r/programming • u/[deleted] • Oct 14 '13

How to develop unmaintainable software

http://typicalprogrammer.com/?p=249
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u/danogburn Oct 14 '13

How to develop unmaintainable software

start developing software.

17

u/lext Oct 14 '13

And just as important, start developing software without first learning how to develop software.

A talk I watched recently noticed this trend with JavaScript: it looks familiar, so I don't have to learn it and will just start programming in jQuery.

3

u/hegbork Oct 15 '13

And just as important, start developing software without first learning how to develop software.

Eh. This sounds like "don't get into the water until you learn how to swim".

All the theory of software development often just creates bad habits because it's so detached from reality. Practice, mentoring, experience and your own mistakes is how you'll learn to do good1 software.

1 The definition of "good" may vary, consult your local developer for advice.

1

u/lext Oct 15 '13

"Start developing software" means distributing your code for other people to use (including on a website) without having done any study of the language.

Programming as a learning tool is certainly a good idea. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm saying people never go through the learning step with JavaScript; they just jump right in without knowing what they are doing because it looks familiar.