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I get that these posts are intentionally written to make it look like a 12 year old wrote them, to give you the idea that it's not too challenging to understand
by peterwwillis 8y ago
I get that these posts are intentionally written to make it look like a 12 year old wrote them, to give you the idea that it's not too challenging to understand. But it's a bit of a false premise: children can often pick up new concepts faster than adults. In addition, you're not going to express the idea better by putting in exclamation marks, hearts and stars, but you might turn off people who aren't 12. I'm sure Julia is a wonderful engineer, but I just find this writing style grating and I give up reading them. (I have the same reaction to lots of memes splitting up posts)
That said, it's her blog, she should write them however she wants to.
- CJefferson 8y agoOr, there are a whole bunch of people, children and adults alike, who love hearts and stars. There are plenty of articles written as long paragraphs of black and white prose if you want them. I personally love some colour and brightness wherever I find it. I should start a blog on advanced computational mathematics, with kittens and memes.
- Ibethewalrus 8y agoThere’s a video about copyright and fair use made entirely of Disney’s movie clips, using dialogue from the movies
- muglug 8y agoDisclaimer: I’ve never met Julia, but have attended one of her talks in person. I feel the exact opposite - there’s far too much in CS that’s unnecessarily obfuscated. Sometimes the obfuscation makes the author/presenter seem smart, but it’s incredibly tiresome and reduces the audience. Julia’s talks are the exact opposite - they’re well-thought-out, with the clear intent to help people understand things, not burnish her (v. impressive) credentials.
- SomethingOrNot 8y agoEveryone who writes things like this (and talks etc.) are trying to burnish their reputation. The latest edition of false modesty doesn’t change that.
- tptacek 8y agoI never once got the impression that Julia was dumbing her presentation down to a juvenile level to make it more accessible. Rather, the impression I get is that Julia is as enthusiastic about this stuff as anyone has ever been about anything, and that she has no pretense of having known any of it last week, nor does she care if you did. It's pretty charming and unique combination (it's rare enough that when status-conscious adults come across it, it reads juvenile!) and is my favorite thing about the way she writes and presents. When she writes about stuff, she doesn't have to judge each element she's discussing for whether it's interesting or worth calling out; it's all interesting. That's a good way to avoid missing interesting observations, I think.
- kasey_junk 8y agoI’d go further. Writing about something you’ve attained understanding of, without ruining it for new learners is a rare gift.
- SomethingOrNot 8y agoBuilding that personal brand.
- pvg 8y agoHave you read any of her stuff? If not, you should try it, back to back on some topic you know a lot about and one you don't is a good way to to get familiar with her work.
- SomethingOrNot 8y agoHave read some of it. Maybe I should read more of it.
- petercooper 8y agoI do know what you mean, but.. I also remember the heyday of developer blogging around 2004-2008 and this eager style of approach was pretty common then! (Some might argue that Ruby's why the lucky stiff might make Julia's style look dry in comparison! :-)) I'm glad people like Julia are fostering this approach and hope the number of developers excitedly communicating about things they just discovered increases again. As an industry, I think we need more of this now, more than ever, from developers of all levels and disciplines.
- kasey_junk 8y agoShe writes about approachable subjects in an approachable way. I’d guess your complaint is actually that she ‘steals’ prestige.
- wglb 8y agoUnless you have written tutorials for folks who have never been there, you may not understand the level of effort required. It is seriously a challenge. Not only does she accomplish this, the way she does it is particularly delightful.