
Edsger Dijkstra - Discipline in Thought [video] - dood
http://youtube.com/watch?v=EL97C8C53ZM
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SirWart
The part that intrigued me the most about the video was the contrast between
Mozart's style of composing and Beethoven's. Web startups are a monument to
the iterative style of composing, where the respectable way to test programs
and businesses is to simply try them and see if the output is as expected.
What sort of balance should we strike between hastily attempting every idea
versus a more thoughtful approach? I do know that when I am impatient trying
to solve problems, I tend to do more harm than good because my code often
degenerates into an unmaintainable mess.

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koolmoe
I think there are certain aspects of Web startups that require iteration -
it's not easy to figure out exactly what customers want on the first try. Even
the customers might not (usually won't?) know until they've started to use
your product.

OTOH, there is no excuse for sloppy programming under the mantra of iterative
development. Code is usually better when you've taken a little time to think
about how to solve the problem at hand.

I do think that Dijkstra's expectations are a bit lofty for the general
population of programmers, though. For a large class of us, the biggest
problem is just getting started. For me, it's a lot easier to get into flow by
tinkering with some part of a program than to try to put the whole thing
together in my mind. By the end, I usually have a large chunk of the app in my
head. The expectation that every keystroke must be perfect from the outset
would be enough to discourage me from even starting.

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utnick
thanks for posting this

sadly, I didn't start at UT until a few years after he passed away. Must have
been amazing to learn from this legend. All my professors had nothing but
great things to say about him as a person and as a teacher.

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amichail
Do you actually agree with his formal methods approach?

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hhm
Can I upmod this twice please??! This video is absolutely fantastic. For a
related link, check here: <http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/>

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jsmcgd
Evolution knows only iterative programming and it has produced not only
elegance but an appreciation of it.

~~~
Panoramix
It did took quite a few iterations though.

