Techies and Haiku

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RE: Techies and Haiku by barZion (Beadle) on Jun 01, 2000 at 10:26 UTC
Haiku, in its purest (?) form, deals with themes of nature, and usually involves some sort of contrast. More than a 5-7-5 syllabic scheme, it requires one to condense a contrasting idea into 17 syllables. That being said, anyone can write a 5-7-5 poem, and no one's going to tell them it's not haiku. It's easy to learn, and you can learn to write it as well, or as basic as you want. Perl is famous for allowing programmers to write some pretty amazing programs in a very small space. On the other hand, newcomers ( like myself ) can typically write programs that are 3 - 4 times larger than they need to be, and folks in the perl community don't scoff, they only offer suggestions. So perl allows all levels of coders to refine their style as much or as little as they want. Perhaps folks who look beyond the heuristics of a solution, and seek the most elegant solution are naturally drawn to a form of poetry that does for language what perl does for programming. I think Perl and Haiku both are geared toward providing the most from the least in their respective domains ( does that make any sense? )	[reply]
RE: Techies and Haiku by swiftone (Curate) on May 31, 2000 at 20:37 UTC
Do you know what you have started? I'm going to be the only person who replies in NON-haiku. This thread is going to read like the Coy.pm module. I think we like haiku because it is easy to learn, easy to follow, nicely structured, with great potential intricacy. Kind of like Perl. (Obfuscations aside). I recommend any haiku tinkerers check out the Coy.pm module. Read the documentation for a headache, and the expanded documention in a TPJ article for a migraine.	[reply]
RE: Techies and Haiku by infoninja (Friar) on May 31, 2000 at 21:01 UTC
imposing structure, it forces efficient thought, leaving a new brain.	[reply]
RE: Techies and Haiku by Ozymandias (Hermit) on May 31, 2000 at 21:07 UTC
There's something to be said for the comments about Perl's structure equaling Haiku, with the traditional terseness and requisite simplicity of a poem so short - but think about it for a moment. Haiku doesn't put any restriction on content (they don't even have to make sense :) but it's very restrictive on form with the syllable patterns and three-line limit. So really, Perl is more like freeform prose or lyric verse; Haiku is more like Python, because the structure is more important than the content. Haiku enforces whitespace! - Ozymandias	[reply]
RE: RE: Techies and Haiku by takshaka (Friar) on May 31, 2000 at 21:33 UTC
Mmm. Perhaps, then, Haiku is more like Fortran? I think not. Garden spider weaves elegant simplicity-- a Perl one-liner.	[reply]
RE: RE: RE: Techies and Haiku by Ozymandias (Hermit) on May 31, 2000 at 21:42 UTC
No, Fortran is like a sonnet - restrictive, stifling, old-fashioned, emotional, and (occaisionally) rhyming. I should know; I spent three years programming aerospace simulations in Fortran. <G> - Ozymandias	[reply]
RE: Techies and Haiku by Bourgeois_Rage (Beadle) on Jun 01, 2000 at 19:29 UTC
I think that I look at Haikus as higher forms of Limericks, and who don't like Limericks? There are three kinds of Limericks: Limericks you can tell in front of Women, Limericks you can tell in front of Priests, and Limericks.	[reply]
RE: Techies and Haiku by Corion (Patriarch) on May 31, 2000 at 20:41 UTC
I was first introduced to Haikus in some Perl related webpages, and to be honest, Perl is the first language in which I see (the try of) poetry at all. `:)` Personally I'm attracted to Haikus, because they are so short that one must focus on the essential thing, much like an 16x16 (or 32x32) icon forces me to focus on the essence in the thing I try to portray. I also program(med) some really small programs (programs that do amazing things in under 50 bytes of x86 code), so I guess that at least in my case, small is beautiful. Good design is not when there is nothing more to add, it's when there is nothing more to take away.	[reply]
RE: Techies and Haiku by royalanjr (Chaplain) on Jun 01, 2000 at 01:58 UTC
I also think folks are drawn to haiku because of the sense of "gotcha!" that a good haiku leaves you with; that interesting little twist in the middle of those few words. Even though I am new to perl, I can see a lot of that "gotcha!" woven into the code. shrug Maybe I am just still new enough to have a sense of wonder about it all. Roy Alan "I quit; I concede. Tanj on your silly game!" -- Louis Wu	[reply]
RE: Techies and Haiku by Adam (Vicar) on Jun 01, 2000 at 05:14 UTC
Haiku is like Perl: Structured, but not ridgedly. You see, TIMTOWTDI! I am using the L.Wall pronunciation of TIMTOWTDI, which is "Tim Toad-ie"	[reply]