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while i appreciate the analogy, the final question irks me a bit: "how can clean code come from a messy desktop?" i've worked at places where the most brillian

while i appreciate the analogy, the final question irks me a bit: "how can clean code come from a messy desktop?" i've worked at places where the most brilliant, clean code comes from the minds of veritable slobs. i'm sure the "clean, organized" approach works for many, and it is definitely a good mantra to live by, but to assume that it's the only way to achieve good clean code is a bit arrogant.

gregorymichael 13y ago
Author here. I agree with you.
avelis 13y ago
I see your point. Unfortunately, we are taking a subjective term and applying it literally by one's interpretation of the word 'messy'. A subjective term is hard to measure objectively.
joe_the_user 13y ago
Yes, I have no problem with learning an idea which might for someone and so might work for me. But whenever some approach of this sort gets currency, it has the danger of going from a useful idea to use if you like to a stricture managers repeat useless. I would hazard to say coding is different from cooking or woodworking in that the coder has to draw from many more sources and leaves many more open loops (And I actually cook and code professionally, oddly enough).
ernestipark 13y ago
I think "clean, organized" is more about what is in your head. For the author, a clean desktop helps him keep thoughts and ideas clean and organized. I totally agree in that I've seen some ridiculous slobs come up with brilliant code and ideas - but their thought process is always clear, focused, and organized. To use a nerdy analogy used at work sometimes, our brains have a limited stack size and having to figure out where a file is, what tab to search for, etc, can take up valuable stack spaces. But for some, being organized can help keep that stack clean of everything except what is essential for what you to do your job. I'm similar to the author in that using a window manager, killing all my chrome tabs periodically, and writing down meticulous notes in Evernote help keep me organized and focused on the task at hand, but obviously this will look different for different programmers.

gregorymichael 13y ago

Author here. I agree with you.

avelis 13y ago

I see your point. Unfortunately, we are taking a subjective term and applying it literally by one's interpretation of the word 'messy'. A subjective term is hard to measure objectively.

joe_the_user 13y ago

Yes, I have no problem with learning an idea which might for someone and so might work for me. But whenever some approach of this sort gets currency, it has the danger of going from a useful idea to use if you like to a stricture managers repeat useless. I would hazard to say coding is different from cooking or woodworking in that the coder has to draw from many more sources and leaves many more open loops (And I actually cook and code professionally, oddly enough).

ernestipark 13y ago

I think "clean, organized" is more about what is in your head. For the author, a clean desktop helps him keep thoughts and ideas clean and organized. I totally agree in that I've seen some ridiculous slobs come up with brilliant code and ideas - but their thought process is always clear, focused, and organized. To use a nerdy analogy used at work sometimes, our brains have a limited stack size and having to figure out where a file is, what tab to search for, etc, can take up valuable stack spaces. But for some, being organized can help keep that stack clean of everything except what is essential for what you to do your job. I'm similar to the author in that using a window manager, killing all my chrome tabs periodically, and writing down meticulous notes in Evernote help keep me organized and focused on the task at hand, but obviously this will look different for different programmers.