84 lines
3.6 KiB
HTML
Executable File
84 lines
3.6 KiB
HTML
Executable File
---
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layout: project
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title: Effectiveness, not efficiency
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sub-title: By way of a new look at programming.
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---
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<div class="row">
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<div class="tripple">
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<h2 class="center"> Where to go</h2>
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<p>
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When making the distinction between effectiveness and efficiency i like to think of transport.
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</p>
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<p>
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Efficiency is going fast, like an airplane is much more efficient than a car and that is more so than walking.
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</p>
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<p>
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Effectiveness on the other hand is how straight your route is. Say you're in Hamburg and want to go to Berlin, then
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it is not effective to go to Rome first.
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</p>
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<p>
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Ruby, like python and mother smalltalk, let us be more effective at programming. We accept that they are not efficient,
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but i think that can be changed.
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</p>
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<p>
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But even while ruby has blossomed we have seen noticeable increase in effectiveness with so called dsl's and
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what is generally called meta-programming.
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</p>
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<p>
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But meta-programming is just a way to say that we manipulate the program just as we manipulate data. Off course! But
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to do that effectively we need a better model of what an object oriented program actually is.
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</p>
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</div>
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<div class="tripple">
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<h2 class="center">Understandability</h2>
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<p>
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The way i see it is that it is the understandibility that makes ruby or python more effective. As we read much more
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code than write (even it's our own), focusing on descriptive programs helps.
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</p>
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<p>
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But you only have to look at even rubies basic blocks, to see how misleadingly language is used.
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We use Strings to represent words and text, while we store data in Arrays or Hashes.
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If you look these up in a dictionary you may find: a thread used for tying,
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a military force, or a dish of diced meat and vegetables. So we have a way to go there.
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</p>
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<p>
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But even more disconcerting is that we have no model of how an object oriented system actually works. We know what it
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does off course, as we programm using it all the time. But how it does it is not clear.
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</p>
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<p>
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At least not clear in the sense that i could go and read it's code. Ruby like python are written in c and that just
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is not easily understandable code.
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</p>
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</div>
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<div class="tripple">
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<h2 class="center">Playing computer</h2>
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<p>
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When programming, we fly blind. We have no visual idea of what the system that we write will do and the only way
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to get feedback is to have the final version run. Bret Victor has put this
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/36579366"> into words well</a>.
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</p>
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<p>
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So when we program, it's actually mostly in our head. By playing computer, ie simulating in the head what the computer
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will do when it runs the programm.
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</p>
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<p>
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And so what we consider good programmers, are people who are good at playing computer in their head.
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</p>
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<p>
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But off course we have the computer right there before us. Really the computr should do it rather than
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us having to simulate it.
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</p>
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<p>
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What will come out of that line when we actually manage to put it into practise is unclear, though it is certain it
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will be easier to do and result in hugely more powerful programs
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</p>
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<p>
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Yet to get there we need better tools. Better tools that let us understand what we are doing better. Better models of
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what we call programming, and by better i mean easier to understand by normal people (not the computer simluators).
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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