A Million Lines of Bad Code [article]



  • I think this article is related to this place
    (special mention to the comment from john carmack)

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  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    One mustn't worry too much about writing bad code; it's often better to write something than sit there doing nothing. But if the code is bad, it should be fixed, made better. Do that more often? Get better at not making the mistakes in the first place. Practise, practise, practise…


  • 🚽 Regular

    @Jarry said:

    I think this article is related to this place

    It's because of the round avatar, isn't it?



  • bingo!



  • I'm self taught and I make a bunch of mistakes all the time. One of the first projects I had full control of in Java involved me building JSON by hand because I didn't even know what JSON was. Imagine the embarrassment once I found out what it was -- which was long after I wasn't in control of the project anymore. In my defense, I was given less than two weeks to implement something I had estimated in six. Hey, at least it worked!

    It is something you get better at the more you do. One thing I'm quite proud to be good at is that I pick up stuff fairly fast, which helps a lot now that I'm maintaining an application practically by myself.


  • Java Dev

    You also need a 'this probably already exists somewhere' sense, which tends to take time.



  • I find myself occasionally stuck in the early stages of writing a new feature. Where there are several potential solutions, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. I have a tendency to procrastinate, draw endless graphs and charts, comparison lists etc.

    It would probably help if I wasn't doing everything alone. But since I am, the next best thing, I found, was to just blast out some code. Could be supplementary code I'd need to write either way. Could be a throwaway project, simulating one of the solutions. Either way, just typing the thing out can help me unstuck my head and get back into the groove.

    Probably just tangentially related to article, but the point stands - don't be afraid to write code. Even if it sucks and you'll end up rewriting it later. Every line helps.



  • Yup, it's one of those things that you start realizing with time. I still think one of the reasons I implemented JSON by hand is because I was incredibly stressed at the time and was working 80 hour weeks to get that shitty project done. Comparatively, doing JSON by hand took a lot less than the brunt of the project.



  • IT(hat)T: people dissecting an offhand XKCD joke for what it's worth.

    And frankly, when you write bad code, just somebody calling you out on it is often something to appreciate. Having it put in nice words, or explained exactly what is wrong with the code, is additional luxury.

    I could often use somebody who'd just sit around, read each of my commits through, and simply come up and slap me on the face when I commit crap.


    Filed under: should put that in my build scripts



  • Sounds like you support a Violent and Toxic Culture.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    CJW alert!


    Filed Under: Taking comics too seriously



  • It's amazing how repulsive that kind of wording is. It's impossible for me to take anyone seriously who is willing to call other people toxic.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    If someone actually talked like that to someone in a professional environment, TFA'd probably be right (though that's the sort of thing that friends do in a friendly manner). But taking a joke seriously like that is just whining about imaginary problems.

    For his sake, I hope this guy never encounters a George Carlin routine.


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