Dispatches / a short note
Conveying truth that hurts
More often, doing nothing simply worsens the situation.
How do we tell truths that might hurt? (1975): https://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/cs655/readings/ewd498.html
Okay, how many of the truths Dijkstra listed are still truth? The first one doesn’t seems to be anymore… No, the landscape changed. True programmers are becoming extinct and ig we should stop using this term. How long has it been - Hmm 50 years…
This is spot on! Also devious!
“The tools we use have a profound (and devious!) influence on our thinking habits, and, therefore, on our thinking abilities.”
Truth nuke
“Besides a mathematical inclination, an exceptionally good mastery of one’s native tongue is the most vital asset of a competent programmer.”
Well, this one is quite interesting:
Projects promoting programming in “natural language” are intrinsically doomed to fail.
discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43335679