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For years I have been terrified about putting my code on Github for fear of rage and retribution from the programmer community. This is a real problem for us a

For years I have been terrified about putting my code on Github for fear of rage and retribution from the programmer community. This is a real problem for us amateur coders who enjoy hacking but don't necessarily have the chops to go head-to-head with the serious guys.

citricsquid 14y ago
Likewise. I finally gathered the courage to start open sourcing code recently, I figure that if the code I'm writing is shit then it's going to be shit whether it's on my hard drive or on github and the advantages of having code out there are worth the potential ridicule... but still I find myself prefacing everything with a disclaimer, "I was tired when I wrote this" or "This isn't the best code" just to give myself a get out if someone does decide to tear apart the quality of my code.
- rozap 14y ago
  A completely agree here. Even though I get complimented at work about code quality, I just feel like the open source community is somehow "more serious". Like, what if I'm doing this whole coding thing completely wrong?
- talmand 14y ago
  You shouldn't write those type of things. I mean, you can comment about potential problems in the code and whatnot, but don't disclaimer your code like that before anyone even complains about it. Most of the "your code sucks" comments is based more around you didn't do things like they would have. Such as: "You didn't use OO principles the way I interpret them so you suck." "You used that library/framework/language that I hate so you suck." "You're not coding in my *nix flavor with my choice of IDE so you suck." "Your project does something I already do with this other project so you suck." Rarely do I see actual constructive comments on how the person in question can get better. At this point I'd rather communicate with a bunch of nobodies and learn together than follow somebodies that ridicule someone for trying.
krapp 14y ago
As soon as I put some of my code up on Github I started to worry that someone might actually find it. It can be a bit intimidating. I can only imagine what'll happen once I learn to contribute to something.
mhartl 14y ago
In a way, it gets worse as you get better. Once people start thinking you're awesome, you start worrying that, if you make your code public, they'll realize how much you suck.
- kenneth_reitz 14y ago
  This is so true.
brown9-2 14y ago
It's also worth asking yourself, if some stranger on the Internet offered unsolicited criticism, then so what? Why even listen to something hateful and unhelpful?
itsbonczek 14y ago
Don't let occurrences like these deter you from putting code out there. The truly great developers would applaud your efforts and probably give you a pointer or two. The faster you fail, the faster you improve. Reminds me of an old school Jeff Atwood quote: "There are a handful of programmers in the world capable of producing brilliant, perfect code. All the rest of us can do is keep making our software less shitty over time-- a process of continuous improvement."
pnathan 14y ago
Dude, these people who tear code bases apart for lulz are not worth your time. If they can't cogently point out the flaws in a reasonable fashion, then they can go fart around on /b/ as far as you should care. Sure, some employers might care... "new guy might get flamed online". Yeah... okay... do you want that shallow of an employer? :-) If you want, put your code online and email me, I'll be happy to look at it and point out any obvious mistakes. (I don't know why harthur reimplemented parts of sed. I don't really care. sed is hard to use, I wouldn't mind rewriting it myself).
rachelbythebay 14y ago
After participating in these comments tonight, I decided to purposely post some of the worst garbage I could find in my home directory. That way, I get to control the fact that yes, I have bad code. They can't act like it's a surprise. http://rachelbythebay.com/w/2013/01/23/crap/ http://rachelbythebay.com/w/2013/01/23/crap/
- kragen 14y ago
  I've seen way worse than that. I've probably written way worse than that. I wish I knew where to find it.
berlinbrown 14y ago
If you don't want it out there, trust me no one will care. I imagine the other side. What if there is that one person 20 years from now that was looking for a piece of code and finally end up on your idea from 20 years prior.

citricsquid 14y ago

Likewise. I finally gathered the courage to start open sourcing code recently, I figure that if the code I'm writing is shit then it's going to be shit whether it's on my hard drive or on github and the advantages of having code out there are worth the potential ridicule... but still I find myself prefacing everything with a disclaimer, "I was tired when I wrote this" or "This isn't the best code" just to give myself a get out if someone does decide to tear apart the quality of my code.

rozap 14y ago
A completely agree here. Even though I get complimented at work about code quality, I just feel like the open source community is somehow "more serious". Like, what if I'm doing this whole coding thing completely wrong?
talmand 14y ago
You shouldn't write those type of things. I mean, you can comment about potential problems in the code and whatnot, but don't disclaimer your code like that before anyone even complains about it. Most of the "your code sucks" comments is based more around you didn't do things like they would have. Such as: "You didn't use OO principles the way I interpret them so you suck." "You used that library/framework/language that I hate so you suck." "You're not coding in my *nix flavor with my choice of IDE so you suck." "Your project does something I already do with this other project so you suck." Rarely do I see actual constructive comments on how the person in question can get better. At this point I'd rather communicate with a bunch of nobodies and learn together than follow somebodies that ridicule someone for trying.

krapp 14y ago

As soon as I put some of my code up on Github I started to worry that someone might actually find it. It can be a bit intimidating. I can only imagine what'll happen once I learn to contribute to something.

mhartl 14y ago

In a way, it gets worse as you get better. Once people start thinking you're awesome, you start worrying that, if you make your code public, they'll realize how much you suck.

kenneth_reitz 14y ago
This is so true.

brown9-2 14y ago

It's also worth asking yourself, if some stranger on the Internet offered unsolicited criticism, then so what? Why even listen to something hateful and unhelpful?

itsbonczek 14y ago

Don't let occurrences like these deter you from putting code out there. The truly great developers would applaud your efforts and probably give you a pointer or two. The faster you fail, the faster you improve. Reminds me of an old school Jeff Atwood quote: "There are a handful of programmers in the world capable of producing brilliant, perfect code. All the rest of us can do is keep making our software less shitty over time-- a process of continuous improvement."

pnathan 14y ago

Dude, these people who tear code bases apart for lulz are not worth your time. If they can't cogently point out the flaws in a reasonable fashion, then they can go fart around on /b/ as far as you should care. Sure, some employers might care... "new guy might get flamed online". Yeah... okay... do you want that shallow of an employer? :-) If you want, put your code online and email me, I'll be happy to look at it and point out any obvious mistakes. (I don't know why harthur reimplemented parts of sed. I don't really care. sed is hard to use, I wouldn't mind rewriting it myself).

rachelbythebay 14y ago

After participating in these comments tonight, I decided to purposely post some of the worst garbage I could find in my home directory. That way, I get to control the fact that yes, I have bad code. They can't act like it's a surprise. http://rachelbythebay.com/w/2013/01/23/crap/ http://rachelbythebay.com/w/2013/01/23/crap/

kragen 14y ago
I've seen way worse than that. I've probably written way worse than that. I wish I knew where to find it.

berlinbrown 14y ago

If you don't want it out there, trust me no one will care. I imagine the other side. What if there is that one person 20 years from now that was looking for a piece of code and finally end up on your idea from 20 years prior.