4 ms·

tldr: MIT doesn't teach everything. Author discovers rapid iteration, the value of throwing away code, and possibly source version control because users of his

by geuis 15y ago

tldr: MIT doesn't teach everything. Author discovers rapid iteration, the value of throwing away code, and possibly source version control because users of his game solved it faster than he did with superior "logical" reasoning.

apike 15y ago
Don't take this so lightly. I've seen a lot of brilliant engineers, especially new CS grads, get stuck in this hole. They have the intelligence and knowledge to "correctly" solve problems, and are driven to always to get them right the first time. These grads can have a hard time "just fucking doing it", especially when it comes to getting started on very hard problems. It can take a few years of real world experience for them to get comfortable with doing something that's known to be wrong and moving from there.
- geuis 15y ago
  Excellent point. The comment wasn't a slight against the author. Far from it, I wish I had a mind even 25% as analytical as his.
- palish 15y ago
  I don't understand. They know how to do things, yet they can't do things?
  - tuukkah 15y ago
    When theory meets practice, it's expected that the application doesn't come immediately.
  - bh42222 15y ago
    Think about a brilliant poet and essayist who has written absolutely brilliant poems and essays, but is scared by the thought of writing a book. How could he ever write something so long! This is what we're talking about, a problem of practice.
- amirmc 15y ago
  I appreciate the tl;dr though since I've got the gist of the post and decided it's not one I want to read right now.
bh42222 15y ago
I'm not surprised. Even my no-name state university did not teach source control or any editor/IDE skills. I picked all of that up from the other students and learned even more by coding myself into a corner, fun! But that's all because I knew I wanted to be a practicing programmer, not just a computer scientists. A lot of university cs programs have this attitude that practical knowledge (and I'd argue that source control is beyond practical, it's essential) is yucky and should be left to the technical and vocational schools. But things like iterating and heavy editing and re-writing are in no way programming specific, the exact same principles apply to writing plain old English. Does anyone know if English departments teach these things?
- ohyes 15y ago
  Iterating, heavy editing, and rewriting should be taught before you get to college. Really they are the most important part of any sort of English composition. Getting words on paper is easy, getting the right words on paper is hard. As soon as you begin writing papers for school (in middle school, perhaps), you should be learning all of those skills. If you don't know them by college (which is entirely possible), they might be offered in a remedial 'English composition' course.

by geuis 15y ago

apike 15y ago

Don't take this so lightly. I've seen a lot of brilliant engineers, especially new CS grads, get stuck in this hole. They have the intelligence and knowledge to "correctly" solve problems, and are driven to always to get them right the first time. These grads can have a hard time "just fucking doing it", especially when it comes to getting started on very hard problems. It can take a few years of real world experience for them to get comfortable with doing something that's known to be wrong and moving from there.

geuis 15y ago
Excellent point. The comment wasn't a slight against the author. Far from it, I wish I had a mind even 25% as analytical as his.
palish 15y ago
I don't understand. They know how to do things, yet they can't do things?
- tuukkah 15y ago
  When theory meets practice, it's expected that the application doesn't come immediately.
- bh42222 15y ago
  Think about a brilliant poet and essayist who has written absolutely brilliant poems and essays, but is scared by the thought of writing a book. How could he ever write something so long! This is what we're talking about, a problem of practice.
amirmc 15y ago
I appreciate the tl;dr though since I've got the gist of the post and decided it's not one I want to read right now.

bh42222 15y ago

I'm not surprised. Even my no-name state university did not teach source control or any editor/IDE skills. I picked all of that up from the other students and learned even more by coding myself into a corner, fun! But that's all because I knew I wanted to be a practicing programmer, not just a computer scientists. A lot of university cs programs have this attitude that practical knowledge (and I'd argue that source control is beyond practical, it's essential) is yucky and should be left to the technical and vocational schools. But things like iterating and heavy editing and re-writing are in no way programming specific, the exact same principles apply to writing plain old English. Does anyone know if English departments teach these things?

ohyes 15y ago
Iterating, heavy editing, and rewriting should be taught before you get to college. Really they are the most important part of any sort of English composition. Getting words on paper is easy, getting the right words on paper is hard. As soon as you begin writing papers for school (in middle school, perhaps), you should be learning all of those skills. If you don't know them by college (which is entirely possible), they might be offered in a remedial 'English composition' course.