Tue, 15 Apr 2008
Some new terminology?
In some discussions with a moderately new Python programmer who seems to value complexity over simplicity, I may have coined a new term:
"Penis size" style of programming -- the (mistaken) belief that the more advanced programming language features you use, the more impressive your code will look.
I think it's a fair generalization to say that experienced programmers value simplicity over complexity, all other things being equal.
A search for "penis size programming" came up with this link, which is entertainingly apropos.
--titus
p.s. I originally used "dick size", but now that I'm a professor, I have to be decorous, right?
posted at: 11:03 | path: /apr-08 | 3 comments
Comments:
Posted by Mark Robinson at Tue Apr 15 11:37:20 2008:
the programming equivalent of wearing a phallocarp also surely exists
... and that is never going to be pretty
Posted by glen stark at Fri Apr 25 07:06:08 2008:
I have had similar thoughts, but I would express the trend as "the (mistaken)) belief that the more difficult to read the code, the more advanced the code is".
I do a lot of coding in C and C++ (and python too of course) and some of the advanced features make your code a lot easier to read, even if it's just a question of using an idiom vs hand rolling some fancy schmancy looking crap.
But I think we're thinking of the same problem, and I think both of our definitions require work in order to be really effective.
Posted by Noah Gift at Mon Apr 28 16:13:19 2008:
I sense a similar encounter with your future son in his teenage years and his retort will be, "But dad I learned it by watching you....." :)
I am actually going to give this a:
++1
Implementing complexity for the sake of complexity is one of the purest evil's mankind has invented, and it is a disease that afflicts IT in general, not just Software Engineering.