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On Mon, Dec 18, 2006 at 07:01:18AM +0100, A. Pagaltzis wrote:
> * Aaron J. Grier <agrier@xxxxxxxxx.xxx> [2006-12-18 06:40]:
> > I'm an engineer. not a poet.
>
> No, you're not. Nor are those other people "computer scientists" or
> the like. Doing software shares basic similarities with a lot of
> disciplines (including both engineering and, yes, poetry), but in the
> end it differs fundamentally from all of them.
how so?
if this were 50 years ago, I'd be solving my problems by assembling
electronic circuits. if it were 100 years ago, i'd be assembling
electro-mechanical devices. 150 years, perhaps steam-powered. let me
stick on my striped hat, shovel coal, regulate pressure in the boiler.
I'm an engineer. I drive an engine which has a specific purpose. my
job is to make it perform that purpose.
my direct predecessors crawled up through TTL state machines, 4, 8, 16,
and 32bit CPUs, and I'm still addressing the same fundamental problems
they are, only now obscured through layers of user interface,
(insufficient) abstraction, and additional ordering requirements.
I won't dispute that there is an artisanal craft to the programming that
I do, but to call what I do "poetry" is like pissing on my leg and
telling me I should enjoy the warm feeling, simply because other people
in the same situation end up frequently pissing on themselves and have
gotten used to it.
I don't want to be clever. I don't want to create anything "smart." I
want to create things that are as stupid and simple as possible, so the
next poor schmuck (possibly even myself) can understand what I've done
quickly and build something equally stupid and simple on top of it. the
aggregate may appear otherwise, but it's just an illusion.
I'm not creating art, and I'm not trying to express anything other than
the clearest most complete solution to the problem at hand.
> The fact that people try to shoehorn [programming] into one of these
> categories is a perennial wetware hate.
if your wrath is directed at those who attempt to discipline
programming, I must be on the right track.
[toot toot]
--
Aaron J. Grier | "Not your ordinary poofy goof." | agrier@xxxxxxxxx.xxx
"silly brewer, saaz are for pils!" -- virt
There's stuff above here
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