Microsoft switches to git
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@thecpuwizard said in Microsoft switches to git:
Practice ["repeated exercise in or performance of an activity or skill so as to acquire or maintain proficiency in it."] is a given in so many fields, but for some reason much of the software community has believed that this did not apply to their field for some magical reason. Fortunately [IMPO], this view is changing in many segments with an increased focus on practice so that when it comes time for the "real work" it is done with maximum performant can proficiency, resulting in a much higher level over overall effectiveness.
Here's the thing:
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I'm sure doing katas every day makes you better at programming, just as practicing scales every day makes you better at keying a piano.
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I'm not sure, and would need tons of convincing, that people who are better at programming are better at creating software. Which is an entirely different, and vastly more important, skill.
One of the reasons that open source software is almost universally so awful is that the open source community respects programming but basically nothing else required to develop great software. They don't respect user testing, they don't respect up-front design, they don't respect UI/UX design, they don't even respect learning from competing (or preceding) products.
@thecpuwizard said in Microsoft switches to git:
I have created a new Thread for the "Art or Science discussion" : https://what.thedailywtf.com/topic/24919/is-computer-software-art-or-science
Who the fuck said it was science?
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@thecpuwizard said in Microsoft switches to git:
maximum performant can proficiency
Performant as my can proficiency is, I would still say that maximizing things like typing speed is possibly to the detriment of the product, as is learning to take the same approach to a problem mechanically every time. Because while you may have similar problems, I would consider it dangerous to assume the same problem just because something looks similar.
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@dkf said in Microsoft switches to git:
and much of that will be to do with user interfaces, which just tend to take lots of space to describe well.
And changes every week.
edit: realized that might be a little terse - tried to imply FB's UI changes so often that their source repository is huge because of deltas.
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@magus said in Microsoft switches to git:
maximizing things like typing speed is possibly to the detriment of the product
Focusing solely on any one aspect of a compound/complex situation is sure to be detrimental, but so can a failure to have sufficient attention to any of these aspects.
Kata's are not about "typing speed". If that is the perception, then it is probable that one has not been in an environment where they are used with good result.
The old "Tuesday Night Katas" group (second Tuesday of the month) regularly did a "three approaches" evening. A problem was presented, each person, pair or occasionally triad) picked their language, and then developed a solution. Each then presented their solution and the first round concluded. The second round, each group had to come up with a different solution than the one they first used. The added challenge was that during the presentation they needed to not only show the new solution, but also provide use-cases for both the first and second solution (which one applies better under varying circumstance). Then came the third round with a third approach. For many this was quite difficult, especially identifying the appropriate/inappropriate scenarios for each of their three solutions.
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@grunnen said in Microsoft switches to git:
Can you tell something about these peculiarities (or give a pointer)?
I think I said it upthread, but search hereโฆ
The peculiarity is that they very much use squash commits when you're near the root of the tree. You might've taken a hundred commits and a bunch of branches to develop a feature, but it frequently becomes a single combined commit (with correct attribution) when it is merged into the main kernel repositories. This massively cuts the size of the repository. In effect, it's a model that treats a merge as a combined patch, not as the contribution of a chunk of complex history.
There's also the fact that many branches are not pushed upstream in the first place, making it hard to actually work out what the size of the tree is in the first place (as nobody has a complete view of it) but that's entirely possible with other DVCSs too.
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@thecpuwizard said in Microsoft switches to git:
The old "Tuesday Night Katas" group (second Tuesday of the month) regularly did a "three approaches" evening. A problem was presented, each person, pair or occasionally triad) picked their language, and then developed a solution. Each then presented their solution and the first round concluded. The second round, each group had to come up with a different solution than the one they first used. The added challenge was that during the presentation they needed to not only show the new solution, but also provide use-cases for both the first and second solution (which one applies better under varying circumstance). Then came the third round with a third approach. For many this was quite difficult, especially identifying the appropriate/inappropriate scenarios for each of their three solutions.
I wouldn't take part in something like this, I'm not a monkey on a leash.
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@magus said in Microsoft switches to git:
can proficiency
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@mrl said in Microsoft switches to git:
I wouldn't take part in something like this, I'm not a monkey on a leash.
I found it quite enjoyable and productive. I am hoping to set up a similar group in my new location [if/when I ever cut back on my to the point where I could]. Also, most nights, the group was overflowing with the participants ranging from students and other newbies to people with well over a decade of solid development experience.
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@thecpuwizard said in Microsoft switches to git:
Also, most nights, the group was overflowing with the participants ranging from students and other newbies to people with well over a decade of solid development experience.
Oh, I don't doubt that. I always find popularity of such group events startling*.
*and also of conferences, lectures, tech talks, etc. Aside from entertainment value they are complete waste of time.
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@mrl said in Microsoft switches to git:
@thecpuwizard said in Microsoft switches to git:
Also, most nights, the group was overflowing with the participants ranging from students and other newbies to people with well over a decade of solid development experience.
Oh, I don't doubt that. I always find popularity of such group events startling*.
*and also of conferences, lectures, tech talks, etc. Aside from entertainment value they are complete waste of time.
It must be amazing to have such knowledge that you can learn nothing from listening to others...
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@thecpuwizard said in Microsoft switches to git:
@mrl said in Microsoft switches to git:
@thecpuwizard said in Microsoft switches to git:
Also, most nights, the group was overflowing with the participants ranging from students and other newbies to people with well over a decade of solid development experience.
Oh, I don't doubt that. I always find popularity of such group events startling*.
*and also of conferences, lectures, tech talks, etc. Aside from entertainment value they are complete waste of time.
It must be amazing to have such knowledge that you can learn nothing from listening to others...
People lie to themselves that it's learning, to feel good and justified to participate, when in reality it's just entertainment.
I learned tons from documentation, tutorials, answers online, colleagues at work and from solving problems myself. I've never learned anything remotely useful from public events, as entertaining as they were.
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@mrl said in Microsoft switches to git:
I've never learned anything remotely useful from public events, as entertaining as they were.
On the flip side, I have never attended any event where I did not learned something had has proven to be useful.
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@thecpuwizard said in Microsoft switches to git:
@mrl said in Microsoft switches to git:
I've never learned anything remotely useful from public events, as entertaining as they were.
On the flip side, I have never attended any event where I did not learned something had has proven to be useful.
Hmm...sounds like a grammar event might be a good idea.
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@boomzilla said in Microsoft switches to git:
@thecpuwizard said in Microsoft switches to git:
@mrl said in Microsoft switches to git:
I've never learned anything remotely useful from public events, as entertaining as they were.
On the flip side, I have never attended any event where I did not learned something had has proven to be useful.
Hmm...sounds like a grammar event might be a good idea.
See, even participating in TDWTF has value :) :)
"learned" was appropriate in an earlier phrasing, but during a re-phrase to improve the grammar, I did the opposite.
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@boomzilla said in Microsoft switches to git:
Hmm...sounds like a grammar event might be a good idea.
If you buy a ticket for lucas, I'll throw in a dime.
Filed under: Waiting for Muphry's law to strike.
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@jbert said in Microsoft switches to git:
@topspin said in Microsoft switches to git:
Muphry
Who?
He was an optometrist ;) .
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For the nostalgic:
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@luhmann I'm not sure on winfile, but progman.exe was still shipped at least in XP. No longer in my win10, but I do still have write.exe.
EDIT: red herring. it starts wordpad.
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@grunnen said in Microsoft switches to git:
Can you tell something about these peculiarities (or give a pointer)?
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