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This cannot be understated. I still remember the Java class where my teacher just couldn't explain to me the reason for getters and setters. It took me multipl

This cannot be understated. I still remember the Java class where my teacher just couldn't explain to me the reason for getters and setters. It took me multiple years before I finally understood why they used to be so important. In my last year of university, I had a course, that primarily and uncritically discussed GOF Design Patterns without even mentioning how they relate to the improvements in programming languages since then.

sanderjd 3y ago
Yep. But there are a few separate things: 1. I can't explain this because I have no idea why it is a thing and have just cargo culted it. 2. I came to this view through hard-won personal experience, but I don't really remember exactly the underlying situation. 3. I have good reasons for this, which I could explain, but I'm not going to invest the time in that, because it would be time consuming and I've had this same discussion a bunch of times before and I know I'm unlikely to sway you until you just get burned yourself. Unfortunately these are largely indistinguishable, leading many people to conclude that it's always #1.
- SebastianKra 3y ago
  #3 I can begrudgingly accept. #1 and #2 are indistinguishable, even to yourself. If you don't remember the conditions that made you chose a solution, how can you be sure that they still apply now? I believe, as you get older, you tend to rely on these assumptions more and more, which is why it's us youngsters' job to question them. Ideally, both sides learn something :)
  - sanderjd 3y ago
    Respectfully disagree. I absolutely can distinguish between "I'm just parroting stuff I've read" vs. "I have this opinion for a good reason but I would have to spend time reminding myself what that is". I do both things all the time! Sometimes it's efficient to cargo cult from stuff you've read, even if you come back later with more experience and think "that was sure stupid". > If you don't remember the conditions that made you chose a solution, how can you be sure that they still apply now? I agree that you're less likely to be right in this situation, but it's still a good starting point in the solution space. In general, the key is always to be willing to notice when you made the wrong call and update your priors. But that's doesn't require approaching every question with a blank slate. It's a good thing to lean on experience. Even when you're wrong. You youngsters should absolutely question things. But you also shouldn't think you're right just because nobody has yet convinced you that you're wrong. I'm neither young nor old, which means I can remember when I questioned everything and thought I was right about all of it, and the truth is that I was an idiot :)

sanderjd 3y ago

Yep. But there are a few separate things: 1. I can't explain this because I have no idea why it is a thing and have just cargo culted it. 2. I came to this view through hard-won personal experience, but I don't really remember exactly the underlying situation. 3. I have good reasons for this, which I could explain, but I'm not going to invest the time in that, because it would be time consuming and I've had this same discussion a bunch of times before and I know I'm unlikely to sway you until you just get burned yourself. Unfortunately these are largely indistinguishable, leading many people to conclude that it's always #1.

SebastianKra 3y ago
#3 I can begrudgingly accept. #1 and #2 are indistinguishable, even to yourself. If you don't remember the conditions that made you chose a solution, how can you be sure that they still apply now? I believe, as you get older, you tend to rely on these assumptions more and more, which is why it's us youngsters' job to question them. Ideally, both sides learn something :)
- sanderjd 3y ago
  Respectfully disagree. I absolutely can distinguish between "I'm just parroting stuff I've read" vs. "I have this opinion for a good reason but I would have to spend time reminding myself what that is". I do both things all the time! Sometimes it's efficient to cargo cult from stuff you've read, even if you come back later with more experience and think "that was sure stupid". > If you don't remember the conditions that made you chose a solution, how can you be sure that they still apply now? I agree that you're less likely to be right in this situation, but it's still a good starting point in the solution space. In general, the key is always to be willing to notice when you made the wrong call and update your priors. But that's doesn't require approaching every question with a blank slate. It's a good thing to lean on experience. Even when you're wrong. You youngsters should absolutely question things. But you also shouldn't think you're right just because nobody has yet convinced you that you're wrong. I'm neither young nor old, which means I can remember when I questioned everything and thought I was right about all of it, and the truth is that I was an idiot :)