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There is rarely an afterwards in any meaningful sense: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superiority_%28short_story%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superiority_%2

There is rarely an afterwards in any meaningful sense: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superiority_%28short_story%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superiority_%28short_story%29 If you want to see your position taken to the extreme, go look at the JS ecosystem right now. Plenty Bob's sharpening their axes to the detriment of both their projects and the community as a whole. As engineers and programmers we like to play with tools and pursue language purity and whatnot--but we cannot fall into the trap of conflating that with sound business practice.

mikeash 10y ago
Pretty much any idea becomes stupid when taken to an extreme. If you want to see your position taken to the extreme, go look at 90% of programmers out there, who spend as little time as possible sharpening their saw and as much time as possible churning out awful, nearly worthless code.
- angersock 10y ago
  Quantity has a quality all its own, my friend. Wordpress is garbage, but has a fairly secure niche that is only recently even getting attention from competitors. Here on HN everyone is a PLT prodigy who would never deign to admit that they would ever be beaten by the 90% of programmers--but in the real world, well, they make shit happen. Some problems are solved better by throwing warm bodies with lukewarm IQs than by trying to get the perfect language lawyer. Have some humility.
  - mikeash 10y ago
    They make shit happen, until it finally collapses in on itself and the people paying the bills realize they've been paying for actual shit, then they bring in a programmer with a sharp saw to clean up the mess. Happens constantly.
    - angersock 10y ago
      And that shit paid the bills for the eventual cleanup, while waiting on a better solution wouldn't have. Moreover, it's usually pretty obvious how to fix that kind of mess whereas a more clever/advanced solution can be completely unmaintainable.

mikeash 10y ago

Pretty much any idea becomes stupid when taken to an extreme. If you want to see your position taken to the extreme, go look at 90% of programmers out there, who spend as little time as possible sharpening their saw and as much time as possible churning out awful, nearly worthless code.

angersock 10y ago
Quantity has a quality all its own, my friend. Wordpress is garbage, but has a fairly secure niche that is only recently even getting attention from competitors. Here on HN everyone is a PLT prodigy who would never deign to admit that they would ever be beaten by the 90% of programmers--but in the real world, well, they make shit happen. Some problems are solved better by throwing warm bodies with lukewarm IQs than by trying to get the perfect language lawyer. Have some humility.
- mikeash 10y ago
  They make shit happen, until it finally collapses in on itself and the people paying the bills realize they've been paying for actual shit, then they bring in a programmer with a sharp saw to clean up the mess. Happens constantly.
  - angersock 10y ago
    And that shit paid the bills for the eventual cleanup, while waiting on a better solution wouldn't have. Moreover, it's usually pretty obvious how to fix that kind of mess whereas a more clever/advanced solution can be completely unmaintainable.