[Grubb's] Random Thoughts of the Day

[Ho]

I wonder how many other cars are like mine and capable of displaying the OBD codes without a tool. I just cycle the key ON-OFF-ON-OFF-ON and the codes show up on the odometer.

My old Neon (1998) didn't have a digital odometer, so it flashed the check engine light to convey the code. It was like receiving a message from a Navy ship off shore.

Receiving message...
*flash flash flash flash flash*
"Your engine is borked!"

[Fluffyumpkins]

Question for developers out there:
How much of the work you do, in your opinion, would be described as repetitive?

[MonMotha]

Anything sufficiently large and repetitive gets scripted or otherwise automated, so surprisingly little. However, that's because I'm competent (ooooh, burn....).

I see plenty of software people who waste huge amounts of time on boilerplate of varying forms, ESPECIALLY in outsourcing shops that bill by the hour and employ marginal developers.

[Fluffyumpkins]

Can you elaborate on the boilerplate of varying forms? I don't have a good understanding of what that means.

[Amp Divorax]

Can you elaborate on the boilerplate of varying forms? I don't have a good understanding of what that means.

Boilerplate is code that has to be included in many places with little or changes typically. The reality is that a good OO developer or low level developer will have this minimized as one of the fundamentals of programming that is being taught now is DRY, don't repeat yourself. Due to how programming fundamentally works on the high level though, some parts (such as includes) are impossible to minimize.

[MonMotha]

A lot of frameworks, mostly older, require comparatively huge amounts of code to do relatively common tasks, and it's sometimes difficult to pull this code into a programmatic module. Most people have some tool that will automate the generation of it, but I've seen it written out by hand every time it's needed.

I've also seen people do things like type out, by hand, a list of numbers for some sequence when it could easily be generated by a script or quick and dirty spreadsheet. I've seen people hand-translate pages and pages of data from one format to another over the course of hours or even days when it could be easily scripted with 10 minutes worth of thought. I've seen people crib out pages of register definitions by hand without making so much as an attempt to extract it from the databook in some automated form or, even worse, when it's already available in a suitable format and they simply don't know because they didn't look.

Things like that. Basically, work smarter, not harder. The difference is that, here, the "hard" work is simply time consuming even if mind-numbingly simple, whereas the "smarter" version takes way less time but actually requires a little bit of thought.

[Fluffyumpkins]

That makes sense. I know this is 101 level stuff, but I am a dumb-dumb that clicks buttons for a living. Thanks for the info.

[Amp Divorax]

That makes sense. I know this is 101 level stuff, but I am a dumb-dumb that clicks buttons for a living. Thanks for the info.

I wouldn't call you a dumb-dumb that clicks buttons for a living.

Oh, I went to record store day yesterday at all three of the major shops that I know about in Indianapolis. (Vinyl Rescue Project, Luna Music, and Indy CD and Vinyl.) I don't know what it is, but when I am at home working on code, I prefer to have some vinyl playing throughout rather than have a flac playlist going.

[Fluffyumpkins]

Here I sit
Broken hearted
Tried to shit
But only farted


Gat damn this cracked me up.

[Merk]

That would be a great little bathroom graffiti

[Merk]

Eskenazi Hospital?

More like.....












EskeNAZI Hospital AM I RIGHT?!

[Fluffyumpkins]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_ ... telligence

Smart jews!

[Merk]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_racism

[Riot]

That makes sense. I know this is 101 level stuff, but I am a dumb-dumb that clicks buttons for a living. Thanks for the info.

I wouldn't call you a dumb-dumb that clicks buttons for a living.

Oh, I went to record store day yesterday at all three of the major shops that I know about in Indianapolis. (Vinyl Rescue Project, Luna Music, and Indy CD and Vinyl.) I don't know what it is, but when I am at home working on code, I prefer to have some vinyl playing throughout rather than have a flac playlist going.

[Potter]

flol