Re^2: Death and Return of TIMTOWTDI

Most people who try to build something that already exists on CPAN are not doing it because they have looked at what's there and found it inadequate. Most of them are doing it because they haven't looked, or are too lazy to read the code that's already there and learn from it, or are too arrogant to accept a solution written by someone else. There Is More Than One Stupid And Inefficent Way To Do It would be a better acronym for the majority of cases you are describing.

This is an attitude that does not help. Generally, in online communities, when a person asks a question, it is assumed they have no idea what they are doing, and are told to go to Google, or to search CPAN. Yes, this community is better than some others (including nonPerl related), but really this is not answering their questions.

I agree that looking through code can be effective for learning, but not everybody can read and type Perl fluently. Now, if a link to an article was given to the question, I would not complain. This way, people who are use to other languages can check out how it would be done.

Again, I believe that this thread was more about learning rather than doing, as this site is mostly for educational value (yes, this is an educational site... you cannot even escape it when you're not at school ;) ).

You're argument is not a new one, and I am surprised I cannot find it on CPAN, despite the ammount I've seen it.

-- Jamie Payne

Comment on Re^2: Death and Return of TIMTOWTDI

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Re^3: Death and Return of TIMTOWTDI by perrin (Chancellor) on Jun 05, 2004 at 06:24 UTC
This is an attitude that does not help. Generally, in online communities, when a person asks a question, it is assumed they have no idea what they are doing, and are told to go to Google, or to search CPAN. Maybe I was a little harsh. I've heard a lot of insane things justified with TMTOWTDI over the years, and sometimes it just gets under my skin. I think that you have a hypothetical (or real) question in mind that colors this issue for you, just as I have one that does the same for me. "Take a look at Some::Module" is a useful and helpful response to the sort of question I have in mind: "What's a good way to do X?" A more precise question merits a more precise answer. Say what you have figured out so far ("I looked at Tree::DAG_Node, but I don't think it's a good fit for me becuase I need to do...") or what your special circumstances are ("I want to learn how HTTP works and am having trouble following the LWP code...") and you get a more useful answer. You can't expect to get a dissertation on how to write e-mail handling code in reponse to a simple "How do I write a mail filter?" question. And again in the eye of the beholder: I feel like I've seen this "your CPAN referrals are curtailing my TMTOWTDI" argument at least a dozen times in the Meditations. That's fine. There are times when CPAN does not have the answer. It is always a step along the path though.	[reply]

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Re^3: Death and Return of TIMTOWTDI
by perrin (Chancellor) on Jun 05, 2004 at 06:24 UTC

Maybe I was a little harsh. I've heard a lot of insane things justified with TMTOWTDI over the years, and sometimes it just gets under my skin.

I think that you have a hypothetical (or real) question in mind that colors this issue for you, just as I have one that does the same for me. "Take a look at Some::Module" is a useful and helpful response to the sort of question I have in mind: "What's a good way to do X?"

A more precise question merits a more precise answer. Say what you have figured out so far ("I looked at Tree::DAG_Node, but I don't think it's a good fit for me becuase I need to do...") or what your special circumstances are ("I want to learn how HTTP works and am having trouble following the LWP code...") and you get a more useful answer. You can't expect to get a dissertation on how to write e-mail handling code in reponse to a simple "How do I write a mail filter?" question.

And again in the eye of the beholder: I feel like I've seen this "your CPAN referrals are curtailing my TMTOWTDI" argument at least a dozen times in the Meditations. That's fine. There are times when CPAN does not have the answer. It is always a step along the path though.

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