

Stackoverflow podcast recipe - anupj
http://unhandled-exceptions.com/blog/index.php/2009/07/13/why-i-dont-listen-to-the-stackoverflow-podcast-any-more/

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mistermann
I don't think Jeff or Joel proclaim the SO to be a hardcore in depth learning
session, I see it as primarily entertainment about technology and quite enjoy
listening to it, much like a normal person watches a TV show.

And as for the example of unit testing, it is refreshing to see successful
programmers question the gospel of the unit testing crowd...judging by the
writings from that community, something like SO would be virtually impossible
without serious unit tests or TDD, because as you know, projects are just
absolute chaos without massive unit tests in place.

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discojesus
Not to mention the fact that at least one of the criticisms in the article is
a total strawman. Joel never said that unit testing is absurd; he said that
_100% coverage_ (and to a slightly lesser extent, unit testing of criteria
where tests can not be sufficiently automated (like GUI layouts)) are a waste
of time, and that resources could be allocated much more efficiently.

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jswinghammer
Well given that they try to stick to a particular format it would make sense
that shows follow the same sort of flow. I've been listening to the podcasts
since the beginning and have found it very enjoyable. I think that just
listening to a discussion on software engineering topics is good for you. You
can decide whether or not you agree with whatever is being said. It's not like
anyone has software engineering all figured out anyway so you're going to have
to deal with opinions that you don't agree with anyway.

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jballanc
I'm sorry, but is there criticism of the podcast here besides the authors
obvious revulsion at Jeff & Joel's off-handed rejection of TDD?

I mean, don't get me wrong. There are many issues where I disagree with them,
but that doesn't affect my judgement of the podcast. As others have said, I
find them entertaining. I don't think I've learned anything about programming
from them, and I'm not a Stack Overflow user myself, but the entertainment
value is there.

So why is their constant harping on TDD a reason not to listen? If there's
anything in programming that resembles religion, I think TDD has the whole
"Emacs vs Vi" beaten by a mile.

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mdg
The show was more informative (and more interesting imo) when they were still
heavily developing the site. I would imagine now that the codebase is in
maitenance mode, and as a result there is just less to talk about on the
podcast, regarding the development of the site. I still listen to it weekly,
even though i dont find the podcast as "nutritious" as it once was.

