4 ms·

Blow routinely trashes software he’s never had to write. Single user software that is the sole focused application when it is running. It saves nothing of impo

by bena 2y ago

Blow routinely trashes software he’s never had to write. Single user software that is the sole focused application when it is running. It saves nothing of importance and doesn’t alter any system to any appreciable degree. You know what’s more impressive than The Witness? Any web browser. It has to deal with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML, SGML, SVG, etc. An entire runtime environment with garbage collector. A web browser can run VS Code. It can run Doom. It can be made to run The Witness. Blow does not remotely acknowledge the complexity needed to make modern software. He treats his incredibly small domain as the pinnacle of the craft.

xanthor 2y ago
You take for granted that delivering the user value of a web application needs to be in the form of dealing with "HTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML, SGML, SVG, etc. An entire runtime environment with garbage collector." There is nothing inevitable about that.
- bena 2y ago
  No, I'm saying the web browser itself is an incredibly complex piece of software that has to deal with a lot more than what The Witness does. I actually said nothing about web applications themselves. Don't mistake flash for substance. The Witness may be pretty, but it gets to throw away a lot of complexity. Even as a game, it's not terribly complex.
  - xanthor 2y ago
    The only point of the web browser is to achieve the user value accomplished by web pages and web applications. My point is there's nothing about that problem which inevitably requires "incredibly complex" software.
    - bena 2y ago
      If "achieve(s) the user value" by being an entire execution platform. Without the browser there is nothing for those pages or applications to run on. Try writing a web browser that can render even simple, static pages. Then realize you haven't even started writing anything close to modern browsers.
      - xanthor 2y ago
        You have a remarkably closed mind.

by bena 2y ago

xanthor 2y ago

You take for granted that delivering the user value of a web application needs to be in the form of dealing with "HTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML, SGML, SVG, etc. An entire runtime environment with garbage collector." There is nothing inevitable about that.

bena 2y ago
No, I'm saying the web browser itself is an incredibly complex piece of software that has to deal with a lot more than what The Witness does. I actually said nothing about web applications themselves. Don't mistake flash for substance. The Witness may be pretty, but it gets to throw away a lot of complexity. Even as a game, it's not terribly complex.
- xanthor 2y ago
  The only point of the web browser is to achieve the user value accomplished by web pages and web applications. My point is there's nothing about that problem which inevitably requires "incredibly complex" software.
  - bena 2y ago
    If "achieve(s) the user value" by being an entire execution platform. Without the browser there is nothing for those pages or applications to run on. Try writing a web browser that can render even simple, static pages. Then realize you haven't even started writing anything close to modern browsers.
    - xanthor 2y ago
      You have a remarkably closed mind.