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>If this analysis can cast a shadow on the myth of Mel Kaye ... it stems from the obvious lack of real value that the hack added to the program. It's very unlik

>If this analysis can cast a shadow on the myth of Mel Kaye ... it stems from the obvious lack of real value that the hack added to the program. It's very unlikely that a standard loop would have degraded the program's performance in any noticeable way. I thought the original story implied that the primary purpose of the alleged hack was to make the program (a blackjack game) difficult for anyone else to understand and edit, because Mel himself had refused to alter the program to allow the company's staff to cheat? (edit: blackjack, not backgammon, thank you cassiepaper)

cassiepaper 4y ago
The game (a blackjack game) was written in such a way because that was Mel's style and approach a really smart person, as described in the article. The idea behind it was to annoy the marketing people, disregard their request, and help the machine win every game, instead of the other way around.
- FatalLogic 4y ago
  That's all true, but: a gifted coder is ordered to make a change he feels is wrong, he refuses, and he also writes ingeniously obfuscated code which nobody else can alter? We don't know his motives, or if the clever 'hack' was added before or after his disagreement with the marketing people. But it sounds like more than a coincidence
imdfl 4y ago
The story says "Mel finally gave in and wrote the code, but he got the test backwards". Maybe this included further obfuscation, but imho it's not implied in the text. (author of the missing bits piece)
masklinn 4y ago
> I thought the original story implied that the primary purpose of the alleged hack was to make the program (a blackjack game) difficult for anyone else to understand and edit Nah the essay implies it was just Mel's style, due to coding on very resource-constrained systems. So Mel had a habit of data reuse, self-modifying code, and self-constraining timings (from the drum).

cassiepaper 4y ago

The game (a blackjack game) was written in such a way because that was Mel's style and approach a really smart person, as described in the article. The idea behind it was to annoy the marketing people, disregard their request, and help the machine win every game, instead of the other way around.

FatalLogic 4y ago
That's all true, but: a gifted coder is ordered to make a change he feels is wrong, he refuses, and he also writes ingeniously obfuscated code which nobody else can alter? We don't know his motives, or if the clever 'hack' was added before or after his disagreement with the marketing people. But it sounds like more than a coincidence

imdfl 4y ago

The story says "Mel finally gave in and wrote the code, but he got the test backwards". Maybe this included further obfuscation, but imho it's not implied in the text. (author of the missing bits piece)

masklinn 4y ago

> I thought the original story implied that the primary purpose of the alleged hack was to make the program (a blackjack game) difficult for anyone else to understand and edit Nah the essay implies it was just Mel's style, due to coding on very resource-constrained systems. So Mel had a habit of data reuse, self-modifying code, and self-constraining timings (from the drum).