The philosophy tag has no wiki summary.
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0answers
40 views
BASE_DIR/URL with or without trailing slash?
When you have basedir/url constants or variables, do you put a trailing slash?
In theory I think ultimately one should, since /path/to/dir/ is a dir while with /path/to/dir if I'm not mistaken the ...
1
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4answers
200 views
What techniques or tools do you use to make your app simpler? [closed]
I've been programming a new iOS app for about 5 months, and I'm pretty much on the final stretch. My team and I agreed to make the app more simple once we were at this point of the development ...
15
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7answers
2k views
What discipline does Computer Science belong to?
Is Computer Science science, applied mathematics, engineering, art, philosophy? "Other"?
To provide background, here is Steven Wartik's blog posting for Scientific American titled "I'm not a real ...
15
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4answers
2k views
Solid principles vs YAGNI
When do the SOLID principles become YAGNI?
As programmers we make trade-offs all the time, between complexity, maintainability, time to build and so forth. Amongst others, two of the smartest ...
3
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2answers
202 views
Seeking documents on the philosophy of Google's Go? [duplicate]
Having asked a similar question here: What are Ruby's strengths? I continue my quest to understand the strengths and philosophy of languages by asking for a document on the awesomeness of Google's ...
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8answers
2k views
Emacs-as-OS: obsolete?
In an attempt to reach at least beginner status with such a legendary editor, I have been coding in Emacs for the last two months. I try to keep an open heart, but I find myself continally ...
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2answers
329 views
What are complete programming languages with a minimal syntax and how is that important? [closed]
With minimal syntax I mean a language that could be entirely described with the least words possible, but complete enough to make any kind of program.
6
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11answers
624 views
Effective versus efficient code
TL;DR: Quick and dirty code, or "correct" (insert your definition of this term) code?
There is often a tension between "efficient" and "effective" in software development.
"Efficient" often means ...
46
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10answers
4k views
Are there any unions for software developers?
Why does Software Engineering not have union representation like other professional occupations, such as teaching? Are there any unions for software developers that exist and are successful?
5
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3answers
244 views
Generalized VS Specialized technical solution; what to take into account?
We recently had a discussion in the office because of conflicting views between developers. One side (side S) argued technical solutions -generally- need to be a specific as possible, while the other ...
5
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2answers
456 views
Best way to convincingly evangelize front end best practices to colleagues?
I've had experiences in the past working with (traditionally back-end) developers, whose occasionally cross into the front end realm.
The resulting code would typically involve:
global namespace ...
6
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4answers
190 views
Are there any languages that allow the static context of a method call to be available at runtime?
Is it possible for a method to know the type of the method it is called under? So for example in the following object orientated psuedo code:
Instance io = new InstanceSubclass();
io.doStuff();
Is ...
5
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3answers
461 views
Where's the unix philosophy community?
I am trying to implement my computer system following the unix philosophy i.e. I want to edit files, read/send email, store data and browse the web, all using tools that comply with the unix ...
3
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6answers
673 views
How did you pick up the art of solving real life problems? Can you shortcut the process?
I have been coding on and off on C and to a certain extent on C++ since my college days(2003), but I never had the opportunity to work with a hard core programming responsibility, which could have ...
9
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4answers
404 views
Recommend a design pattern/approach to exposing/tolerating/recovering from system errors, Exception handling (e.g.s in Java, C++, Perl, PHP)
Can you recommend a design pattern/approach to exposing/tolerating/recovering from system errors, Exception handling (Java, C++, Perl, PHP)?
Some errors need to be reported.
Some errors can be ...
33
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26answers
2k views
What do you wish language designers paid attention to? [closed]
The purpose of this question is not to assemble a laundry list of programming language features that you can't live without, or wish was in your main language of choice. The purpose of this question ...
21
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12answers
1k views
Can the language make us stupid? [closed]
Do programming languages, that we are mainly coding in, really change the way we are thinking about problems? Sort of programming kind of the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis. And if they do, doesn't it really ...
39
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12answers
2k views
Philosophy behind Undefined Behavior
C\C++ specifications leave out a large number of behaviors open for compilers to implement in their own way. There are a number of questions that always keep getting asked here about the same and we ...
13
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4answers
1k views
Concrete examples of Python's “only one way to do it” maxim
I am learning Python and am intrigued by the following point in PEP 20 The Zen of Python:
There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it.
Although that way may not be ...
4
votes
11answers
334 views
Does being a general programmer naturally lead to failure? [closed]
In business they say that to succeed
"Pick one or two things and do them very well".
This is the antithesis of the modern programmer. We are exposed to a constant stream of changes in ...
4
votes
4answers
634 views
What does it mean to be a game developer?
I'm a .NET developer and mostly builds GUI's but of course also pure C# due to architecture and database level needs.
To me, developers of games in discussions often being simply referred to as ...
20
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3answers
763 views
What are Ruby's strengths?
Before I'd read this article, I never understood why anybody liked LISP. After reading it, I was able to give LISP a fair enough shot and have since grown to like it.
It wasn't until I read this ...
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8answers
552 views
How do “You Ain't Gonna Need it” and “Now is better than never” play together?
I often find myself embracing "now is better than never" when I'm advancing the DRYness of a design. Typically, I find that I need to cultivate an understanding of the One Authoritative Location for ...
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15answers
2k views
Do programmers think differently from non-programmers? [closed]
From reading various comments on this site, surfing the net, and talking to other programmers/non-programmers I find that a recurring theme is that programmers think differently from non-programmers. ...
13
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5answers
482 views
Is programming in the UNIX philosophy the same as Functional programming?
The UNIX Programming Environment (the classic text) states that the UNIX approach to programming is to build small, well-defined tools that can be combined to solve more complex problems. In learning ...
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2answers
121 views
Building a common syntax and scoping framework
Hello fellow programmers,
I was discussing a project the other day with a colleague of mine and I was curious to see what others had to say or if such a thing already existed.
Background
There are ...
5
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10answers
1k views
Does Open Source lead to bad coding?
I have a thought that I tried asking at SO, but didnt seem like the appropriate place. I think that source sites like Google Code, GitHub, SourceForge... have played a major role in the history of ...
25
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7answers
1k views
Is there a Windows philosophy of programming?
I've been programming both in Unix and Windows environments. Mostly I've worked in Unix, where I've learned Unix Philosophy, which can be summarized as
Write programs that do one thing and do it ...
11
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5answers
527 views
Why can't we capture the design of software more effectively?
As engineers, we all "design" artifacts (buildings, programs, circuits, molecules...).
That's an activity (design-the-verb) that produces some kind of result (design-the-noun).
I think we all agree ...
30
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10answers
845 views
Ship Early, Ship Never [closed]
This started as a "Note to Self," so please excuse me if the frustration is all too evident and the writing is less than stellar...
Three major subjects I've had at the forefront of my mind lately:
...
18
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7answers
585 views
What natural language has the advantage when it comes to programming?
Linguistic relativity is the idea that language shapes the way we think. My question is, how much, and to what extent, does this apply to programming?
Are some native, natural languages ...
