3 ms·

Yeah. Code is the product. It's like saying, "we don't sell ingredients, we sell meals".

by humanrebar 9y ago

cubano 9y ago
So not really, right? Code is just symbols on a screen. It's the abstractions that count.
- humanrebar 9y ago
  Code is how we realize abstractions. They complement each other. The point is that the code is a key part of the product, so saying it's an afterthought is to misunderstand the product.
  - dsacco 9y ago
    I think the context matters here. The underlying point is not to be taken so literally. It means don't prematurely optimize your code until you have a functional, enjoyable piece of software. Then sure, work on maintainability and improved performance.
dsacco 9y ago
...which is true. Restaurants sell meals, not ingredients. Chefs don't give you ingredients to eat, they craft the base ingredients into something worth selling, preferably with a good experience. I get your point, but that analogy has backfired on your point. I'd rather cook something that tastes really good using whatever ingredients are around and then improve the ingredients (among other things) later on.
- humanrebar 9y ago
  The meal is made up of the ingredients. You can't make a good meal from spoiled meat. Restaurants sell meals. Because of that, they have to pay attention to their ingredients. At least to make sure they won't make anyone sick. And, if they are making a premium product, they need high quality ingredients to make a high quality product. You can't just replace the fresh mozzarella with Kraft singles and still sell pizzas for a premium price.
  - oliv__ 9y ago
    Fast food begs to differ: you can make some pretty tasty stuff with terrible terrible ingredients. It's tasty alright... Just don't expect to wake up feeling great the next morning.
    - quesera 9y ago
      That's true, but fast food ingredients are not substandard ordinary ingredients. Fast food ingredients are highly tuned and customized products -- they're just not optimized for traditional notions of quality or nutrition.
isaac_is_goat 9y ago
Code is not the product. Code is part of the assembly line that becomes the product. An innefficient/bad quality assembly process will result in a sub-par product. Developers don't build the product, they build the assembly line.

Yeah. Code is the product. It's like saying, "we don't sell ingredients, we sell meals".

cubano 9y ago

So not really, right? Code is just symbols on a screen. It's the abstractions that count.

humanrebar 9y ago
Code is how we realize abstractions. They complement each other. The point is that the code is a key part of the product, so saying it's an afterthought is to misunderstand the product.
- dsacco 9y ago
  I think the context matters here. The underlying point is not to be taken so literally. It means don't prematurely optimize your code until you have a functional, enjoyable piece of software. Then sure, work on maintainability and improved performance.

dsacco 9y ago

...which is true. Restaurants sell meals, not ingredients. Chefs don't give you ingredients to eat, they craft the base ingredients into something worth selling, preferably with a good experience. I get your point, but that analogy has backfired on your point. I'd rather cook something that tastes really good using whatever ingredients are around and then improve the ingredients (among other things) later on.

humanrebar 9y ago
The meal is made up of the ingredients. You can't make a good meal from spoiled meat. Restaurants sell meals. Because of that, they have to pay attention to their ingredients. At least to make sure they won't make anyone sick. And, if they are making a premium product, they need high quality ingredients to make a high quality product. You can't just replace the fresh mozzarella with Kraft singles and still sell pizzas for a premium price.
- oliv__ 9y ago
  Fast food begs to differ: you can make some pretty tasty stuff with terrible terrible ingredients. It's tasty alright... Just don't expect to wake up feeling great the next morning.
  - quesera 9y ago
    That's true, but fast food ingredients are not substandard ordinary ingredients. Fast food ingredients are highly tuned and customized products -- they're just not optimized for traditional notions of quality or nutrition.

isaac_is_goat 9y ago

Code is not the product. Code is part of the assembly line that becomes the product. An innefficient/bad quality assembly process will result in a sub-par product. Developers don't build the product, they build the assembly line.