Whil: I hired a guy that wrote the most "elegant" code I have ever seen. His specialty was "building" SQL Select statements and re-dimensioning arrays on the fly - and not a single comment. It was so elegant I couldn't read it. After all, I can only read my simple code that I make sure I can understand 15 years later. I also put lots of comments like "Patty wanted it done this way 9/10/1991".
The customer brought this to my attention. The code predicted how much gas was in tanks at places like hospitals for a trucking company that delivers gas. The code worked great until you got to a certain level and then the predicted amount started going up with use instead of going down like it was supposed to. Fortunately for me I had a great relationship with this customer. I had to do a complete rewrite of the code. I am not saying this to demean the programmer because he is very good and has written some amazing applications. It's just that "elegance" makes it difficult for us hackers to understand. The rewrite was significantly faster, too. Jeff Jeff Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] SanDC, Inc. 623-582-0323 Fax 623-869-0675 Whil Hentzen wrote: >> Anyone want to guess how many lines of code are in the coverage >> profiler's file? > > And the answer is... (shame on you smarta$$es out there...) 41,000 lines > just to load a menu and and login window, and then quit back out. If I > weren't so old, I'd be really pissed off. But moral indignation just > isn't as much fun when you're an old fart. > > John Harvey said: > >> 2 > > <rof'l>. No, John, that'd be the answer if _I_ wrote the app. I once > wrote an entire accounting system using BROWSE. I swear I am not making > this up. > > Then MB said some stuff: > >> "What happened to the initial developer? Why isn't he making the > >> mods?" > > Because he's an immature, pussy-whipped, arrogant little sh!t. <s> He's > one of these kids who had an idea of how to build an app framework that > was going to take over the world and locked himself in his bedroom in > his parent's house for 3 years. Then he met a girl, got laid, ended up > with a kid and now spends all his time bouncing between a real job and > saying "Yes, dear." > > Oh, the customer he left high and dry? Well, don't you see, the > developer has a WIFE and a CHILD to provide for now. _We_ wouldn't > understand because he's the only one in the world in this situation. > > Twit. I can understand a guy who writes rotten code. Or who doesn't > document his work. We've all done that. But a guy without a backbone, > sorry, shoulda left THAT one up on the mountain when he was in diapers. > > Pardon my French. <s> > > Then MB said some more stuff: > >> Also, would you say your sessions at SWFox (or elsehwere on > >> inheriting old apps) seemed to help land this gig? > > Ha. I've had this one for over a year. It took me over 20 hours just to > figure out where the code at the end of a menu call was. I kid you not. > > "Inheriting an Application" was just the first part of the resultant sob > story. More jocularity to come. > > Whil > > [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
