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The Tao of Programming (1987)
- sebmellen 6y ago> Why are programmers non-productive? Because their time is wasted in meetings. > Why are programmers rebellious? Because the management interferes too much. > Why are the programmers resigning one by one? Because they are burnt out. > Having worked for poor management, they no longer value their jobs.
- the_only_law 6y agoMan I wish I could get out of the field and just return to it being my hobby. Every now and then I get those periods of excitement, focus, etc. with my personal projects, but 90% of the time I want nothing to do with development.
- dirktheman 6y agoMy cousin's life dream has always been to be a chef. A while ago he finally made the transition, quit his job and started working as a chef in a restaurant. He was pretty disappointed to learn that it's... just another job. The lesson is probably when you make your job out of your hobby, you lost your hobby and gained a job.
- cheschire 6y agoIf the thing holding you back from the change is your salary, then you're just renting out your life to someone else in exchange for money. In that case, any job can pay rent for your life. It's just a question of whether you feel your life is worth the rent someone is willing to pay. The difference between this job and others is that you are subsidizing the higher rent by covering the cost of your hobby time for them. You should consider reducing your perceived life rental income by the amount you're subsidizing and then compare jobs based on that unsubsidized amount. You might stick with it anyways, or you might discover that there's better value to be had elsewhere. edit: clarity.
- thn-gap 6y agoIf your current job is your would-be hobby, and you still have to work +40h per week, chances are that it can't get better than this. It's just working itself that sucks.
- UncleSlacky 6y ago> It's just working itself that sucks. AKA alienation of labor, as Marx put it: > labor is external to the worker. It does not belong to his nature. He does not realize himself in his work, that he denies himself in it. That he does not feel at ease in it but rather unhappy. He does not develop free physical and mental energy in it... The worker is only himself when he does not work, and in his work he feels outside himself. He feels at home when he’s not working. When working he does not feel at home...His labor is not voluntary but forced. tl;dr: > You don't hate Mondays, you hate capitalism.
- caskstrength 6y agoAre you implying that people somehow don't need to work in communist countries? I was too young to work during USSR times, but I can assure you my parents and grandparents hated Mondays as much as my generation do, if not more.
- eru 6y agoOh, but those countries weren't doing 'real communism'. Compare https://www.econlib.org/socialism-the-failed-idea-that-never-dies/ https://www.econlib.org/socialism-the-failed-idea-that-never...
- UncleSlacky 6y agoThere's work that you do for yourself and to benefit yourself and your community, but this kind of work is the kind which doesn't benefit you, only your boss. In the case of the USSR, your boss was the state, hence why the USSR's economy is often referred to as "state capitalism".
- 6y ago
- alphadevx 6y agoNo personal responsibility?
- whereistimbo 6y agoI would like a version with brahman, prana, kundalini, and shiva and shakti instead of qi/chi and yin and yang.
- linsomniac 6y agoI went through a major book downsizing ~7 years ago when I moved unexpectedly. I don't know the exact book count, but something like 60+ linear feet, down to a single armload. The Tao of Programming and The Tao of Pooh both made that cut.
- seibelj 6y agoParing down a book collection is a very strange act for the bibliophile. I only did it once but the end result was a much sharper collection. (Un?)Fortunately since then I got a bigger place, more shelves, and now my collection is over 2x since then. But the day I donated a ton of books sticks out in my mind, I remember the weather, all of my movements, and even what I ate for lunch (chicken sandwich). Few days from the far past I remember so vividly.
- ghaff 6y agoBooks etc. expand to fill the space allotted to them. At some point, I decided that the (considerable) space in my house devoted to books and other media was at a peak. Since then, I've done an annual or so winnowing to keep inflow (though a lot of that has shifted to digital) and outflow approximately matched. I could still get rid of a lot though if I wanted to.
- salgernon 6y agoUgh. We were moving and donated books to a local goodwill type charity. Later we found out that they literally were sending all donated books to a paper recycler. I could understand that with some books, damaged or foxed (or dragoned) but it was an unexpected emotional blow.
- Cactus2018 6y agoI paired down my book collection recently, and while looking for a shop to take them, I was discouraged to discover how selective of the type of books they accept >> No: atlases, catalogues, computer books, comic books, condensed books, exercise, erotica, magazines, journals, art catalogues, outdated business books, romance novels, and textbooks.
- 6y ago
- DopamineHigh 6y agoI enjoyed this book. I bought a paperback copy of this book earlier this year after reading about it on an article about books that Steve Jobs had read. The article is written by the same author: https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/12-books-steve-jobs-wanted-you-to-read.html https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/12-books-steve-jobs-wante...
- dang 6y agoIf curious see also 2019 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19023159 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19023159 2014 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8035332 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8035332 2009 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=963860 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=963860 2009 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=595501 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=595501
- jordanbeiber 6y agoEnterprise dev still gets me. Having worked beneath its sheltering branches for years, and been dumped on by the big bird from HQ numerous times - it is just the best and worst. If all the craziness can be ignored it can be bliss, I just never managed to reach the tao.
- WJW 6y agoThe tao that can be reached is not the true Tao. You can only move towards it.
- jordanbeiber 6y agoWise words. What I meant to say was - I constantly stumble and fall in such settings. Even so it is also the type of setting where you can work completely sheltered from the real world, on problems you find interesting, without worry. If you can separate “care for” from “interesting” and find a decent middle manager - tao can seem close by.
- archibaldJ 6y ago> Thus spake the Master. It’s time for you to leave. Saying this to self often helps when making a career move, or an important decision in life, etc. Or when you are refactoring your code. The Master is the universe. Life is a trip visiting from Temples to Temples. We practice Programming because we are Disciples.
- f00zz 6y agoThis is a reference to the old TV series "Kung Fu": https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhenYouSnatchThePebble https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhenYouSnatchThe...
- ngcc_hk 6y agoJust my master degree finished laotze and now moved to chungtze. This copy is so bad that I am sorry it does not get Tao of programming at all. At least not tao. * I think at least have some story of debugging like dissect of the ox in zhungzi like in the beginning I hack the code with hardship, strgguking all the time with upgrades and ... finally I do not see the problem and I can fix whatsoever with whatever language. There is no language just me freely hack around and the problem is solved without even the problem aware its own existence and just disappear. Or the Tao generate zero, zero follow by one abd with that the world is totally with us etc.
- Drahflow 6y agoI'd be curious how you think about my favorite version: https://pastebin.com/raw/dXdZXnux https://pastebin.com/raw/dXdZXnux
- hanche 6y agoI have to say I also enjoyed The Codeless Code. A search reveals that stories from there have been submitted to HN several times, though hardly ever commented on. There have been no new stories since 2016. http://thecodelesscode.com/contents http://thecodelesscode.com/contents
- fjcp 6y agoThe Codeless Code is great and very entertaining, and sometimes one can learn some lessons from the stories. One that I remember to this day and always consider when building an application is the The White Pearl[0]. [0] http://thecodelesscode.com/case/73 http://thecodelesscode.com/case/73
- CobrastanJorji 6y agoMy two favorite Codeless Codes are "Possible Race Condition" (http://thecodelesscode.com/case/225 http://thecodelesscode.com/case/225) and "Unsupported Accusations" (http://thecodelesscode.com/case/224 http://thecodelesscode.com/case/224).
- legostormtroopr 6y agoI'm quite partial to "Roses are Red" - http://thecodelesscode.com/case/95 http://thecodelesscode.com/case/95
- f00zz 6y agoGreat book, and "The Zen of Computer Programming" by the same author is also nice. (Unfortunately the printed version has pages of pseudo-Chinese text that look like "A U E I A A U E E I O A E" if you can recognize a bit of the language.)
- BenGosub 6y agoIf you think this is cool, have a look at the Zhuangzi.
- ckpcw 6y agoSuch a great text. However, the fact that the programmers are all "he" and the only reference to a female pronoun is a "hostess greeting her guests" was somewhat abrasive to me. Previous discussion on the topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8036547 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8036547 I get it -- it's written in an old style. And I don't want to censor art. SO -- I made a "mod" for the book, that randomizes the pronouns each time. https://xtao.stream https://xtao.stream Still a WIP -- want to add more info/motivation to the site before really releasing it, but I wanted to share here & would love any feedback.. expecting downvotes.. ;)
- Jean-Philipe 6y agoI love it! Instead of just complaining, you're also offering a solution.
- burrows 6y agoYeah! Another job well done by Minitruth!
- ckpcw 6y agoGot em! In all fairness, I do agree with the sentiment behind your trolling though. That's why I made this a "mod" where the user provides the original text. It's an interesting approach to the "relevancy update" without suppressing or censoring the original. I -really- don't want to be the person breaking penises off statues or changing the edit so Han shoots in defense. This is not rewriting of truth. This is Counter-Strike vs. Half-Life. An original-source-available remix.
- burrows 6y agoBuild whatever you want, I just think the text being “abrasive” because of masculine pronouns is beyond goofy as fuck.
- 6y ago
- shric 6y ago3.3 There was once a programmer who was attached to the court of the warlord of Wu. The warlord asked the programmer: "Which is easier to design: an accounting package or an operating system?" "An operating system," replied the programmer. The warlord uttered an exclamation of disbelief. "Surely an accounting package is trivial next to the complexity of an operating system," he said. "Not so," said the programmer, "When designing an accounting package, the programmer operates as a mediator between people having different ideas: how it must operate, how its reports must appear, and how it must conform to the tax laws. By contrast, an operating system is not limited by outside appearances. When designing an operating system, the programmer seeks the simplest harmony between machine and ideas. This is why an operating system is easier to design." The warlord of Wu nodded and smiled. "That is all good and well, but what about the rants on lkml?"