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I think if we sat over beers we’d find some common ground.

I sometimes like to think of good code as short stories. Badly factored code is like a novelization of a story. Too long with too many side quests and you only find out at the end that the butler didn’t do it. Whether that pleases or infuriates is a gamble.

Excessively terse code that requires broad life experiences to unpack? It’s interpreted by every observer to mean something different. Like a haiku, or even a song, the story being told is unclear. Beautiful, moving, but unclear.

I much prefer short stories. A little flavor text, but no time for more than two clever ideas at once.



> I think if we sat over beers we’d find some common ground.

I love this response and wish every disagreement could start with this perspective.


I think we would find common ground, yes. That would be fun! But I'll be the designated driver and stay sober. :)


I've often thought that code should tell a story about what the system is supposed to do and if the story is not clear, that will probably be reflected in a system that does not work well.


when you think you have a good story to tell you will make it work no matter what.

Epic poems like The Iliad or Baghavad Ghita or the bible are not immaculately retold from scratch but depend heavily on repetition and context cues.

Code is the same.


code is such a weird thing. Its business logic, its infrastructure, its short stories, its documentation. I also think of it like investments and debts

its so many things and so complicated.


Code is just an analog for life and its duality.

Its all those things and none of those things.

Code is code. Humans are the ones with the obsession of abstracting and categorizing things to make ourselves feel better. In reality, none of those things actually exist


It's also really bad contract law.




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