4 ms·

I often write a script even if I only have to do something twice. In this case, the point is not to save time, it's to be secure in the knowledge that I did the

I often write a script even if I only have to do something twice. In this case, the point is not to save time, it's to be secure in the knowledge that I did the thing in exactly the same way both times, because it was the same script that did it both times. (And then it saves time anyway, because it turns out I had to do the thing 20 more times after all.)

orzig 5y ago
It’s not full proof, but the heuristic that your stakeholder will ask you for the same thing next week (or immediately ask you to do the same thing but slightly differently) has held pretty true for me
- ACow_Adonis 5y ago
  yes, I've got a little heuristic I use to tell the beginner analysts at work when to think about automating their work or putting it into a script. if you're doing something once and once only, maybe it's a candidate for the manual or gui way. if you think you might do it twice, it's almost certainly time to automate or start programming it. Anything encountered in business that you encounter more than 1 time is likely to be encountered N times more.
  - fho 5y ago
    The good old "allow it never, once or n times" :-)
gspr 5y ago
Exactly. A little {insert favorite language} snippet is immediately inspectable, also weeks or months or years in the future.
- commandlinefan 5y ago
  You underestimate my ability to write code that I myself can’t make sense of years (or sometimes even months or weeks) in the future.
  - gspr 5y ago
    Same for me – but that's usually an indicator that the spreadsheet situation would be even worse. We just suck, apparently, but we suck less with code :-)
haddr 5y ago
This is spot on! I think sometimes if you do same thing 3 times it is already better to script it, unless you are sure that no further modifications will take place. Scripting will ensure reproducibility and it is invaluable when you can follow your logic later when you already forgot how you come up with that chart.
- bryanrasmussen 5y ago
  this is obviously laziness, the first of the three virtues http://threevirtues.com/ http://threevirtues.com/

orzig 5y ago

It’s not full proof, but the heuristic that your stakeholder will ask you for the same thing next week (or immediately ask you to do the same thing but slightly differently) has held pretty true for me

ACow_Adonis 5y ago
yes, I've got a little heuristic I use to tell the beginner analysts at work when to think about automating their work or putting it into a script. if you're doing something once and once only, maybe it's a candidate for the manual or gui way. if you think you might do it twice, it's almost certainly time to automate or start programming it. Anything encountered in business that you encounter more than 1 time is likely to be encountered N times more.
- fho 5y ago
  The good old "allow it never, once or n times" :-)

gspr 5y ago

Exactly. A little {insert favorite language} snippet is immediately inspectable, also weeks or months or years in the future.

commandlinefan 5y ago
You underestimate my ability to write code that I myself can’t make sense of years (or sometimes even months or weeks) in the future.
- gspr 5y ago
  Same for me – but that's usually an indicator that the spreadsheet situation would be even worse. We just suck, apparently, but we suck less with code :-)

haddr 5y ago

This is spot on! I think sometimes if you do same thing 3 times it is already better to script it, unless you are sure that no further modifications will take place. Scripting will ensure reproducibility and it is invaluable when you can follow your logic later when you already forgot how you come up with that chart.

bryanrasmussen 5y ago
this is obviously laziness, the first of the three virtues http://threevirtues.com/ http://threevirtues.com/