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Personally, I think the key is in understanding that hacks are fine as long as they're localized. Generally, it's ok to fudge in places. But hacks shouldn't c
by j_baker 17y ago
Personally, I think the key is in understanding that hacks are fine as long as they're localized. Generally, it's ok to fudge in places. But hacks shouldn't compromise the "big picture".
- dkarl 17y agohacks are fine as long as they're localized That's the difference between a duct tape programmer and a genius duct tape programmer. The genius has a huge brain that envelopes the entire program. To the genius, everything is local. The non-genius duct tape programmer can't comprehend the entire program, so he just blindly hacks on local problems. When you can't comprehend the whole system at once, you have to use abstraction and good design to ensure that your locally good parts will interact to create a good whole. Compare this quote from Charles Simonyi: Right now, I have to really concentrate and I might even get a headache just trying to imagine something clearly and distinctly with twenty or thirty components. When I was young, I could imagine a castle with twenty rooms with each room having ten different objects in it. I would have no problem. I can't do that anymore. Now I think more in terms of earlier experiences. I see a network of inchoate clouds, instead of the picture-postcard clearness. But I do write better programs.
- j_baker 17y agoTo take this to an even more absurd level, a true genius duct tape programmer is one who knows that the rest of his team aren't geniuses and programs as such. :-)