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Naur on Programming as Theory Building (1985) [pdf]

• jaytaylor 5y ago
  Notes: My first encounter with this paper came from this thread: "programmers spend most of their time trying to figure out and understand the system" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30860135 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30860135 There are numerous interesting observations from other readers. One of my favorites is: mikewarot writes > The main value of a software company is the mapping of source code and problem space in the developer’s heads [In linked article]
  • corysama 5y ago
    The linked article is pretty good https://hiringengineersbook.com/post/autonomy/ https://hiringengineersbook.com/post/autonomy/
  • deathanatos 5y ago
    I also saw this (Naur's piece) linked to in that thread; thank you for submitting it, and it's rather a shame it didn't get many upvotes. It is definitely front-page worthy. I just sat down to read it, tonight. And wow, what a treat it was. I thought I knew what is argument was going to be (that theory building is the primary task of programmers) — but the plot twist I did not see coming was the argument that it is inherently a part of the programmer's mind, and cannot be separated from the mind! And wow, was it well argued. Went in for a lesson in engineering, and got schooled in philosophy too.