A very interesting post, since it poses one very conservative, tried and true approach to programming productively. I know a lot of programmers tend to arrive a

A very interesting post, since it poses one very conservative, tried and true approach to programming productively. I know a lot of programmers tend to arrive at those very same conclusions in their career. That said, I think the article and most of the commenters here don't necessarily conflict with each other; every piece of advice can apply or not, depending on the circumstances. On a larger scale, it's remarkable that a lot of the general programming advice given today is more of a heuristic/guide than a tautology, but many people still assert that their advice is The One Right Way To Do Things. It's important to understand that the vast majority of all this advice comes from real examples of what worked and what didn't. So, perhaps the best thing one can do as a programmer, in any domain, with any technology, whether you're a great programmer or a poor programmer, is to listen to it all with zen and a grain of salt.