3 ms·
Agreed. The "X considered harmful" meme has really got to stop. There are a couple of articles/essays in which that expression really makes sense, but they are
by andyroid 12y ago
Agreed. The "X considered harmful" meme has really got to stop. There are a couple of articles/essays in which that expression really makes sense, but they are few and far between. This one is not one of them. The ones I've read that actually resonated with me have all been written by authorities within their field and regarding subjects of importance for software development as a whole, not niche subjects such as "CSS drop shadows considered harmful", etc.
(A well written article none the less!)
- escape_goat 12y agoEspecially since the original "X considered harmful" was not formulated by the author, Edsger Dijkstra. It was an editorial emphasis provided by none other than Nikalaus Wirth, who had the qualification of having written or having helped to write a long list of significant programming languages. Dijkstra's origin title was the much more humble "A Case Against the Goto Statement." Wirth's formulation provided a gravitas and finality that signalled a strong endorsement of the essay. The important takeaway lesson, in my mind, is that NOT EVEN EDSGER DIJKSTRA would have presented a paper with such a pretentious title. It was the judicious endorsement of a journal's CHIEF EDITOR. And it is quite literally, at this point, a pretentious title.