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D'Arcy Norman

@george @blacklight back then, software engineers were actually engineers, as opposed to the IDE google-jockeys we have now. Software cobblers?

8 comments
Andreas, DJ3EI, he/him

Software dev team A has an expert chiefly responsible for its main program. That genius routinely codes amazing optimizations incomprehensible to anyone else.

Team B distributes responsibility and authorship. Readability is consciously priorized over performance. Coding standards are obeyed.

Which team can implement a brilliant new idea?

Has fewer bugs?

Fixes them faster?

Will exist in 5 years?

Would I prefer to work in?

B. B. B. B. B.

@uastronomer @dnorman @george @blacklight

D'Arcy Norman

@dj3ei @uastronomer @george @blacklight I was meaning more about the discipline and rigorous methodology, rather than pasting from StackOverflow until error messages are resolved.

Andreas, DJ3EI, he/him

I'm completely with you that methodical thinking and a certain amount of knowing what it is one is doing are essential.

I was mostly reacting to @uastronomer's "Story of Mel".

That Mel hero from back then, when IT knew little about how to do software projects, would need to learn a thing or two today.

Worse: By today's standard, the project management is unacceptable: Non-agile, truck number 1, team resorts to passive-aggressive behavior for ethical reasons.

@dnorman @george @blacklight

Allen Versfeld

@dj3ei @dnorman @george @blacklight I love the story of Mel because it's almost mythological. He reminds me of Achilles, the almost-invincible demigod.

But Achilles was a serious handicap to his army because he was also a self-absorbed petulant arrogant crybaby who held an entire war hostage, allowing a siege to drag on for decades at enormous human cost because he had a personal disagreement with his boss. Once he finally got over himself, he ended the Trojan war in a matter of days.

It's a great story that lets us fantasize about being so clever and smart and amazing. But you wouldn't actually want to work with him.

@dj3ei @dnorman @george @blacklight I love the story of Mel because it's almost mythological. He reminds me of Achilles, the almost-invincible demigod.

But Achilles was a serious handicap to his army because he was also a self-absorbed petulant arrogant crybaby who held an entire war hostage, allowing a siege to drag on for decades at enormous human cost because he had a personal disagreement with his boss. Once he finally got over himself, he ended the Trojan war in a matter of days.

Andreas, DJ3EI, he/him

I'm obviously with you on your main conclusion.

🤔

But to pick a minor nit:

Who was finally securing Greek victory in the Trojan war (according to the classical account)?

On that one, I'm betting the horse on team Odysseus, rather than team Achilles.

@uastronomer @dnorman @george @blacklight

Allen Versfeld

@dj3ei @dnorman @george @blacklight i concede without argument as i last read the Iliad 30 years ago ☺️

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