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[5]: Comment by ilovebeer
by Alfman on Tue 19th Feb 2013 17:15
in reply to "RE[4]: Comment by ilovebeer"
Member since:2011-01-28
ilovebeer,
"Code being difficult to maintain can be the result of a bad programmer doing the job, where the code itself isn't the actual problem but rather your lack of ability is."
You are throwing around these underhanded insults implying that we're bad coders if a piece of code gives us trouble, but the truth is that even good coders have trouble with bad code. What's the deal with wanting to defend bad code?
RE[6]: Comment by ilovebeer
by ilovebeer on Tue 19th Feb 2013 17:33
in reply to "RE[5]: Comment by ilovebeer"
Member since:2011-08-08
"Code being difficult to maintain can be the result of a bad programmer doing the job, where the code itself isn't the actual problem but rather your lack of ability is."
You are throwing around these underhanded insults implying that we're bad coders if a piece of code gives us trouble, but the truth is that even good coders have trouble with bad code. What's the deal with wanting to defend bad code?
You are throwing around these underhanded insults implying that we're bad coders if a piece of code gives us trouble, but the truth is that even good coders have trouble with bad code. What's the deal with wanting to defend bad code?
I've done no such thing. If you've taken offense then it's due to your own lack of confidence in your ability because I at _no point_ called into question your ability, or any other specific individual here. That is why I quote "you". That means the comment is not directed towards any single individual, but rather anyone who the comment applies to. No need to get upset Alfman, unless the shoe fits. But then that wouldn't be my problem.
And again, I'm not defending "bad" code. I'm stating the fact that "bad" code is often merely subjective. And the fact that sometimes a persons difficulty in maintaining code is the result of the maintainers inability or inexperience as a coder in general or in a specific area, and not the actual code itself. No sane person with half a clue would disagree with either of those statements.
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
Some of the worst, creakiest, ugliest legacy code you've had to maintain was written by people who think like me.. So, people who think there's a lot of grey area when it comes to what's good and what's bad code. And that often times a codes "goodness" or "badness" is simply subjective opinion. I hope you don't consider yourself a good coder if you disagree with what I just said.
"Good design" is too much a matter of opinion. Maybe you should choose different wording to better express your viewpoint. For example, providing specifics such as Alfman has.
You disliking how something was done doesn't automatically make it unreliable or hard to maintain. Unreliability is the result of bad programming. Code being difficult to maintain can be the result of a bad programmer doing the job, where the code itself isn't the actual problem but rather your lack of ability is.