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> The best practices we followed often felt like cargo cult programming. Best practices are cargo culting if they aren't adapted to the local context.
by greymalik 2y ago
> The best practices we followed often felt like cargo cult programming.
Best practices are cargo culting if they aren't adapted to the local context.
- eddd-ddde 2y agoAlso, is cargo cult really that bad if it helps us stick with consistency?
- TehShrike 2y ago"consistency" isn't beneficial unless it makes you better at shipping something useful
- bluefirebrand 2y agoI struggle to think of any time when consistency would not make you better at shipping something useful A codebase with consistent styles and patterns is easier to work on than a chaotic codebase, it would definitely make you better at shipping And so on
- eddd-ddde 2y agoThis was my line of thinking when making the comment. Obviously there has to be some balance, but in general I'm a fan of consistency, even if I'm not a big fan of the things we are being consistent on.
- bluefirebrand 2y agoI think the problem with cargo culting isn't usually the stuff the cargo cult preaches It's the constant churn of dropping the current thing for the new cargo cult whenever it comes along. Cargo culting destroys consistency by constantly seeking the next new hotness
- dolni 2y agoWhat if everything were written in C? Or Python? Or Java? We'd have massive consistency across the software industry and yet that would be an absolutely terrible idea.
- TehShrike 2y agoI've seen codebases that were consistent in e.g. copy/pasting a meaningless comment into the top of every file. This did not make the team better at shipping something useful. Consistency is bullshit if it doesn't help you ship something that people care about.
- cassianoleal 2y agoShipping is not the end game. Things need to be operated and maintained, sometimes for many years to come. Consistency helps keep things more predictable and simpler to interpret and change.
- TehShrike 2y agoI agree. "Shipping" means "shipping over time", i.e. maintaining for 10+ years
- gofreddygo 2y agoYes. a cargo cult is devoid of questioning and critical thinking. It probably works for someone who came up with a practice that they don't want questioned or being held up to reason. Other than that, it's always bad.