Programming is a Poetry for our time

[Agrajag]

Appoligies if this is a repost - the mighty Mr Mark Hibbett:

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(he obviously hasn't seen the state of some my VB coding...)

[Mogura]

Ha ha... Quite good...

A lot of Morrissey influence in there, wouldn't you say?

[Monte314]

I agree that there is plenty of art in code; but I've been in the software business for nearly 30 years, and I don't know anybody who enjoy's reading someone else's code. That's a lonely kind of "poetry", isn't it?

[Mogura]

I agree that there is plenty of art in code; but I've been in the software business for nearly 30 years, and I don't know anybody who enjoy's reading someone else's code. That's a lonely kind of "poetry", isn't it?

Well, there is that sense of respect and feeling of appreciation you get when you come across a well-written, well-documented piece of code.

Poetry isn't so much about the words. It's the creative combination of words and symbols that paints a picture in the mind. It's more about what it does than what it is, and the elegance and awe that comes with packaging neatly something so beautiful and powerful. This metaphor could be extended to coding (pun intended)...

[Monte314]

Well, there is that sense of respect and feeling of appreciation you get when you come across well-written, well-documented code...

Yes, that is quite true. But when you are digging through someone else's code, it's usually because something is wrong, so the "good" code is the part you skip!

[HackerX]

I get scared enough just trying to read my own code that's a year or older, let alone somebody elses.

[rokxal]

I get scared enough just trying to read my own code that's a year or older, let alone somebody elses.

Very true, debugging old code is sometimes even more inefficient than starting from scratch. And just forget about hand optimized stuff, even with good commenting, I still ask myself, wth did I bit-shift left 3 here?

[Caramel]

Well, there is that sense of respect and feeling of appreciation you get when you come across a well-written, well-documented piece of code.

Well-documented code is a myth. Reading someone else's code isn't poetry, it's a puzzle, and it can take days to dechiper.

I get scared enough just trying to read my own code that's a year old or older, let alone somebody elses.

True that. Not to mention someone else reading your code from a year ago. I feel ashamed just thinking about it.

All this makes open source coders the bravest people on earth.

[void]

If programming is the poetry of our time, then the vast majority of software in the world is comparable to pseudo-random gibberish sourced by a drunkard at 3AM. An infinitesimally small percentage of code would qualify as even remotely elegant. Any idiot can pick up a copy of "Sams Teach Yourself X in Y hours" and think themselves competent enough to write non-trivial software; sadly, many employers share this idiot's sentiment.

[iceberg]

Reading code from years prior always comes with a healthy dose of shame. Hindsight is 20/20. Its funny, CS is one of those fields where you are constantly confronted with your own mistakes. I make myself feel stupid over things I forgot, mispelled, or that was just logically retarded everytime I compile. Ctrl+F5, anyone? Poetry in motion.

[walfin]

I agree that there is plenty of art in code; but I've been in the software business for nearly 30 years, and I don't know anybody who enjoy's reading someone else's code. That's a lonely kind of "poetry", isn't it?

Well, I LIKE reading code.

[allenlam]

I am using more and more open source packages in recent years so that reading source code become a norm practice. Like what many hackers say, RTFS.

[kedelfor]

I disagree that programming is poetry. A program language is a tool made to do something. It does not convey feelings or any kind of thought. As for it being an art maybe. I am not sure. I view computer programs as a tool to solve a problem that lies at hand. Not a way to express your self. I know too many people that would want to overly express themselves and this would lead to inefficient code and form bloat.

[void]

I am using more and more open source packages in recent years so that reading source code become a norm practice. Like what many hackers say, RTFS.

With the exception of very simple software, or software written in highly expressive languages like OCaml (rare even in the OSS community), RTFS is demonstrably impractical. It takes weeks just to familiarize oneself with the design and guts of a typical application and even more time to attain an intuitive understanding of acceptable modifications (those that do not turn the whole thing into a maintanence nightmare). See the mainline Linux kernel, Globus toolkit, KDE and various build-systems for examples. If you truly want to rip off your hair, smash your keyboard, put your foot through your monitor and howl in a maniacal rage, then see the Firefox and OpenOffice codebases as well.

[ScurvyRose]

I can see programming as rhythmic, I do not see it as producing an emotion. Isn't that the purpose of poetry?

[enWTFp]

And they'll make programming Woodstocks where they'll rebel against deprecated songs by peer-to-peer virus spreading and getting high on net traffic.

[ScurvyRose]

And they'll make programming Woodstocks where they'll rebel against deprecated songs by peer-to-peer virus spreading and getting high on net traffic.

Awesome!!

[Mogura]

I disagree that programming is poetry. A program language is a tool made to do something. It does not convey feelings or any kind of thought. As for it being an art maybe. I am not sure. I view computer programs as a tool to solve a problem that lies at hand. Not a way to express your self. I know too many people that would want to overly express themselves and this would lead to inefficient code and form bloat.

Poetry has always been reflected by the times and social movements of the era in which it was written. Poetry in the past has expressed feeling and emotion, but who's to say that it cannot express concepts not defined by feeling and emotion? After all, we live in the Information Age where individuals have increasingly detached themselves from their own feelings, emotions, and morality. There are no hard and fast rules as to what defines poetry, so you have a rather wide brush with which to paint.

As for efficiency, poetry can be represented as an epic (bloated programming) or as a haiku (efficient code). It's up to the composer to decide how efficient he/she wants to be in this regard.

[Dave C C]

Reading somebodys elses code can be a nightmare, reading code you wrote 12 months ago can be a nightmare. NOTES, NOTES, NOTES, lots of them.

[Webweasel]

I can see programming as rhythmic, I do not see it as producing an emotion. Isn't that the purpose of poetry?

You cant have worked with anyone else's code but your own.

My colleagues code makes me very very angry, but occasionally delighted.

Code is like art, subjective but it does provoke emotion.





Webweasel added to this post, 1 minutes and 8 seconds later...

Reading somebodys elses code can be a nightmare, reading code you wrote 12 months ago can be a nightmare. NOTES, NOTES, NOTES, lots of them.

Yeah true, but reviewing your own code over your career is like watching a child grow into adulthood.

[metamagnet]

As a programmer, I would identify more with being a artist/painter more than a poet.