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>How often have you seen an algorithm expressed with such grace that it appears boringly obvious? There is a perverse quality that I see in mostly junior engin
by daenz 5y ago
>How often have you seen an algorithm expressed with such grace that it appears boringly obvious?
There is a perverse quality that I see in mostly junior engineers of not wanting the complicated thing to appear simple. I think it's probably a result of some ego and accomplishment and wanting others to know it was challenging. I'm not sure exactly but I've seen it a lot.
- mistrial9 5y agoU know $perl ?
- MeinBlutIstBlau 5y agoWhere are these juniors graduating from? At my school, asking students to even use python was like asking them to do Microsofts taxes for the year.
- mro_name 5y agothere was once a kind of obituary for a super-famous carmaker (Ferdinand Piëch, grandson of Porsche) by a renowned engine-engineer (Friedrich Indra) which boiled down to the fact that "… Piëch was complicated and also explained everything in a complicated way. The art of the engineer is to make things as simple as possible. But if you explain something simply to a person and he understands it immediately, you are just a normal engineer. Someone who exudes this aura of ideas you don't understand, on the other hand, must be something special. …"
- daenz 5y agoIt is pessimistic but it resonates. A similar quality I've seen is people who use excessive "lingo" (like obscure abbreviations), when they know that their audience is not as familiar with the subject matter. I find myself constantly stopping them and asking them "what does X mean?" I know I shouldn't feel stupid but I do. I get the sense that it is a similar perspective as that Piech character