Programming...

I just spent some time reading two interesting articles on programming -- both of them by Mike Taylor.

The first one essentially is an opinion on how programming has changed to become a task that mostly involves assembling different components/libraries, rather than (complex) algorithm development (+testing/debugging). It explains why this copy-paste method of building software end up being a horrible experience. I agree with some of these points -- though life without libraries would be equally horrible.

Article is at - http://reprog.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/whatever-happened-to-programming/

Mike has been king enough to actually compile the key comments and his response to them is posted at:

http://reprog.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/whatever-happened-to-programming-redux-it-may-not-be-as-bad-as-all-that/

This second article was far more informative ... and enjoyable. I hope more authors that get long and detailed comments do this. It would be great if someone "thoughtfully" summarised key points in the comment-flood on good Slashdot / Reddit articles.

The key points that I tend to agree with:

1. Frameworks can be dangerous beasts that over-promise and under-deliver at a great cost to flexibility.

2. The explosion of libraries and technologies to be used even on simple applications -- best summed up by the comment at - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1166107 (I may be getting old and my rusty brain is no longer able to cope as well).

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R. Vasa

Is the web ruining everything? I do not think so.

"When printed books first became popular, thanks to Gutenberg's press, you saw this great expansion of eloquence and experimentation.

All of which came out of the fact that here was a technology that encouraged people to read deeply, with great concentration and focus.

And as we move to the new technology of the screen ... it has a very different effect, an almost opposite effect, and you will see a retreat from the sophistication and eloquence that characterized the printed page."

-- Nicholas Carr http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google (Is Google Making us Stupid?).

Well written quote -- almost convincing. But wrong!

My own feelings are that there is a clear and perceptible change in how we access, use and process information. Over time, good communicators will learn the use (and abuse) the new medium of web to ensure that the message gets across.

Sadly, I keep hearing far too many people rant that younger generation are being ruined by the web, multi-tasking, mobile phones, [[insert random item here]] far too often, especially in the ivory tower where I currently work.

If anything, we are still evolving and learning to make effective use the web. There is still a lot of experimentation that is taking place -- new ideas are being generated -- tried -- some live, some die. Overtime, some level of stability will emerge and we will learn to make effective use of the technology.

The web and Google are not going to make us stupid. The human-kind is capable of stupidity without any external inputs. The real stupidity is in the assumption that the web generation is going to be permanently distracted and be ruined by the web. Making statements like the web is going to make us stupid or is ineffective communication medium is like watching a baby learning to walk and conclude that the baby has no hope of ever running.

It is far more likely that the generation that grew up with the web and mobile technology will adapt to the new environment and figure out the most efficient and effective way to use it.