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Lotta specific bitterness here. This reads a lot like a manifesto from someone about to shoot up their office. One example: >> A manager enjoys "software archi

Lotta specific bitterness here. This reads a lot like a manifesto from someone about to shoot up their office. One example: >> A manager enjoys "software architecture", design patterns, and language lawyer type of knowledge Sorry, what is "language lawyer type of knowledge"? Does the OP mean the ability of others to better articulate and convince the manager of the reasons for making certain architectural decisions? There's something about the phrase "language lawyer type of knowledge" which is specifically derisive of engineers who are committed to the larger task and willing to make a case for their approach. It's a phrase which aims to diminish the value of reasoned debate in communicating pros and cons of various approaches; it's practically an ad hominem attack against anyone who uses words to make a point. My read of this was that the person who wrote it got fired for poor communication skills, was bitter, and penned a poorly written attempt at post-justifying their failure.

flangola7 4y ago
I read "language lawyering" as a person who sees language not as a means to communicate ideas in good faith, but as a weapon, a means to an end. The type of person who will nitpick and engage in prescriptive behaviors like quoting literal dictionary definitions back at a person rather than address the meaning and intent that they have obviously conveyed.
- noduerme 4y ago
  Maybe, but this was used in the same breath as design patterns and software architecture. Those both are inevitably opinionated. I personally don't think engineers should get married to one set of patterns or architecture; we should keep learning on the job and find new tools, the best tools that suit the schema. But conflating what may well be good arguments for a design pattern with bad-faith "lawyering" shows a high level of contempt for the people OP would be working with, and suggests OP was more put off by the style of debate than they were by the content.
wheybags 4y ago
Pretty sure they mean arcana like the nitty gritty of how to parse a function pointer declaration in c (from reading the spec, which is written like law). Could be wrong though.
- noduerme 4y ago
  I didn't read it as lawyering of C code... maybe I misunderstood that. If that's the case I'd retract my statement. I thought they meant other engineers using "lawyering" skills ...(logical communication)... to convince a manager to take one architectural path over another.
- greenyoda 4y ago
  That's correct. It's a reference to Brooks' The Mythical Man-Month[1], in which the term "language lawyer" was used to refer to someone who knows all the details about the specs of a programming language. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythical_Man-Month https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythical_Man-Month

flangola7 4y ago

I read "language lawyering" as a person who sees language not as a means to communicate ideas in good faith, but as a weapon, a means to an end. The type of person who will nitpick and engage in prescriptive behaviors like quoting literal dictionary definitions back at a person rather than address the meaning and intent that they have obviously conveyed.

noduerme 4y ago
Maybe, but this was used in the same breath as design patterns and software architecture. Those both are inevitably opinionated. I personally don't think engineers should get married to one set of patterns or architecture; we should keep learning on the job and find new tools, the best tools that suit the schema. But conflating what may well be good arguments for a design pattern with bad-faith "lawyering" shows a high level of contempt for the people OP would be working with, and suggests OP was more put off by the style of debate than they were by the content.

wheybags 4y ago

Pretty sure they mean arcana like the nitty gritty of how to parse a function pointer declaration in c (from reading the spec, which is written like law). Could be wrong though.

noduerme 4y ago
I didn't read it as lawyering of C code... maybe I misunderstood that. If that's the case I'd retract my statement. I thought they meant other engineers using "lawyering" skills ...(logical communication)... to convince a manager to take one architectural path over another.
greenyoda 4y ago
That's correct. It's a reference to Brooks' The Mythical Man-Month[1], in which the term "language lawyer" was used to refer to someone who knows all the details about the specs of a programming language. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythical_Man-Month https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythical_Man-Month