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A lot of the comments criticize the article for being inaccessible to beginners, and I think they're justified—without examples it's hard to know what the autho

A lot of the comments criticize the article for being inaccessible to beginners, and I think they're justified—without examples it's hard to know what the author is talking about without having first passed through the fire. Having said that, I think he's talking about a crucial part of programming that beginners simply don't appreciate: how to break big problems into small problems. In other words, how to unstick challenges (and even find joy in programming) before writing a single line of code. For example, make a list. Prioritize the items. Strike some. Put the simplest at the top. Figure out which item causes you the most anxiety. Chop away at the branches before attacking the trunk. Even intermediate developers often fail to see that the best programming takes place in the form of a plan.

theptip 9y ago
This article is explicitly not for beginners. It's for journeymen(/women) looking to become masters.
allenu 9y ago
I would say don't work on the branches first. If something is simple and predictable, it can be done later. (This also allows you to slowly converge on a completion date since all the stuff you've put off is simpler and easier to understand and predict in terms of schedule.) Best to work on the challenging, unknown items first, especially if they form the core that everything will rely on. It gives you time to work out the kinks in the overall architecture. It's much harder to change those things later and harder to predict how long it will take. It's also easier to mock out and fake the branches.
- kbuchanan 9y ago
  I think we're talking about the same thing from two angles—when a task appears uncertain, it's important to isolate it. Sometimes, as you suggest, it's an exploration (build the engine before the body to see it turn over), but other times you can chip away at a problem, piece by piece, until there's no problem anymore.

theptip 9y ago

This article is explicitly not for beginners. It's for journeymen(/women) looking to become masters.

allenu 9y ago

I would say don't work on the branches first. If something is simple and predictable, it can be done later. (This also allows you to slowly converge on a completion date since all the stuff you've put off is simpler and easier to understand and predict in terms of schedule.) Best to work on the challenging, unknown items first, especially if they form the core that everything will rely on. It gives you time to work out the kinks in the overall architecture. It's much harder to change those things later and harder to predict how long it will take. It's also easier to mock out and fake the branches.

kbuchanan 9y ago
I think we're talking about the same thing from two angles—when a task appears uncertain, it's important to isolate it. Sometimes, as you suggest, it's an exploration (build the engine before the body to see it turn over), but other times you can chip away at a problem, piece by piece, until there's no problem anymore.