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Popular opinion almost makes it seem like "writing well" (for human consumption) is almost the opposite of "writing good code" (for computers). To be regarded
by xrd 7y ago
Popular opinion almost makes it seem like "writing well" (for human consumption) is almost the opposite of "writing good code" (for computers).
To be regarded as a great programmer, you need to know all the arcane details of a system, where those are the intricacies of a particular language or framework, or the small details of how a computer system works. It's the minutiae that counts.
With writing for humans, you need to have a very high level overview of things. You need to speak broadly and appeal to a common human understanding. The top level understanding is what matters.
Coding interviews reflect the change the industry is sensing and what this author puts well: the worst coding interviews are where they ask you about some small detail of a language or algorithm. It's a gotcha test. The better interviews ask you to show how you holistically approach a problem.
- mont 7y agoAlso I'm not sure how useful it is to test people on remembering minutiae of a system on the fly. How often are you correct about small details of a system you work with on a daily basis on the first try?
- ragona 7y agoI disagree -- there are many situations in which your writing must display both a very detailed understanding of a system, AND a very detailed understanding of your audience.
- thfuran 7y agoAnd, similarly, you can code perfectly functional code that properly handles all the minutiae but is totally inconsistent with the general structure or style of the project and that is bad. The high-level considerations are still important there.
- ragona 7y agoAgreed! The intersection of coding and communicating is really interesting. That is my personal bar for a really phenomenal programmer — someone who can produce code that communicates ideally to both humans and computers. And this gets harder and harder depending on the task! It’s really tricky stuff.
- occamsrazorwit 7y agoHave you ever worked with a rockstar programmer whose code is unintelligible? Have you ever read something from a popular writer that was so wrong on a technical level? I wouldn't call either of those great.