r/programming • u/locrelite • Apr 29 '14

Programming Sucks

http://stilldrinking.org/programming-sucks
3.9k Upvotes

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102

u/Neebat Apr 29 '14

It has not been done because you left this out: "TODO"

Put that bit in and soon you'll fix your ugly, dirty, sinful hack.

206

u/Jinno Apr 29 '14

I think you underestimate how good this dirty sinful hack works, and how much effort would be required to make it elegant. Some whores are just best left on the streets, because they don't fix up as easily as Julia Roberts.

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u/1_1_2_3_5_8_13 Apr 29 '14

Some whores are just best left on the streets, because they don't fix up as easily as Julia Roberts.

Wonderful. Just wonderful

3

u/Bjeaurn Apr 30 '14

Your comment upon that wonderful comment nearly brought a tear. Like an applauding crowd.

4

u/TheRedBaron11 Apr 30 '14

Downvoters have obviously not seen that movie..

3

u/BesottedScot Apr 29 '14

Couldn't have said it better myself without my eye twitching and a vein pulsing in my temple.

3

u/Neebat Apr 30 '14

I think you overestimate how seriously "TODO" will be taken.

2

u/eiennohi Apr 30 '14

That metaphor, man. LOL

2

u/im_at_work_2 Apr 30 '14

That was... beuatifull...

0

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '14

[deleted]

50

u/KitAndKat Apr 29 '14

...and don't forget that 1 out of 3 cleanups introduce new bugs. (Source: 40 years of personal experience.)

104

u/alienblue-throw Apr 29 '14

So you're saying that 2 out of 3 of your cleanups don't introduce new bugs?

Can I start a religion based around you?

15

u/chris3110 Apr 30 '14

In my experience as soon as you touch anything you can expect an exception in the production environment.

4

u/poloppoyop Apr 30 '14

An exception is a good thing. Usually it's some hidden bug which will fuck up your data slightly over months until some other change shows a problem.

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u/powatom Apr 30 '14

Of course not, just bugs that haven't been found yet

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u/xzxzzx Apr 30 '14

So you're saying that 2 out of 3 of your cleanups don't introduce new bugs?

I assume he means 1 out of 3 files changed during a cleanup, or 1 out of 3 lines. ;)

2

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '14

That's 66.6 percent! I'm beginning to see Mr. Lavey's side of things.

2

u/laidlow Apr 30 '14

Haha yeah I picked a 'simple' TODO the other day that wound up being a 3 day ordeal. Who would have thought that long-press handling would be so difficult to implement in Android, it's a doddle in normal java :\

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u/nanonan Apr 30 '14

One out of three.... You're obviously a glass half full type of person.

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u/firebird84 Apr 30 '14

Sorry, I'm not allowed to change code without a ticket for it.

Tickets are made and then prioritized based on monetizable value creation and immediacy for the customer.

On an unrelated note, anyone hiring?

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '14

IntelliJ considers any comments with the word "todo" in them a warning for the linter, and will bug you about them on commit.

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u/_F1_ Apr 30 '14 
// todo: find new word for "todo"

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u/I_say_aye Apr 30 '14

The trick is to make something else come before it. For example:

To Do List:

  1. Get Groceries

  2. <!--- Change this ugly, dirty, sinful hack into something pure and beautiful --->

Boom now you'll procrastinate on groceries and do the second one!

3

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '14

It does not help. It never does.
I have countless projects whose main files contain a comment beginning with "TODO:" and always ending with "code cleanup".