

Code Reduction or Spartan Programming - edw519
http://willcode4beer.com/design.jsp?set=codeReduction

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jsdalton
I thought it was cool that the author mentioned Hemingway. He linked through
to an article, "Ernest Hemingway’s Top 5 Tips for Writing Well"
([http://www.copyblogger.com/ernest-hemingway-top-5-tips-
for-w...](http://www.copyblogger.com/ernest-hemingway-top-5-tips-for-writing-
well/)), which contained this little gem:

"Hemingway was famous for a terse minimalist style of writing that dispensed
with flowery adjectives and got straight to the point. In short, Hemingway
wrote with simple genius.

"Perhaps his finest demonstration of short sentence prowess was when he was
challenged to tell an entire story in only 6 words:

"For sale: baby shoes, never used."

Every now and then you come across code that's as good as that, and when you
do it's a wonder to behold.

~~~
listic
I think it was "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

~~~
sgk284
Shamelessly plugging a little site I put together a couple months ago in hopes
of inspiring more stories of this form (inspired by a Wired article):
<http://sixisenough.com>

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stcredzero
Another programmer blog by someone who hasn't heard of Don't Repeat Yourself
yet.

A lot of this stuff just boils down to Don't Repeat Yourself. If all
substantial ideas in your codebase are only expressed once, then changing your
mind about any idea in your system is easy.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_repeat_yourself>

~~~
cconstantine
It really is common sense stuff, but the longer I live the more I learn how
uncommon 'common sense' really is.

~~~
stcredzero
It's common sense applied a few steps farther. In the short term, cut & paste
can get your job done fast. But after the 12th cut & paste followed by another
change in requirements, it starts to look not so good.

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pmarin
Even there is a hacker comunity based in these principles:
<http://www.suckless.org/common/index.html> (KISS with steroids)

~~~
hs
i'm the happy user of suckless' dwm and dmenu :D

