Re: How to learn software design
In article <hgkv45$qta$1@news.eternal-september.org>, Mick <mick@nospam.net> wrote:
Ian Collins wrote:
Pete Becker wrote:
Ian Collins wrote:
Pete Becker wrote:
James Kanze wrote:
That's an interesting point. I once heard that you should never
employ a programmer who didn't play a musical instrument.
Something about the ability to be creative in a structured
environment.
I used to play a musical instrument, but I've found that the thing
that's contributed most to my understanding of programming and
program design was law school. That's where I learned to cut through
the distractions to see what's really there.
But didn't that also train you to write arcane and bloated code (form
one who has seen what patent attorneys can do to a simple idea!)?
No. Don't fall for the cliche that all lawyers are bad writers.
I'm not falling for clich?s, merely reflecting on experience.
Look at it another way: laws are a lot more expensive to test than
programmes due to their arcane and bloated wording. Maybe someone
should give test driven legislation a go...
But laws are framed and written by legislators, politicians, who may or
may not be Lawyers. Their purpose and the process to develop them has
little bearing on the Software Development Process. To match the
political process the 'IF..THEN..ELSE' would need to contain a 'MAYBE'.
Actually, a VERY interesting point relating to logic as such
and its binary nature, going back since the dawn of "civilization".
A while back, when I had do deal with expert systems,
I noticed that yes and not is not sufficient to describe all
conditions. So I had an idea about multi-valued logic.
Since then, they came up with the idea of fuzzy logic in AI.
How would you describe a rainbow?
Is there light? - Yes.
What color is it? - does not fall under yes or no.
Probably the most graphical example of this binary logic
if fascism, where things are described in black and white colors.
There is no notion of rainbow.
The end result?
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