3 ms·

I agree that it seems like engineers of the past were more clever than us today, but I suspect that we feel that way only because a lot of the garbage systems a

by bmgxyz 7y ago

I agree that it seems like engineers of the past were more clever than us today, but I suspect that we feel that way only because a lot of the garbage systems and code have been lost to time. The good stuff gets immortalized and passed down, while the bad stuff isn't, much in the same way that nobody will see my hacky Python scripts in 30 years (with any luck). It's a selection bias. See also people who are convinced they were born in the wrong time period. Much more annoying that you or me, I'd say, but the same principle nonetheless.

folkhack 7y ago
> much in the same way that nobody will see my hacky Python scripts in 30 years (with any luck) LOTS of us have seen legacy systems long outlast their intended lifespan. I've seen this in enterprise settings, web development, small business, etc... I've got multiple custom web solutions (niche industry product catalogs) I developed in my early 20's that are still going strong 10-15 years later. The code behind them is dated and god awful, but if/when you talk to the client it's the "don't fix what's not broken" mentality. Due to this experience I've learned to document the hell out of my projects because of really positive feedback from developers who have had to support/modify my work down-the-road. Docs can be a lifesaver in a less-than-ideal situation. Just sharing my anecdotal experience of "holy cow that's STILL LIVE?!" and, "here's a DB2 mess from the late 80's ... figure it out kid." =)