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The fact that you adapted the famous Heinlein quote for programming just goes to show me a problem with that quote. Recall that the original quote mentioned pro
by mwcampbell 4y ago
The fact that you adapted the famous Heinlein quote for programming just goes to show me a problem with that quote. Recall that the original quote mentioned programming itself as one of the many things that a human should know how to do. But your adaptation illustrates that programming alone is deep enough to merit its own specializations. So just as, IMO, specialization is not just for insects but also for humans living in a functioning, populous civilization, specialization is also fine and expected for programmers, particularly since our numbers have grown over the decades. And to bring this back to my original point, yes, this means that we shouldn't all be writing lowest-common-denominator code in mainstream languages. But I still think it's a good idea to avoid needless fragmentation.
- 082349872349872 4y agoFair enough; I think I'm describing the horizontal bar of the "T" and you're pointing out the vertical, and we differ on the amount of fragmentation ergolib represents. (Despite not using CL on the daily, upon perusing ergolib's source I found it a relatively straightforward mod-con library, so I don't think it necessarily fragments) (But I was pretty serious about that list: I would hope a programmer just out of school would have heard of all of them, and expect anyone experienced to have done most of them, if not necessarily in the languages that make each one easy. Similarly, from Heinlein's original list, I currently lack only practical experience in planning invasions [though I have theoretic hex-board experience], butchering hogs [though I have a friend who has offered to teach me], and dying gallantly [though I have "I am just going outside and may be some time" as an example to follow should the occasion arise])