[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: feedback; bug reports
From:       Richard Dale <rdale () foton ! es>
Date:       2007-11-14 13:28:49
Message-ID: 200711141328.49366.rdale () foton ! es
[Download RAW message or body]

On Wednesday 14 November 2007 07:38:43 James Richard Tyrer wrote:
> David Jarvie wrote:
> > On Saturday 10 November 2007 20:55:36 James Richard Tyrer wrote:
> >> David Faure wrote:
> >>> On Thursday 08 November 2007, James Richard Tyrer wrote:
> >>>>> If you don't want two modes, you are free to use only one of them for
> >>>>>  everything.
> >>>>
> >>>> Actually, I can't do this because of the fact that these two modes are
> >>>> in the code.  This is a poor design.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks for the kind words,
> >>
> >> Nothing kind or unkind intended by an objective statement about how to
> >> best design things.  As long as developers have too much ego invested in
> >> their code, this makes it difficult to improve it.
> >
> > But it isn't _necessary_ to be so blunt about things, and to word it as
> > if your opinion cannot be questioned. It's _your_opinion_ that it's poor
> > design, not necessarily an objective fact. Even if you're right about it,
> > it could easily be said in a kinder way. one doesn't have to have a lot
> > of ego invested in something to be upset by this way of saying things.
>
> Actually, it isn't my opinion but rather what I was taught in
> engineering school.
>
> Yes, I put it very bluntly, but I don't see how to say it in a kinder
> way; is there a kinder word than 'poor'?  Mixing configuration data with
> code is a poor design practice.  If you doubt that this is correct,
> please do your own research on the subject.
>
> I am starting to feel as though I need to apologize for going to
> engineering school and studying EE & CS.  I figure that my instructors
> and the text books used were correct and I can pass this knowledge along
> unless people think that what is taught in software engineering courses
> in college had no validity and that they must learn it themselves by
> trial and error.  There is a large body of knowledge on the subject and
> it seems foolish to ignore it. I would hope that KDE developers have
> read several books on programing and would already know that what I said
> is true.
>
> Note that books on a language are not what I mean by books on programing
> -- knowing a computer language is necessary, but not sufficient to know
> how to write good programs.  This is also something which I was taught
> in college.
I have lots of computer books on all sorts of subjects, but I would 
particularly recommend 'The Psychology of Computer Programming' written in 
1974 by Gerry Weinberg here. Personal skills have always been as important as 
technical skills in real life programming. That book has not dated in the 
slightest even though it was written in the days of 'punched cards' 
and 'timesharing'. 

-- Richard
 
>> Visit http://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-devel#unsub to unsubscribe <<
[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]