4 ms·

Yes, healthy skepticism is good, but just because code (i.e. text files) is often the most _powerful_ or _flexible_ tool, doesn't mean it's always the best tool

by namuol 9y ago

Yes, healthy skepticism is good, but just because code (i.e. text files) is often the most _powerful_ or _flexible_ tool, doesn't mean it's always the best tool. We (programmers) are notoriously bad at advancing the tools in our field. For a brief history of this, watch "The Future of Programming" talk by Bret Victor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pTEmbeENF4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pTEmbeENF4

flukus 9y ago
That guy gets an a+ for presentation but I couldn't find much to agree with him on. He talks about code being linear lines of text as though that's a bad thing. We've pretty much been stuck with this as state of the art in our writing systems for thousands of years, what would be your reaction if I suggested everyone should watch videos instead of read books? It's a flexible and easy way to represent a program that no other tool has come close to. > We (programmers) are notoriously bad at advancing the tools in our field. We've been trying to automate ourselves out of jobs for the entirety of the history of the industry yet programmers are in more demand than ever. Everyone wants to work on interesting problems and creating inner platforms is far more interesting than writing boring business logic. Yet for all our efforts we've barely progressed since the 70's, why do you think that is?
- namuol 9y ago
  > What would be your reaction if I suggested everyone should watch videos instead of read books? Videos are just another useful tool for learning; they don't obviate the need for books, but they're better at conveying some ideas/information than books alone. Just like videos and books aren't mutually-exclusive tools for learning, graphical tools and textfiles aren't mutually-exclusive tools for building programs.
carlmr 9y ago
>We (programmers) are notoriously bad at advancing the tools in our field. I think the tools of our trade have advanced tremendously. Visual Studio for example is an amazing experience for C# programmers, one that most languages don't have. And this is in text tools. Programmers know that text is the most powerful and flexible, which is why we advance those tools that help in working with text. GUI tools are good for people who only want to do something every once in a while. Something they don't need to repeat. Where there's a simple recipe for it. And, yes, programmers don't do that much to advance these, because they have no use for them themselves.

by namuol 9y ago

flukus 9y ago

That guy gets an a+ for presentation but I couldn't find much to agree with him on. He talks about code being linear lines of text as though that's a bad thing. We've pretty much been stuck with this as state of the art in our writing systems for thousands of years, what would be your reaction if I suggested everyone should watch videos instead of read books? It's a flexible and easy way to represent a program that no other tool has come close to. > We (programmers) are notoriously bad at advancing the tools in our field. We've been trying to automate ourselves out of jobs for the entirety of the history of the industry yet programmers are in more demand than ever. Everyone wants to work on interesting problems and creating inner platforms is far more interesting than writing boring business logic. Yet for all our efforts we've barely progressed since the 70's, why do you think that is?

namuol 9y ago
> What would be your reaction if I suggested everyone should watch videos instead of read books? Videos are just another useful tool for learning; they don't obviate the need for books, but they're better at conveying some ideas/information than books alone. Just like videos and books aren't mutually-exclusive tools for learning, graphical tools and textfiles aren't mutually-exclusive tools for building programs.

carlmr 9y ago

>We (programmers) are notoriously bad at advancing the tools in our field. I think the tools of our trade have advanced tremendously. Visual Studio for example is an amazing experience for C# programmers, one that most languages don't have. And this is in text tools. Programmers know that text is the most powerful and flexible, which is why we advance those tools that help in working with text. GUI tools are good for people who only want to do something every once in a while. Something they don't need to repeat. Where there's a simple recipe for it. And, yes, programmers don't do that much to advance these, because they have no use for them themselves.