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GUIs prevent truly proficient programming I /hate/ this line of thinking. Do we really think that the perfect way to interact with a computer was somehow stumb
by DanI-S 16y ago
GUIs prevent truly proficient programming
I /hate/ this line of thinking. Do we really think that the perfect way to interact with a computer was somehow stumbled upon in the 1970s and can never be improved upon? The computer does not think in ASCII, WE do not think in ASCII - it's no less of an abstraction than any other form of GUI.
Like the colour syntax highlighting in your vim setup? Fond of autocompletion? Enjoy having multiple pages of code, side-by-side? YOU ARE USING A GUI.
I apologise if this sounds vitriolic, but it's important. Programming is the expression of intent. We're never going to progress to more pure forms of that expression if the people designing our tools believe that we've already reached nirvana.
Nice review, though; I'll check out the book.
- dwc 16y agoDo check out the book. It's full of very good things. > stumbled upon in the 1970s and can never be improved upon Certainly it can be improved upon, and I'm pretty sure even GUI haters must know that. We're just waiting for that to happen, and maybe trying to think how to make it happen. The big schism comes because there are "GUI people" who think it's the total answer to everything, if only we can make better widgets or something. I don't hesitate to tell such people they're missing something.
- DanI-S 16y agoIndeed; the other pole is just as bad. I'm guessing at some point they're going to meet in the middle and something wonderful will be born. If I could create great software by staring into a flashing light whilst waving my arms around and humming, I'd be all for it - but we have a ways to go yet.
- richcollins 16y agoI agree. Nothing worse than having to cram your working memory full of arcane commands when you could be using it to help solve the problem at hand.