Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 15th Feb 2013 10:40 UTC
"Since I left my job at Amazon I have spent a lot of time reading great source code. Having exhausted the insanely good idSoftware pool, the next thing to read was one of the greatest game of all time: Duke Nukem 3D and the engine powering it named 'Build'. It turned out to be a difficult experience: The engine delivered great value and ranked high in terms of speed, stability and memory consumption but my enthousiasm met a source code controversial in terms of organization, best practices and comments/documentation. This reading session taught me a lot about code legacy and what helps a software live long." Hail to the king, baby.
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RE: Comment by ilovebeer
by Soulbender on Sat 16th Feb 2013 10:11
in reply to "Comment by ilovebeer"
Member since:2005-08-18
If nobody needs to read the code, who cares how readable it is.
Presumable it's going to be read by at least one person.
If nobody needs to add things to it, who cares how readable it is. If nobody needs to maintain it, who cares how readable it is.
No, because programming is engineering and there are right ways of doing things and wrong ways of doing things.
RE[2]: Comment by ilovebeer
by ilovebeer on Sat 16th Feb 2013 16:08
in reply to "RE: Comment by ilovebeer"
Member since:2011-08-08
If nobody needs to read the code, who cares how readable it is.
Presumable it's going to be read by at least one person.
Presumable it's going to be read by at least one person.
Yes, the person writing it. I don't see a big risk there that he has no clue how to read his own work.
If nobody needs to add things to it, who cares how readable it is. If nobody needs to maintain it, who cares how readable it is.
No, because programming is engineering and there are right ways of doing things and wrong ways of doing things.
No, because programming is engineering and there are right ways of doing things and wrong ways of doing things.
I see this argument all the time... One group (which I lean towards), says if it's stable and works then it's stable and works and you can not argue with that. The other group says no it's wrong because they disagree with how something was done.
You can't get around the fact that if the software works it has been engineered correctly because it's doing what it was designed to do. One of the worst things people do is try to fix things that aren't broken. Unless there's an actual need to rewrite something, it's a complete waste to do so.
Member since:2005-11-29
There doesn't exist a situation where code doesn't need maintenance. Assuming so is a stunning display of a lack of forethought.
I've been in many a situation where I've had to maintain code where the original writer was no longer apart of the company.
It is also important to make a distinction between people who want thoughtful and concise design vs people who complain about the spacing of tabs and the line the curly brace goes on.
The latter group are just a bunch of annoying pedants, but the former is an important end to strive towards.
RE[2]: Comment by ilovebeer
by ilovebeer on Mon 18th Feb 2013 20:55
in reply to "RE: Comment by ilovebeer"
Member since:2011-08-08
There doesn't exist a situation where code doesn't need maintenance. Assuming so is a stunning display of a lack of forethought.
Of course there is. Just like there are situations where code needs little maintenance, and where code needs considerable maintenance. Assuming all code needs maintenance is the true stunning display of poor assumption. I guess there are people who haven't heard of backwards-compatibility, not breaking user-space as rule of thumb, ABI, etc. Or that the code is simplistic enough that no changes have been needed in ages (if ever).
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/18/13 11:21 UTC
Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/16/13 9:29 UTC
The day has finally come: Google has started shipping Google Glass to the lucky few early adopters. Now that it's shipping, Google has also unveiled a lot more about the API and the specifications of the device itself. While the company had already given out substantial details at earlier occasions, there are still a few surprises here.More Features »
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Member since:
2011-08-08
Arguing over coding styles is many times just as stupid as arguing over which OS is best. Whether "you" like it or not, what matters most is (as previously stated) whether the program does what it's meant to do and is stable.
If nobody needs to read the code, who cares how readable it is. If nobody needs to add things to it, who cares how readable it is. If nobody needs to maintain it, who cares how readable it is.
In all honestly, a lot of the people who whine about coding style have terrible coding style of their own. Not to mention don't have design/vision to really optimize anything.