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At first the worst thing about haters is that often they have fake arguments. I believe that in general if you don't like something, you can either ignore it or
by antirez 13y ago
At first the worst thing about haters is that often they have fake arguments. I believe that in general if you don't like something, you can either ignore it or at least use some kind of constructive criticism, so sometimes it is really annoying when you see that the criticism has serious flaws.
But recently I started to appreciate the value of lemming haters: who is not able to understand when to use or not a technology regardless of what other thinks, is destined to be a loser in engineering. Engineering is a matter of braveness, you trust your judgment, so you are able to do great things instead to follow the common opinions. So, what happens is that lemming haters create a filter for lame people from entering into a community, which in the long term can be a blessing.
- Crito 13y agoLemming Hate can also be useful for pushing the industry/community forward in positive ways. For an example, see the lemming hate of goto (for which Dijkstra was arguably the catalyst). goto has several legitimate purposes (at least in some languages..) but it is best if inexperienced engineers avoid it as a rule of thumb unless they know exactly why goto is the best solution for a particular problem, and can articulate why the rule of thumb should not apply. Yes, it is best if we educate everybody properly instead of relying on the formation of this sort of Lemming Hate. However little memes like "goto statement considered harmful" are easier to spread throughout the industry than a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the value of different sorts of control structures. If you want to get a message out fast and have it widely heard, these sort of lemming/meme messages are invaluable.