Comments for Syntax Meditation

Comment on Pragmatic OOP by Ricki Sickenger

Ricki Sickenger — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 22:23:45 +0000

Jeff:
I see that paragraph is a bit unclear. I do advocate using unit tests.

The crutch part was referring to building deeper and deeper inheritance trees. Unit tests won’t save you from writing bad code, they will just make sure (hopefully) that the bad code still runs as intended.

Comment on Pragmatic OOP by Jeff Goldschrafe

Jeff Goldschrafe — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 18:00:49 +0000

You do make some salient points, but I’m having trouble really getting to the root of what you’re saying with this piece of your post:

“You can of course (and should) have unit tests and regression tests to ensure that the behavior remains the same, but these tests are just crutches that will help you dig yourself into a deeper hole.”

If these tests are just crutches, why should people use them? It seems like you’re advocating using unit tests, but that people should avoid using them for the only thing they’re good at — ensuring that the object’s interface behaves the way its contract says it should.

Comment on Pragmatic OOP by John M

John M — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 10:00:22 +0000

I think people forget in trying to simplify one area it can make other areas more complex.

An analogy would be the jigsaw puzzle – if you have small pieces they look simple because they have simple image on but you have a hugely complex puzzle to do.

Large pieces will look complex because they have more complex images on but it will be much simpler to put together.

The trick is to balance the two areas of complexity such as to give the best overall minimum level of complexity

Comment on Pragmatic OOP by david karapetyan

david karapetyan — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 05:24:32 +0000

I don’t think inheritance is a good composition mechanism and most design patterns basically are remedies for its shortcomings. Modern languages now have generics for parametric polymorphism and first class functions or close approximations which offer much better ways of structuring and composing code units than inheritance.

Comment on Pragmatic OOP by David Kershaw

David Kershaw — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 02:12:27 +0000

Excellent advice.

Comment on F*ck the process, embrace the team! by Petar

Petar — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 21:38:47 +0000

f8ck i agree with you
it all comes down to one model cannot fit all. each case is unique in a way. and FOREMOST, value and focus on people not on methodologies, duh..

Comment on The making of Darkfall – One developer’s perspective by Au inghetat programatorii romani ?!

Au inghetat programatorii romani ?! — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 07:44:17 +0000

[...] Time from full production to release: 6 years Lines of code at release: Around 2million." The making of Darkfall – One developer’s perspective | Syntax Meditation Formerly known as user jack_sparrow Reply With [...]

Comment on F*ck the process, embrace the team! by July 11 – Recommended Reading | Nicholas Muldoon

July 11 – Recommended Reading | Nicholas Muldoon — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 04:19:16 +0000

[...] F*ck the process, embrace the team! - Ricki Sickenger, July 2011 [...]

Comment on F*ck the process, embrace the team! by Isac

Isac — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:09:56 +0000

relevant article

http://www.teddziuba.com/2011/03/devops-scam.html

especially this part is so true, I kinda have this feeling for every methodology we have

“It’s the classic Rainmaker scam. You pay a man to make it rain on your crops, and when it rains, he takes the credit. If it doesn’t rain, he comes up with an excuse that involves you paying more money.”

Comment on F*ck the process, embrace the team! by Eirik A

Eirik A — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 22:37:13 +0000

This is pretty inflammatory on the same level that Agile evangelists presume that process will make up for anything else.

Agile, TDD whatever are just processes. If you follow the process you’re more successful. If you have a good team you’re successful as well.

It’s somehow as if all extremists miss the point!

By the by, the investigation on that Toyota issue was found to be user error.