4 ms·
I don't think this is quite what the author was getting at. It's kind of a separate issue. Obviously all code is written for some end-user in the end, but this
by TheSOB88 16y ago
I don't think this is quite what the author was getting at. It's kind of a separate issue. Obviously all code is written for some end-user in the end, but this piece was about how the code is written, not what it does. When he says "who are you writing code for?", he means, who is going to read it?
Customers don't read your code.
- pquerna 16y agoSaid it better than I did!
- mechanical_fish 16y agoCustomers don't read your code. No. But the people hired by your customers do. And your customers are keenly aware of that, because when you're gone from the scene they are either going to have to: A) hire someone who can read your code, or B) hire someone to rewrite it all from scratch. They probably don't really know how to solve problem A, and they almost certainly can't afford to solve problem B even if they knew how, which they probably don't. This is a vitally important consideration. It doesn't matter how elegant your code is if your customer can't figure out how to hire anyone to read it. If you solve your customer's entire problem in one super-elegant line of lets-call-it-Haskell, but your successor doesn't know Haskell and cannot maintain that line, he will recommend replacing your solution with a Blub app. Then your customer will tell all his friends that (a) "Haskell sucks because it is nonstandard" and (b) "Blub is the greatest language in the world because there are lots of certified Blub programmers around". This is why it takes so much time and energy to get new platforms off the ground.