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Next week on Hacker News: Bad Programmers worry about their code. Good programmers ship. "Bad programmers [technique A on programming KPI metric N1]. Good pr

Next week on Hacker News: Bad Programmers worry about their code. Good programmers ship. "Bad programmers [technique A on programming KPI metric N1]. Good programmers [technique B on programming KPI metric N1]." Responses: Someone will ask, "What about metric N2?" And someone will say, "What about technique C?" Someone will post a personal anecdote showing that people really underestimate the value of A. Someone will respond to that by posting a hyperlink to an anecdote that shows technique B really is what matters.

jrajav 14y ago
10 people learn about techniques A, B, and C who didn't before. 10 other people start thinking in terms of metrics N1 and N2 who weren't before. We learn and improve collectively. I think that is a pretty amazing thing about the internet and boards like this. That's not to say that some things don't get passed around a lot, but that's generally because they're worthwhile enough to make sure that everyone gets a look.
- hermannj314 14y ago
  I agree 100%. To me, one of the downsides of many internet discussion is that it seems complicated issues get reduced to a single dimension just to get enough traction to have the conversation. And then most of the conversation is between the camps that have internalized and accepted the simplified mental model of the problem and those that haven't. Maybe that's is a good thing for the reasons you highlight. In my opinion, it feels like we are fishing with a bigger net, but we aren't fishing any deeper now than we were 3 years ago.
  - javajosh 14y ago
    >In my opinion, it feels like we are fishing with a bigger net, but we aren't fishing any deeper now than we were 3 years ago. Well, who's fault is that? Pick a perspective and follow it deeply, write about it, and fish deeper. All it requires is commitment. You could certainly pick a worse position that the OP's! Data is far more important than code - although I fear that this point is obscured by the "web service" trend that tends to spread data across many legal/economic/technical 'zones of control'. Anyway, I hope that rather than just lament the state of things, that you take action to change it, at least for yourself.
- joe_the_user 14y ago
  Sure, and after six months, 5 of those 10 people learn more stuff and the 5 others become dogmatic mouth pieces for technique A,B and C. The ideal approach is to not just teach someone a new approach but to make it clear that they have to keep learning rather than giving them the impression that they've finally found the holy grail of programming.

jrajav 14y ago

10 people learn about techniques A, B, and C who didn't before. 10 other people start thinking in terms of metrics N1 and N2 who weren't before. We learn and improve collectively. I think that is a pretty amazing thing about the internet and boards like this. That's not to say that some things don't get passed around a lot, but that's generally because they're worthwhile enough to make sure that everyone gets a look.

hermannj314 14y ago
I agree 100%. To me, one of the downsides of many internet discussion is that it seems complicated issues get reduced to a single dimension just to get enough traction to have the conversation. And then most of the conversation is between the camps that have internalized and accepted the simplified mental model of the problem and those that haven't. Maybe that's is a good thing for the reasons you highlight. In my opinion, it feels like we are fishing with a bigger net, but we aren't fishing any deeper now than we were 3 years ago.
- javajosh 14y ago
  >In my opinion, it feels like we are fishing with a bigger net, but we aren't fishing any deeper now than we were 3 years ago. Well, who's fault is that? Pick a perspective and follow it deeply, write about it, and fish deeper. All it requires is commitment. You could certainly pick a worse position that the OP's! Data is far more important than code - although I fear that this point is obscured by the "web service" trend that tends to spread data across many legal/economic/technical 'zones of control'. Anyway, I hope that rather than just lament the state of things, that you take action to change it, at least for yourself.
joe_the_user 14y ago
Sure, and after six months, 5 of those 10 people learn more stuff and the 5 others become dogmatic mouth pieces for technique A,B and C. The ideal approach is to not just teach someone a new approach but to make it clear that they have to keep learning rather than giving them the impression that they've finally found the holy grail of programming.