Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!uwm.edu!bionet!ig!ames!uhccux!waikato.ac.nz!comp.vuw.ac.nz!munnari.oz.au!uniwa!fennel.cc.uwa.oz.au!a_dent From: a_dent@fennel.cc.uwa.oz.au Newsgroups: comp.object Subject: Re: Global program state. Message-ID: <1991Jan16.222608.2771@fennel.cc.uwa.oz.au> Date: 16 Jan 91 14:26:08 GMT References: <330@coatimundi.cs.arizona.edu> <2474@motcsd.csd.mot.com> Organization: University of Western Australia Lines: 35 adams@aar.alcatel-alsthom.fr (Drew Adams) writes: >In article <2491@motcsd.csd.mot.com> lance@motcsd.csd.mot.com (lance.norskog) writes: >>jdudeck@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (John R. Dudeck) writes: >> >>Here's another meaty subject. Programmers are not taught to be engineers. >>Programmers are taught to be poets. An engineer are trained to design >>something over and over again before building it, to be sure it's >>absolutely correct. >What makes you think that poets don't design poems over and over >again, to be sure they are absolutely correct, before publishing them? My humble (from a bit of writing, including Creative Writing classes, and a couple of OOP projects) thoughts: Not only does poetry involve at LEAST as much search for precisely the correct language/elegant form of expression, I have found the study of Creative Writing increased my ability to take a fresh look at something. In particular, you learn to develop a viewpoint, document it then look at a situation from another viewpoint. The "staging" of dialogue necessary for writing a prose piece is very similar to walking through an imaginary user's sessions with your program. I am now much better at identifying the objects as perceived by the real-world, rather than the (usually) more abstract objects seen by programmers. The attack you come under in CW workshops is often far more vitriolic and personal than would ever be experienced in "structured walkthroughs" or "peer reviews" :-) Andy Dent A.D. Software phone 09 249 2719 Mac & VAX programmer 94 Bermuda Dve, Ballajura a_dent@fennel.cc.uwa.oz Western Australia 6066 a_dent@fennel.cc.uwa.oz.AU (international)