Comments on: Boring Inside http://laribee.com/blog/2007/08/13/boring-inside/ a yeah yeah, i push models like weight Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:52:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Ken http://laribee.com/blog/2007/08/13/boring-inside/#comment-27902 Ken Wed, 15 Aug 2007 10:45:12 +0000 http://laribee.com/blog/2007/08/13/boring-inside/#comment-27902 Yes ! I agree with Jeff. Having a bit of basic knowledge helps you a lot in your work and also other ancillary duties. But only basics. I have seen some people trying to go deep into all the things that they touch. This is surely a waste of time. Nevertheless, my experience says that having basic knowledge helps and in fact generates interest in that field, and also gives you a chance to boss around less knowledgeable people and you become more likely to be promoted as a 'manager'. Yes ! I agree with Jeff. Having a bit of basic knowledge helps you a lot in your work and also other ancillary duties. But only basics. I have seen some people trying to go deep into all the things that they touch. This is surely a waste of time. Nevertheless, my experience says that having basic knowledge helps and in fact generates interest in that field, and also gives you a chance to boss around less knowledgeable people and you become more likely to be promoted as a ‘manager’.

]]> By: Dave http://laribee.com/blog/2007/08/13/boring-inside/#comment-27745 Dave Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:09:59 +0000 http://laribee.com/blog/2007/08/13/boring-inside/#comment-27745 @Evan - Sure those items all belong in my enumeration. You're a scary individual by the way. Can I review your first book? :) @David, @Ben - Yeah, yeah. I mean I have a basic level of competency. It's wise to know the layer beneath you (OS) and to have some basic troubleshooting ability. I'm not suggesting developers should treat their workstation as a total black box and I certainly buy into self-reliance as a general way of life. I just can't see the hardware modding lifestyle as giving you any kind of competitive advantage. @Jeff - For the most part I agree. My point boils down to: I'd invest more in acquiring knowledge in a number of other areas before becoming a pc modder. A battlefield service competency and appreciation for quality/performance sure are desirable. I think, though, at a certain point interest in infrastructure becomes a tangential hobby for the professional developer. @Evan - Sure those items all belong in my enumeration. You’re a scary individual by the way. Can I review your first book? :)

@David, @Ben - Yeah, yeah. I mean I have a basic level of competency. It’s wise to know the layer beneath you (OS) and to have some basic troubleshooting ability. I’m not suggesting developers should treat their workstation as a total black box and I certainly buy into self-reliance as a general way of life. I just can’t see the hardware modding lifestyle as giving you any kind of competitive advantage.

@Jeff - For the most part I agree. My point boils down to: I’d invest more in acquiring knowledge in a number of other areas before becoming a pc modder. A battlefield service competency and appreciation for quality/performance sure are desirable. I think, though, at a certain point interest in infrastructure becomes a tangential hobby for the professional developer.

]]> By: Jeff Atwood http://laribee.com/blog/2007/08/13/boring-inside/#comment-27684 Jeff Atwood Tue, 14 Aug 2007 18:47:52 +0000 http://laribee.com/blog/2007/08/13/boring-inside/#comment-27684 > I care about my experience — keyboard, mouse, video walls – but the internals — Intel, AMD, pico-hampsters running on pico-hampster-wheels – make absolutely no difference to me. I find the outside largely reflects what's on the inside, in anything I build-- whether it's software or hardware. I'm not saying you need to spend the rest of your life doing it, but building a little basic competency in something that so fundamentally affects your work is a wise idea. I'd expect pianists to care about how their pianos work for the same reason. Not that they need to be full time piano tuners, mind you-- but they'll know when it's out of tune and what to do about it. > I care about my experience — keyboard, mouse, video walls – but the internals — Intel, AMD, pico-hampsters running on pico-hampster-wheels – make absolutely no difference to me.

I find the outside largely reflects what’s on the inside, in anything I build– whether it’s software or hardware.

I’m not saying you need to spend the rest of your life doing it, but building a little basic competency in something that so fundamentally affects your work is a wise idea.

I’d expect pianists to care about how their pianos work for the same reason. Not that they need to be full time piano tuners, mind you– but they’ll know when it’s out of tune and what to do about it.

]]> By: Ben Scheirman http://laribee.com/blog/2007/08/13/boring-inside/#comment-27647 Ben Scheirman Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:11:01 +0000 http://laribee.com/blog/2007/08/13/boring-inside/#comment-27647 I disagree. Knowing the ins and outs of hardware can really help you with being a better overall computer user. As a developer, you are expected to be a power user of the computer. If your PC is running slowly, can you pinpoint the bottleneck? Granted, IT people should be doing this for you, but how often does that really happen? Often times it is software configuration that is the problem, but sometimes it isn't. If visual studio is flickering or repainting too slowly when you scroll, then you probably need a graphics card with some decent memory on it (not like the Intel embedded video crap they usually give you). It's incredibly hard to keep up with computer hardware because it changes so fast, but knowing a bit about it can really help you understand how to get the most out of your machine. The minutes we spend a day waiting for Visual Studio to build, or for unit tests to run, is time wasted. Keeping a tip-top machine is a time and money saver all around. I disagree. Knowing the ins and outs of hardware can really help you with being a better overall computer user.

As a developer, you are expected to be a power user of the computer.

If your PC is running slowly, can you pinpoint the bottleneck? Granted, IT people should be doing this for you, but how often does that really happen? Often times it is software configuration that is the problem, but sometimes it isn’t.

If visual studio is flickering or repainting too slowly when you scroll, then you probably need a graphics card with some decent memory on it (not like the Intel embedded video crap they usually give you).

It’s incredibly hard to keep up with computer hardware because it changes so fast, but knowing a bit about it can really help you understand how to get the most out of your machine.

The minutes we spend a day waiting for Visual Studio to build, or for unit tests to run, is time wasted. Keeping a tip-top machine is a time and money saver all around.

]]> By: David Douglass http://laribee.com/blog/2007/08/13/boring-inside/#comment-27461 David Douglass Tue, 14 Aug 2007 00:38:01 +0000 http://laribee.com/blog/2007/08/13/boring-inside/#comment-27461 I'd agree with you if hardware always worked or the infrastructure people took care of everything ASAP. But I've seen too many situations where developers are sitting around like a bunch of helpless babies because they don't want to get down to the hardware level. Also, to really fine tune your software you need to understand your hardware environment. I’d agree with you if hardware always worked or the infrastructure people took care of everything ASAP. But I’ve seen too many situations where developers are sitting around like a bunch of helpless babies because they don’t want to get down to the hardware level.

Also, to really fine tune your software you need to understand your hardware environment.

]]> By: Evan http://laribee.com/blog/2007/08/13/boring-inside/#comment-27439 Evan Mon, 13 Aug 2007 22:26:53 +0000 http://laribee.com/blog/2007/08/13/boring-inside/#comment-27439 Paradigms, baby, paradigms. Forget learning a new programming language or the latest in-fad tool. Learning a new thought paradigm is where it's at. They are harder to learn than a new language, but there are a lot less of them. A few good ones: Procedural (many languages) Object-Orientation (many languages) Messaging (many languages) Functional (erlang, haskell, etc) Metaobject Protocol (ruby, lisp CLOS, etc)Dynamic Typing Static Typing Event Driven Languages are just the grammer of thought. And you are right, without infrastructure architects (and all the others), we application architects would be way less effective (and have way less fun). Paradigms, baby, paradigms. Forget learning a new programming language or the latest in-fad tool. Learning a new thought paradigm is where it’s at. They are harder to learn than a new language, but there are a lot less of them.

A few good ones:
Procedural (many languages)
Object-Orientation (many languages)
Messaging (many languages)
Functional (erlang, haskell, etc)
Metaobject Protocol (ruby, lisp CLOS, etc)Dynamic Typing
Static Typing
Event Driven

Languages are just the grammer of thought.

And you are right, without infrastructure architects (and all the others), we application architects would be way less effective (and have way less fun).

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