wuetender-junger-mann.de » Software, alt

Questionable Semantics

felix — Mon, 28 May 2007 08:26:29 +0000

I just stumbled across the concept of ZipFileSet in ant. A closer examination confirmed my suspicion. A ZipFileSet can be two pretty different things. We should stop spoiling young programmers using such outflows from a sick minds that are not capable of a single straight thought. The mainstream of java software (including the JDK) is to the software community what Hegel was to philosophy – poison that prevents all sound thinking.

Environment Variables Considered Harmful

felix — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:22:51 +0000

If you are getting your configuration from environment variables you are in trouble. You should always use commandline parameters to make the configuration explicit. On the other hand it seems acceptable to use envrionment variables as default values for those parameters.

To rephrase it: If you have dependencies make them as obvious as your programming model allows you to. Beware of side effects. And Death* to all the motherfuckers using non-constant static fields in java programs!

*) read unemployment

Longing for Meaning

felix — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:57:53 +0000

Might just be the post hangover depression, but I woke up this morning with a great longing for meaning. Why do we use all kinds of tools that actually hide the meaning and intention of our programs. I’m talking about fit and fitnesse, which actually does great amount of damage to my respect for Ward Cunningham. I don’t want to hear excuses about the target audience and anything. Eventually you do want to have a full blown programming language for testing, not a macro assembler.

In the point of programming is to create and clarify meaning. Not to obscure it.