark about writing very little code and spending most of the time thinking is overstated in my opinion. Thinking about code is obviously a very large part of a project, but if you do little more than thinking, writing and philosophizing about code, I don't think it's likely you're much of a programmer. I think this is true for other things as well, such as hacking.
At the end of the list it is stated that good programmers think about their work 24/7. While it's obviously an exaggeration, I don't think something like that should be a condition for someone to be a "good" programmer. Many good programmers have other hobbies. I find that being focused solely on one thing makes you close-minded. Solutions in real life jobs, games or closely related fields such as mathematics can often help you find a new angle to approach a problem. They help you think about things in more than one way.
Also, messy code is usually bad news. You can always ask for review here on the forums. Messy code usually means you don't know how to break up parts of a program, which is arguably the most important skill in programming. Some languages encourage better practices than others, but bad code can be written in any language.
I don't agree with all the things posted there. The amount of time spent writing code and the amount of code written per day obviously depends on the state of the project.
I do think there is a huge difference in skill between the best programmer and the worst. Programmers can be so bad as to actually have a net negative influence on whatever it is they're busy with.
The remark about writing very little code and spending most of the time thinking is overstated in my opinion. Thinking about code is obviously a very large part of a project, but if you do little more than thinking, writing and philosophizing about code, I don't think it's likely you're much of a programmer. I think this is true for other things as well, such as hacking.
At the end of the list it is stated that good programmers think about their work 24/7. While it's obviously an exaggeration, I don't think something like that should be a condition for someone to be a "good" programmer. Many good programmers have other hobbies. I find that being focused solely on one thing makes you close-minded. Solutions in real life jobs, games or closely related fields such as mathematics can often help you find a new angle to approach a problem. They help you think about things in more than one way.
Also, messy code is usually bad news. You can always ask for review here on the forums. Messy code usually means you don't know how to break up parts of a program, which is arguably the most important skill in programming. Some languages encourage better practices than others, but bad code can be written in any language.
Re: Some lesser-known truths about programming
Leet, you have a good point there. I also don't completely agree with that list.
As for the messy code bit, i mean that my code is unorganized - i still think about the code very carefully while writing it to make sure i'm not making any obvious (and some not-so-obvious) mistakes.
I'm almost done coding this media player i'm making in C++, and i'll be posting the source code, which is pretty unorganized. You'll see what i mean then
As for the messy code bit, i mean that my code is unorganized - i still think about the code very carefully while writing it to make sure i'm not making any obvious (and some not-so-obvious) mistakes.
I'm almost done coding this media player i'm making in C++, and i'll be posting the source code, which is pretty unorganized. You'll see what i mean then
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It works on my machine...
Re: Some lesser-known truths about programming
gogeta70 wrote:Leet, you have a good point there. I also don't completely agree with that list.
As for the messy code bit, i mean that my code is unorganized - i still think about the code very carefully while writing it to make sure i'm not making any obvious (and some not-so-obvious) mistakes.
I'm almost done coding this media player i'm making in C++, and i'll be posting the source code, which is pretty unorganized. You'll see what i mean then
I'd be happy to take a look at it then. I don't have much experience with C++ on Windows, but I hope I'll be able to give you some suggestions.