Re: Programming is not a craft

And a clock is not useless but for measuring time? And a shoe is not
useless but for protecting your feet? And a knife is not useless but
for cutting things? Things are not all useless by themselves and
aren't we always interested in the effects they produce on us?

Isn't even beauty an effect produced by the thing and not the thing itself?

Luiz

2011/1/13 Robert Williams <[email protected]>
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> Dan's article talked a lot about how code is all about delivering business value; the code has no value in and of itself.  And that much is true - we are not ultimately paid to code, but to deliver value - to automate a process, move information around, etc.  But it seems naieve to me not to notice that the ability to provide business value over the longer term is very closely linked to the internal structure of the code (which he dismisses as "aesthetics").
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> I guess if you view software as "entirely disposable" that might make sense - if the lifespan of this app (or this contract!) is just a couple of years, you can probably keep adding features with no concern for the internal quality.  But if your code (or job) is of longer duration - my background includes a decade in an IT department for a semiconductor manufacturer, and now I'm at a product company - it matters a bit more.  He writes that we should "focus on the outcome rather than the code or the process" but I think those are, in most cases, very closely linked.
> He also compared programming to plumbing.  I think this is a fairly ironic comparison.  For one thing, becoming a plumber is a bit more involved than going to your local home improvement store and purchasing the necessary supplies.  They actually have a program by which one becomes a licensed plumber, which includes both a lengthy apprenticeship and formal exam.  And the plumbers I've interacted with take plumbing very seriously, and grumble and complain about incompetent plumbers doing sloppy work.
> Robert
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