In code space, no one can hear you scream. Staring into the void* ptr = NULL; .NET dev AI and maths nerd Bitcoin enthusiast Crusader against fake agile
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I think those things do still matter. I think agents can deal with a lot more "mess" than humans can - stuff that is misleading or adds friction and effort to future changes, but they are not immune from it. Maybe they have a higher threshold beyond which they start to struggle. Regardless of where that threshold is I think good code is always going to be more token efficient, and then it comes down to how many tokens and how much time do we want to spend making our changes maintainable. There has always been a need for balance between delivering software for the business, and spending time and money on maintainability ("we need to pay down some tech debt!"), and I think this is still the case with agents - but I am open to being wrong on that. My sense is this is fundamental and not something that goes away as token cost drops, 10, 100, 1000x
Some initial thoughts on what constitutes good code:
understandable, maintainable, concise. Avoids unnecessary/accidental complexity, names things well, defines "good" abstractions (see John Ousterhout's "deep not shallow"), and the abstractions have no "leaks". Comments are used sparingly to give missing context/info not inherent to the code.
Maybe I could include flexibility, supports change - However, think a big part of that is to just do all of the above. I.e., don't have components in two unrelated domains have dependencies due to tactical hacks. But then, tactical hacks have their place - e.g. for code in maintenance mode that isn't being actively developed.
Void Compiler 💾⚡ retweeted
Matt Pocock@mattpocockuk
Oct 10United Kingdom
United KingdomConnected via United Kingdom Android AppAccount-level information, not a live location or per-post device.
"Almost every software development organization has at least one developer who takes tactical programming to the extreme: a tactical tornado. The tactical tornado is a prolific programmer who pumps out code far faster than others but works in a totally tactical fashion. [...] In some organizations, management treats tactical tornadoes as heroes.
"However, tactical tornadoes leave behind a wake of destruction. They are rarely considered heroes by the engineers who must work with their code in the future. Typically, other engineers must clean up the messes left behind by the tactical tornado, which makes it appear that those engineers (who are the real heroes) are making slower progress."
@JohnOusterhout, A Philosophy Of Software Design, 2018
Sound familiar?
On her points, I think she missed that good code is understandable, maintainable, concise. So avoid unnecessary/accidental complexity, name things well, define "good" abstractions (see John Ousterhout's "deep not shallow"), and the abstractions have no "leaks". Comments used sparingly to give missing context)info not inherent to the code.
And something akin to lode docs has always been handy, even pre AI.
Something to be proud of. I wish we would do much more.
❗️I want to sincerely thank the people of Great Britain for everything you have done for Ukraine.
Even before the full-scale invasion began, Britain was among the first to provide us with NLAW anti-tank systems — weapons that helped stop Russian columns on the approaches to Kyiv and in other directions.
This support only grew afterward: thousands of NLAWs, Challenger 2 tanks (Britain became the first Western country to transfer main battle tanks to Ukraine), Storm Shadow cruise missiles, and other equipment.
I would especially like to highlight the large-scale training of Ukrainian soldiers. Through Operation Interflex, more than 60,000 of our troops have already received training on British soil — from basic training for recruits to courses for commanders and instructors. This is one of the largest programmes of its kind since the Second World War.
Great Britain continues to provide significant military, financial, and humanitarian assistance, and this means a great deal to us. Thank you, Britain.
🇺🇦❤️🇬🇧
It's fascinating to me how crappy the ebay website is, and how it doesn't appear to have changed in 20+ years. The UI/UX is a joke.
Void Compiler 💾⚡ retweeted
I never want to hear the word "dashboard."
It often signals the worst kind of magical thinking. It means that someone envisions looking at a lot of numbers or charts, but they don't know what's on them. I've been in meetings where we brainstormed what to put on the dashboard. If we don't already know then how did we conclude that we need one?
Watch for reasoning on this level: "If users have this information they'll be able to make decisions."
The fun happens when you probe it.
- What decisions will they make?
- What actions will they take as a result of that decision?
- Describe a concrete end-to-end scenario where something good happens as a result of this dashboard. Describe another one.
Those answers should roll off their tongue. If they don't, the person proposing the dashboard isn't serious. They shouldn't make product decisions.
If they have thought it out, they probably led with that and described the feature without calling it a dashboard.
Scrolls all the way down to discover "United Kingdom" isn't listed. Looks for "Great Britain". hmm, maybe "England"?... y'know what, just forget it.
She was truly awful. She presided over an absolute clown show, and clearly has no understanding of basic economics.
But why keep increasing after the tax take already reduced? That implies they're trying to sample the curve further out to the right rather than find the optimal point.
@x requesting a feature to define my own aliases for x accounts.