Reading notes-Programmer's way of cultivation-pragmatic philosophy (ii)

• Stone Soup with boiled frog
  • Villager's Angle
• Good enough software
  • Know when to halt

Stone Soup with boiled frog

Three soldiers returned home from the battlefield, hungry on the way. They saw a village in front of them, and they came to spirit--they believed that the villagers would give them a meal to eat. But when they got there, they found the door locked and the windows closed. After years of war, villagers were starved of food and hid some of their food.

The soldiers were not discouraged, they boiled a pot of water and carefully put three pieces of stone in. The surprised villagers came out and looked at them.

"It's stone soup." "The soldiers explained that. "Put a stone on it?" The villagers asked. "That's right--but someone said adding some carrots tastes better ..." One and the villagers ran away, and soon returned with a basket of carrots he had stored.

A few minutes later, the villagers asked, "Is that it?" ”

Oh "The soldiers said:" A few potatoes will make the soup more real. Another villager ran away.

For the next hour, the soldiers listed more ingredients to make the soup more palatable: beef, salt, coriander, and so on, each time a different villager went back to search for his personal stash.

Finally they boiled out a big pot of steaming soup. The soldiers took off the stone and enjoyed a good meal with all the villagers, the first time they had had a full meal in a few months.

Analysis: There are two layers of meaning. The soldiers teased the villagers and took advantage of the villagers ' curiosity to get things from them. But more importantly, the soldiers acted as catalysts , uniting the villagers and doing what they could not have done-a collaborative effort.

At the beginning of the project, you ask for permission to solve the problem, but it has been delayed and ignored , everyone has defended their interests, asked to set up a discussion group, things have become complicated.

This is the time to take out the stone . Design what you can reasonably ask for and develop it well. Once it's done, show it to everyone and surprise them. And say, "If we increase ... Might be better. ”

People find it easier to participate in what is happening and succeed.

Let them glimpse the future and you will be able to gather them around you.

Be-a Catalyst for change
Catalysts to make changes

Villager's Angle

On the other hand, the story of the Stone Soup is also a tale of gentle and progressive deception.

Focus too much and forget the rest of the world. We are so, things will unconsciously, crept up to us.

In this case, the project is slowly, irrevocably and completely out of control. A lot of horrible disasters start with tiny things, and most of the delays are happening day by day. System a characteristic deviation specification of an attribute, one patch after another is hit on a piece of code until the original code is not left.

Small things can often undermine morale and teamwork.

Remember the Big picture
Remember the big picture

Keep Observing what's going on around you, not just what you're doing.

Good enough software

The scope and quality of the system you make should be defined as part of the system requirements.

Makequality a Requirements Issue.
Make Quality a demand problem

You will often be in a situation where tradeoffs are needed. If you give users something that they can use early, their feedback often leads you to a better final solution.

Know when to halt

In some ways, programming is like answering. You start with a blank canvas and some basic ingredients, and you determine what the former does by combining knowledge, art, and skill.

You sketch out the panorama, draw the background, and fill in all the details. You take a step back from time to time, observing your work with a critical view of the eye. Often, you throw away the canvas and come back again.

But artists will tell you that all the hard work will be destroyed if you don't know when the application stops. If you repeat the detail layer after layer and detail, the painting will be lost in the drawing.

Do not damage the program because of excessive modification and too much refinement. Go ahead and let your code fly for a while, it may not be perfect, but don't worry, it can't be perfect.

Reading notes-Programmer's way of cultivation-pragmatic philosophy (ii)