[sc-users] Re: string formatting notation

[jamshark70@xxxxxx]

I've read all of the thread. I've got a couple of "meta" thoughts and a
question.

Unfortunately, it seems I have to post these in separate messages. Currently
I can post to sc-users only from Nabble, which seems to choke on longer
messages.

*"Meta" thought 1.*

http://thedailywtf.com/articles/Programming-Sucks!-Or-At-Least%2c-It-Ought-To-

-- quote
“Tedious” and “boring” are two words that don’t sit well with developers.
We’re an analytical bunch and oftentimes come with a computer science
degree. And we’re much more capable than tying a front-end and a back-end
together using line after line of code. Perhaps we could even use our skills
and capabilities to make our job easier.

And therein lies the rub. As Michael A. Jackson said in his 1975 Principles
of Program Design, “Programmers… often take refuge in an understandable, but
disastrous, inclination towards complexity and ingenuity in their work.
Forbidden to design anything larger than a program, they respond by making
that program intricate enough to challenge their professional skill.”

This thirty-five [now 40!] year-old observation is confirmed day-in and
day-out here on TDWTF. Some of the most egregious code and stories written
here stem from the developer’s desire for cleverness. Carrying out these
desires is neither malicious nor devious, but merely instinctual.
-- end quote

Now, SuperCollider is "sexier" than the kind of Information Systems software
that this author is talking about. But, he's identifying "there must be a
better way..." as a potential trap. It's not that it's *wrong* per se to
create a "better" (be more specific!) way, but rather that in practical
experience, "sexy" and complex solutions to tedious problems often end up
creating new problems -- it's valuable to balance the desire for a new
whizbang supercool way to do it against the reliability. String formatting
isn't sexy. Maybe it could be sexy, but if it isn't sexy and it works every
time, that may be better than sexy and high-maintainance.

(Aside: One of the ways this has played out in my work is that I have spent
too much time building systems and not enough time making music. I have a
lot of code, but not nearly enough performances to show for it. No completed
albums. Finding better ways may have been a trap for me, in hindsight.)

hjh



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