From: fjh@murlibobo.cs.mu.OZ.AU (Fergus Henderson)
Subject: Re: software engineering and the notion of authorship
Date: 1996/07/08
Date: 1996-07-08T00:00:00+00:00 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <4rrgj8$nlu@mulga.cs.mu.OZ.AU> (raw)
In-Reply-To: 31E0CF36.FDC@tick.infomatik.uni-stuttgart.de
Jakob Engblom <engblojb@tick.infomatik.uni-stuttgart.de> writes:
>Ego-less programming is absolutely necessary to produce large functioning
>software. Or at least to maintain it later.
That's a slogan. If you have some justification for it, please state it.
>> If there is a problem
>> in a particular piece of code, it makes sense for the expert on
>> that subsystem to be the one to fix it. They'll be able to do
>> it quicker, and with less likelyhood of error, than someone who
>> is not an expert on that subsystem.
>
>Yeah, but the real problem comes 10 years down the road, when the experts
>have quit or died or moved to other projects and plain do not remember the
>wonderfully complicated code they created back in '96...
If the code is clear, well-written and well-documented -- you should
use code reviews to ensure this -- then I don't see why attaching
authorship labels or assigning clear areas of responsibility is going
to cause you problems 10 years down the road.
>Using a "just complicated enough to do the job", "ego-less" programming style,
>makes it much easier for the new maintenance developer working with the
>program in 2006... the savings in the long run far outweigh the lack of
>"personal style" in the code.
Of course you should not make the code more complicated than is necessary.
No self-respecting computer scientist or software engineer would
suggest otherwise. I'm not arguing for personal style -- I agree that
consistency makes maintenance easier. What I am arguing for is some
degree of personal responsibility.
--
Fergus Henderson <fjh@cs.mu.oz.au> | "I have always known that the pursuit
WWW: <http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~fjh> | of excellence is a lethal habit"
PGP: finger fjh@128.250.37.3 | -- the last words of T. S. Garp.
next prev parent reply other threads:[~1996-07-08 0:00 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 84+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
1996-06-21 0:00 Language Choice and Coding style Nasser Abbasi
1996-06-21 0:00 ` David Emery
1996-06-21 0:00 ` Louis Tribble
1996-06-21 0:00 ` Jerry van Dijk
1996-06-24 0:00 ` Adam Beneschan
1996-06-21 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1996-06-24 0:00 ` Dr. John B. Matthews
1996-06-21 0:00 ` The Amorphous Mass
1996-06-23 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1996-06-27 0:00 ` The Amorphous Mass
1996-06-27 0:00 ` Adam Beneschan
1996-06-28 0:00 ` Peter Hermann
1996-06-28 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1996-07-02 0:00 ` John McCabe
1996-06-28 0:00 ` John McCabe
1996-06-28 0:00 ` Robert A Duff
1996-06-29 0:00 ` Samuel Mize
1996-06-29 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1996-07-04 0:00 ` John McCabe
1996-07-04 0:00 ` Dan Evens
1996-07-04 0:00 ` Peter Hermann
1996-07-04 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1996-07-05 0:00 ` software engineering and the notion of authorship Fergus Henderson
1996-07-08 0:00 ` Jakob Engblom
1996-07-08 0:00 ` John Byerly
1996-07-08 0:00 ` Fergus Henderson [this message]
1996-07-09 0:00 ` Richard A. O'Keefe
1996-07-09 0:00 ` Fergus Henderson
1996-07-11 0:00 ` Paul Eggert
1996-07-08 0:00 ` The Amorphous Mass
1996-07-08 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1996-07-08 0:00 ` Peter Hermann
1996-07-15 0:00 ` Ralph Silverman
1996-07-15 0:00 ` Fergus Henderson
1996-07-17 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1996-07-19 0:00 ` Mike Curtis
1996-07-05 0:00 ` Language Choice and Coding style John McCabe
1996-07-02 0:00 ` John McCabe
1996-07-02 0:00 ` Samuel Mize
1996-07-03 0:00 ` John McCabe
1996-07-03 0:00 ` Jeff Dege
1996-07-03 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1996-07-04 0:00 ` Phil Howard
1996-07-04 0:00 ` Peter Hermann
1996-07-04 0:00 ` John McCabe
1996-07-06 0:00 ` Laurent Guerby
1996-07-19 0:00 ` software engineering and the notion of authorship Andrew Gierth
1996-06-23 0:00 ` Language Choice and Coding style mfinney
1996-06-23 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1996-06-26 0:00 ` mfinney
1996-06-21 0:00 ` David Weller
1996-06-21 0:00 ` Giuliano Carlini
1996-06-23 0:00 ` Darin Johnson
[not found] ` <4qeu56$52r@news.interpath.net>
1996-06-23 0:00 ` Nasser Abbasi
1996-06-24 0:00 ` Andreas Schoter
1996-06-24 0:00 ` Theodore E. Dennison
1996-06-24 0:00 ` Michael R. Hartwig
1996-06-24 0:00 ` John McCabe
1996-06-24 0:00 ` Peter Hermann
1996-07-01 0:00 ` Alan Brain
1996-07-02 0:00 ` John McCabe
1996-06-24 0:00 ` Adam Beneschan
1996-06-26 0:00 ` Ian Ward
1996-06-26 0:00 ` Nasser Abbasi
1996-06-29 0:00 ` Samuel Mize
1996-07-01 0:00 ` Richard A. O'Keefe
1996-07-02 0:00 ` Samuel Mize
1996-07-03 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1996-07-08 0:00 ` ++ robin
1996-06-29 0:00 ` Rich Maggio
1996-07-02 0:00 ` Nasser Abbasi
1996-07-03 0:00 ` steidl
1996-07-05 0:00 ` Samuel Mize
1996-07-06 0:00 ` N. L. Sizemore
1996-07-08 0:00 ` steidl
[not found] ` <JSA.96Jun26141502@organon.com>
1996-07-01 0:00 ` Russel A Hill
1996-07-01 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1996-07-08 0:00 ` Russel A Hill
1996-07-02 0:00 ` Richard A. O'Keefe
1996-07-02 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
1996-07-03 0:00 ` Mark Eichin
[not found] <01BB6E34.8313FAA0@idc213.rb.icl.co.uk>
1996-07-10 0:00 ` software engineering and the notion of authorship Robert Dewar
1996-07-10 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1996-07-11 0:00 ` Hugh Dunne
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