Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ub!oswego!news
From: dab@Oswego.EDU (Dave Bozak)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: MEL - A *Real* Programmer
Keywords: Real Programmer, Hacker
Message-ID: <1990Oct25.170925.15756@oswego.Oswego.EDU>
Date: 25 Oct 90 17:09:25 GMT
References: <7380.271c3129@ccvax.ucd.ie> <1990Oct23.235720.16178@nas.nasa.gov>
Reply-To: dab@oswego.Oswego.EDU (Dave Bozak)
Organization: SUNY at Oswego, Oswego, NY
Lines: 40

In article <1990Oct23.235720.16178@nas.nasa.gov> smithwik@pioneer.arc.nasa.gov (R. Michael Smithwick -- FSN) writes:
>
>There is nothing to be proud of when one writes code so very cryptic
>someone else has to waste 2 weeks of company time to figure out a how a 
>loop exits.
>
>One of the best lessons I learned in school was in my first Fortran
>class. Our teacher put a code fragment up on the board and asked us what
>it did. All 30 of us pondered it for a few minutes unable to decipher the
>intricacies of the routine. Finally our teacher explained that it simply
>cleared out an array. Suddenly the lights went on! "Of course!" we thought
>in unison, "why, how remarkably clever!". The instructor said "I bet you
>thought that this was clever". We all nodded hoping that one day we could
>all be clever enough ourselves to write like that. The instructor went on,
>"don't ever write code like this! Considering the fact that none of you
>were able to figure out what it did demonstrates that it is very
>poor code".
>
>In otherwords, be clever when you have to, not just to show off.
>
I have this scrap of paper on my desk.  It contains part of a signature
line from some article posted a long time ago.  My apologies to the
person who created this, but I can't give you your due.  The statement
fits here quite well:

	Thou shalt make thy program's purpose and structure clear to thy
	fellow man by using a familiar style, even if thou likest it not,
	for thy creativity is better used in solving problems than in
	creating beautiful new impediments to understanding.

I have shared this will ALL of my students, and continue to do so
every semester.

-dab

         /\           David Alan Bozak, Computer Science Department
        /  \          SUNY College at Oswego, Oswego, NY  13126 (315) 341-2347
  _____/____\_____    Internet: dab@rocky.oswego.edu                     
 /    /      \    \          or dab%rocky.oswego.edu@nisc.nyser.net     
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