3 ms·
Unfortunately I only agree with a handful of these particular proverbs. The set of proverbs that I've found are truly useful to programmers would be "The Zen o
by shangxiao 12y ago
Unfortunately I only agree with a handful of these particular proverbs. The set of proverbs that I've found are truly useful to programmers would be "The Zen of Python" (open a Python session and run `import this`)
The Zen of Python:
Beautiful is better than ugly.
Explicit is better than implicit.
Simple is better than complex.
Complex is better than complicated.
Flat is better than nested.
Sparse is better than dense.
Readability counts.
Special cases aren't special enough to break the rules.
Although practicality beats purity.
Errors should never pass silently.
Unless explicitly silenced.
In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess.
There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it.
Although that way may not be obvious at first unless you're Dutch.
Now is better than never.
Although never is often better than *right* now.
If the implementation is hard to explain, it's a bad idea.
If the implementation is easy to explain, it may be a good idea.
Namespaces are one honking great idea -- let's do more of those!
- peterwwillis 12y agoThese are some good maxims. But I have to be "that guy" and suggest that maxims and proverbs might not be the best ways to practice zen. I find that the more I memorize how i'm supposed to do it takes me away from thinking about how I could be doing it, with other people in mind. There are some humorous/insightful koans from ESR, the Tao of Programming, the Codeless Code, etc. The best ones do not tell you how to program; they open up your mind and let you discover the True Path. (They also sound more poetic, and programmers could seriously use more poetry in their lives)