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Re: The Lighter Side of Perl Culture (Part I)

by Anonymous Monk
on Dec 10, 2004 at 16:42 UTC ( [id://413901]=note: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??


in reply to The Lighter Side of Perl Culture (Part I): Introduction

I dunno, the '5000-line auction script' one looked to me not so much funny as unnecessarily abrasive. Sounds like Randal's right about the code, but he's written his criticism as a series of put-downs. Or is that what's meant to be funny?

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•Re^2: The Lighter Side of Perl Culture (Part I)
by merlyn (Sage) on Dec 10, 2004 at 16:59 UTC
    You use "put-down" in a way that I find amusing. I never say anything about the person. I only attack the code, and the behavior of publishing bad code. If you think those are personal attacks, you'll probably be offended at most of how I criticize.

    I'm very clear that you are not your code, and that I am not my code. That's what most professional programmers must acheive to increase their programming skills.

    It's only abrasive when one presumes that "feeling good" is more important than "being effective with your skills". If someone is posting code, they are automatically in the latter category for me. If they're so sensitive that the former is more important, they are not ready for a public code review. {grin}

    -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker
    Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.

Re^2: The Lighter Side of Perl Culture (Part I)
by eyepopslikeamosquito (Archbishop) on Dec 11, 2004 at 05:00 UTC

    Of all the examples I gave, this one is perhaps the most theatrical, full of passion, hubris and tragedy. And there are many players on the stage, not just merlyn. Indeed, what I found funniest was the finale where Jenda says: Now at last I can call myself a hacker in the media meaning.

    Whether you find this funny or not depends on personal taste. I did. Some of the language used tickled my funny bone for some reason, such as "Am I a member of a insulting-group?"; "No hard feelings, please, but I think your contribution was a bit to much 'over-dressed'"; "nevermore write publically that my code is insecure - or just prove it!".

    On a more serious note, I feel these sort of scripts (e.g. Matt's Script Archive) present Perl in a very poor light and I applaud merlyn in this case for promptly and publicly dissuading others from using the posted code. Finally, I was saddened by the poster's response to criticism because this was a great opportunity for him to improve. Perhaps the best way to improve your coding skills is to develop a thick hide, post your code to a public forum, and learn from the free code reviews you receive.

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