4 ms·

That's weird isn't it! In a quick search, I couldn't find any occurrence online of the phrase "Don't rewrite code without consultation", one of those commandmen

That's weird isn't it! In a quick search, I couldn't find any occurrence online of the phrase "Don't rewrite code without consultation", one of those commandments, earlier than Atwood's article. This[0] was the earliest other one I could find, from a few months after Atwood's, which says "What Weinberg wrote in that book was a set of guidelines for developers working in a team environment to keep their egos separate from their code. In fact, I think these 10 guidelines.." - but in the book, although Weinberg talks frequently about "egoless programming", I can't see any (isolated) principles or guidelines, much less a list of commandments. I can't find an online version of McCarthy's Dynamics of Software Development to check what's in that. [0] https://www.techrepublic.com/article/the-ten-commandments-of-egoless-programming/ https://www.techrepublic.com/article/the-ten-commandments-of...

ImprobableTruth 5y ago
An earlier article from techrepublic written in 2001: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/egoless-programming-the-path-to-better-code/ https://www.techrepublic.com/article/egoless-programming-the... This is the earliest google hit for "Ten Commandments for egoless programming". Curiously, the author, Lamont Adams, does not explicitly state that the commandments are from the book. Maybe "I present The (Almost) Ten Commandments for egoless programming" means that it's a summary by Adams?
- yesenadam 5y ago
  Oh thanks! Yeah, seems Adams may well be the originator. p.s. I just wrote to him now asking about this! Maybe the truth will surface...
  - pvg 5y ago
    Another person to ask, I suppose, is Atwood.
  - pvg 5y ago
    I think a plausible explanation that fits all the bits and pieces is that Adams wrote this as a kind of riff of his own, inspired by the concept of 'Egoless Programming'. At some later point Atwood ran across some version of the 'commandments' list, thought they were quotes from the book and wrote his blog post. Thinking they were quotes, he probably didn't feel the need to cite where he found them. It's just a somewhat silly mistake, it happens - although it inadvertently spawned a mighty stream of Internet Wrongness. He should have probably updated and corrected the blog post when someone pointed out his mistake to him in 2016. He probably still should.
- pvg 5y ago
  Oh nice, thanks for digging that up! For some reason I missed that one in trying to find earlier examples.
- skmurphy 5y ago
  Thanks this is an earlier online source. Adams credits Weinberg for the term "egoless programming" but it's clear the 9 commandments are his. There is an updated version from builder.com in 2004 that adds a 10th commandment that matches the Atwood list see https://web.archive.org/web/20040603055200/http://builder.com.com/5100-6404-1045782.html https://web.archive.org/web/20040603055200/http://builder.co... (uncovered via http://blogs.ugidotnet.org/geniodelmale/archive/2006/01/03/32263.aspx http://blogs.ugidotnet.org/geniodelmale/archive/2006/01/03/3... )

ImprobableTruth 5y ago

An earlier article from techrepublic written in 2001: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/egoless-programming-the-path-to-better-code/ https://www.techrepublic.com/article/egoless-programming-the... This is the earliest google hit for "Ten Commandments for egoless programming". Curiously, the author, Lamont Adams, does not explicitly state that the commandments are from the book. Maybe "I present The (Almost) Ten Commandments for egoless programming" means that it's a summary by Adams?

yesenadam 5y ago
Oh thanks! Yeah, seems Adams may well be the originator. p.s. I just wrote to him now asking about this! Maybe the truth will surface...
- pvg 5y ago
  Another person to ask, I suppose, is Atwood.
- pvg 5y ago
  I think a plausible explanation that fits all the bits and pieces is that Adams wrote this as a kind of riff of his own, inspired by the concept of 'Egoless Programming'. At some later point Atwood ran across some version of the 'commandments' list, thought they were quotes from the book and wrote his blog post. Thinking they were quotes, he probably didn't feel the need to cite where he found them. It's just a somewhat silly mistake, it happens - although it inadvertently spawned a mighty stream of Internet Wrongness. He should have probably updated and corrected the blog post when someone pointed out his mistake to him in 2016. He probably still should.
pvg 5y ago
Oh nice, thanks for digging that up! For some reason I missed that one in trying to find earlier examples.
skmurphy 5y ago
Thanks this is an earlier online source. Adams credits Weinberg for the term "egoless programming" but it's clear the 9 commandments are his. There is an updated version from builder.com in 2004 that adds a 10th commandment that matches the Atwood list see https://web.archive.org/web/20040603055200/http://builder.com.com/5100-6404-1045782.html https://web.archive.org/web/20040603055200/http://builder.co... (uncovered via http://blogs.ugidotnet.org/geniodelmale/archive/2006/01/03/32263.aspx http://blogs.ugidotnet.org/geniodelmale/archive/2006/01/03/3... )