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Next paper: Discovery of pseudo way to code, with no code. We show, contrary to modern tribal rituals, that drawing diagrams help students visualize their plans

by loopz 6y ago

Next paper: Discovery of pseudo way to code, with no code. We show, contrary to modern tribal rituals, that drawing diagrams help students visualize their plans and improve results and effectiveness. The author heralds new dawn of human-machine cognition. Joke aside, building something for a purpose is a great way to learn, ie. just look to gamer/mod culture and self-taught techies. OTOH, building stuff/knowledge without purpose leads too often to a blind alley, or a hopeful pivot.

onetom 6y ago
I can't decide if you are making fun of diagram drawing or endorsing it, but here is my take on it. I often start programming by "drawing" sequence diagrams, by typing up PlantUML descriptions (https://plantuml.com/sequence-diagram https://plantuml.com/sequence-diagram). This is especially useful, if the purpose of the program is to communicate with many other programs. A sequence diagram allows to establish a language around the purpose of the program. Having it described textually allows extremely cheap (within minutes) iteration on names, algorithms and the architecture. Showing all these aspects concisely at once makes it possible to develop a consistent, yet concise naming scheme, which can greatly reduce misunderstandings. You can discover disconnects of interactions, the data flow or ordering errors by simply following the arrows with your finger/pointer and reading it out loud. The other tool I found extremely useful is the C4 Lightweight Software Architecture Description Method (which can also be "drawn" pretty well with PlantUML: https://crashedmind.github.io/PlantUMLHitchhikersGuide/C4/C4Stdlib.html https://crashedmind.github.io/PlantUMLHitchhikersGuide/C4/C4... )
- loopz 6y ago
  Just messing around. Diagrams are cool though. Especially sequence diagrams can clarify important processes that otherwise are not so clear. I like the text-only aspect to notes and documentation, as that tend to remain accessible and light-weight.

by loopz 6y ago

onetom 6y ago

I can't decide if you are making fun of diagram drawing or endorsing it, but here is my take on it. I often start programming by "drawing" sequence diagrams, by typing up PlantUML descriptions (https://plantuml.com/sequence-diagram https://plantuml.com/sequence-diagram). This is especially useful, if the purpose of the program is to communicate with many other programs. A sequence diagram allows to establish a language around the purpose of the program. Having it described textually allows extremely cheap (within minutes) iteration on names, algorithms and the architecture. Showing all these aspects concisely at once makes it possible to develop a consistent, yet concise naming scheme, which can greatly reduce misunderstandings. You can discover disconnects of interactions, the data flow or ordering errors by simply following the arrows with your finger/pointer and reading it out loud. The other tool I found extremely useful is the C4 Lightweight Software Architecture Description Method (which can also be "drawn" pretty well with PlantUML: https://crashedmind.github.io/PlantUMLHitchhikersGuide/C4/C4Stdlib.html https://crashedmind.github.io/PlantUMLHitchhikersGuide/C4/C4... )

loopz 6y ago
Just messing around. Diagrams are cool though. Especially sequence diagrams can clarify important processes that otherwise are not so clear. I like the text-only aspect to notes and documentation, as that tend to remain accessible and light-weight.