5 ms·

> there are still 260k lines of code added and 320k lines removed So a net reduction of 60K lines of code? And yet functionality was added to the system as wel

> there are still 260k lines of code added and 320k lines removed So a net reduction of 60K lines of code? And yet functionality was added to the system as well. That's praiseworthy IMO. Imagine if "we did more with less" infected much of software development today.

nullgeo 5y ago
Recently I read somewhere that writing long prose is easy but writing something succinct takes way longer. I think that translates to writing code as well.
- bananabreakfast 5y ago
  Brevity is the soul of wit.
  - hinkley 5y ago
    Laziness is the father of efficiency.
- bwanab 5y ago
  “ I only made this letter longer because I had not the leisure to make it shorter.” Blaise Pascal
  - ijlx 5y ago
    Ironically that's quite a pithy statement.
deeviant 5y ago
Imagine if we had a metric of "how easy is the code to understand and work with" rather than "can we do it with less lines of code".
- watermelon0 5y ago
  Those two are not exclusive.
- all2 5y ago
  I've gotten to a place where I start with a sketch of how I think my code ought to be used and then work backward into the implementation. So far I've gotten a lot of pushback from others on my team. And, what starts as "oh, you should just have to ____" gets really messy as the implementation takes shape.
  - pdimitar 5y ago
    So test-driven development (where you write the user -- the test -- first, and then the implementation)?
    - all2 5y ago
      I think so, yes. But I start "before" the test? I write a use-case. Almost a user story, but in code. Sometimes I add comments inline with the code to try and sort out what abstractions are useful.
      - pdimitar 5y ago
        Still TDD, this could fall under the use of Cucumber where the integration test DSL reads almost like English. So kudos to you for using good practices.
- hinkley 5y ago
  I think that's where people swing back to DAMP, or at least the rule of 3. I'm not trying to fractally compress my code. I'm trying to make it succinct. Those two things are very different. Now if I could only convince a particular coworker of that...
- pdimitar 5y ago
  I think every good programmer has these rules of thumb, from most important to less important: 1. Make it so you'll understand it in 2 minutes after being away for a year. Positive side effect: it's very readable for your colleagues. 2. Make it brief. 3. Make it fast. 4. Make it pretty (although often times readable + brief code is pretty but obviously it's subjective).
CRConrad 5y ago
> So a net reduction of 60K lines of code? And yet functionality was added to the system as well. That's praiseworthy IMO. Yup. > Imagine if "we did more with less" infected much of software development today. Taken to its logical conclusion this should mean that the ultimate piece of software, that does everything and does it perfectly, is 0 LoC. Hmm, fells like I need to check my logic here...

nullgeo 5y ago

Recently I read somewhere that writing long prose is easy but writing something succinct takes way longer. I think that translates to writing code as well.

bananabreakfast 5y ago
Brevity is the soul of wit.
- hinkley 5y ago
  Laziness is the father of efficiency.
bwanab 5y ago
“ I only made this letter longer because I had not the leisure to make it shorter.” Blaise Pascal
- ijlx 5y ago
  Ironically that's quite a pithy statement.

deeviant 5y ago

Imagine if we had a metric of "how easy is the code to understand and work with" rather than "can we do it with less lines of code".

watermelon0 5y ago
Those two are not exclusive.
all2 5y ago
I've gotten to a place where I start with a sketch of how I think my code ought to be used and then work backward into the implementation. So far I've gotten a lot of pushback from others on my team. And, what starts as "oh, you should just have to ____" gets really messy as the implementation takes shape.
- pdimitar 5y ago
  So test-driven development (where you write the user -- the test -- first, and then the implementation)?
  - all2 5y ago
    I think so, yes. But I start "before" the test? I write a use-case. Almost a user story, but in code. Sometimes I add comments inline with the code to try and sort out what abstractions are useful.
    - pdimitar 5y ago
      Still TDD, this could fall under the use of Cucumber where the integration test DSL reads almost like English. So kudos to you for using good practices.
hinkley 5y ago
I think that's where people swing back to DAMP, or at least the rule of 3. I'm not trying to fractally compress my code. I'm trying to make it succinct. Those two things are very different. Now if I could only convince a particular coworker of that...
pdimitar 5y ago
I think every good programmer has these rules of thumb, from most important to less important: 1. Make it so you'll understand it in 2 minutes after being away for a year. Positive side effect: it's very readable for your colleagues. 2. Make it brief. 3. Make it fast. 4. Make it pretty (although often times readable + brief code is pretty but obviously it's subjective).

CRConrad 5y ago

> So a net reduction of 60K lines of code? And yet functionality was added to the system as well. That's praiseworthy IMO. Yup. > Imagine if "we did more with less" infected much of software development today. Taken to its logical conclusion this should mean that the ultimate piece of software, that does everything and does it perfectly, is 0 LoC. Hmm, fells like I need to check my logic here...