
Programming Sucks - tomasreimers
https://www.stilldrinking.org/programming-sucks
======
anakaine
I needed to hear this today.

Today I was presenting a training session on some advanced modelling
techniques to a group of users who usually only meet once a year, and had
tested the demo to death over the preceeding months. I'm aware much of the
process relies on how tight the string between the two cans is pulled, and do
my best to work around it. Just last week our main dev for modelling, who had
written the code in the MOD-L language, did a mic drop and left.

Last night a patch was pushed out to users that updated their modelling
program, and caused the xml output structure to vary. This morning, at about
3am during some last minute testing I discover that this means nobodies models
will run when we import them into the new stuff today, except a backup model I
had saved. So, we went from a live demo and potential UAT session, to "look at
this shiny thing we built for you, but you can't have".

Shoestring, bubblegum, string joined tin cans, and a legacy of R&D that
pretends to be production but is actually just a noose, hangman, and gallows
in a peppa pig costume.

~~~
munawwar
lol.. what's MOD-L language? The only reference I can find is that it's part
of some simulation software named ExtendSIM

~~~
brailsafe
Seems to be exactly that, the underlying language used for simulating real-
world processes in what's called "Discrete Event Modelling". ExtendSim has a
number of nice tutorial videos, and the subject matter seems pretty
interesting imo.

[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmI5cQMxY3uZ97Qz8gZXKow](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmI5cQMxY3uZ97Qz8gZXKow)

------
bigiain
This was from way back in 2014.

Luckily things have gotten unspeakably worse since then...

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WealthVsSurvive
It's because you're living in a simulated reality in which problems are
created (holes) so that they may be solved (fills). These problems are not
real problems. But, someone pays you a lot of money to fill the holes, so you
don't think to yourself, "is what I'm doing necessary at all? There seems to
be a better way, but I'm very busy right now. Hey, it seems to be a network
problem, maybe we should centralize some of these problems." Let me say in no
uncertain terms that you are kept busy to legitimize this process and to
legitimize the monetary gains its financiers feel entitled to recoup. Let me
also say that centralization isn't a magic solution, but creating an EXPLICIT
flow from multi-faceted experimentation, risk, and uncertainty to low-risk,
low-return, centralization is a GOOD thing, and instead of filling holes, we
should use our free time to dream and to suffer and to love and to live,
instead of sacrificing the whole of the lot to the self-eating, self-
immolating hanged-man false god of sole self-interest.

------
greenyoda
If you like this kind of dark cynicism about our profession as much as I do,
you might also enjoy the essays and talks of James Mickens. Here's a
collection of his work:

[https://medium.com/@soobrosa/my-humble-james-mickens-
shrine-...](https://medium.com/@soobrosa/my-humble-james-mickens-shrine-a-k-a-
the-only-real-combined-cs-degree-and-mba-you-will-ever-need-1f437f496d1c)

------
antipaul
Surprisingly well written and entertaining!

“What walkways? Well Fred made a good case for walkways”

~~~
daveslash
_" Of course, they’ll have to be built without railings, because there’s a
strict no railings rule enforced by Phil, who’s not an engineer. Nobody’s sure
what Phil does, but it’s definitely full of synergy"_

------
ZnZirconium
If the sense of wonder is gone, you're doing it wrong.

~~~
tomasreimers
On one hand, yes absolutely true - on the other, I find myself thinking about
this essay by Twain:
[http://mrbazilewich.weebly.com/uploads/6/2/0/4/6204690/twain...](http://mrbazilewich.weebly.com/uploads/6/2/0/4/6204690/twain_river.pdf)

~~~
ZnZirconium
I'm thinking about this song by Meat Loaf:

[https://www.songlyrics.com/meat-loaf/everything-louder-
than-...](https://www.songlyrics.com/meat-loaf/everything-louder-than-
everything-else-lyrics/)

"If the thrill is gone, then it's time to take it back!"

"And I sure ain't in it for the wealth!"

