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Are Googlers Too Smart For Their Own Good?
theodp writes "If you're a mere mortal, don't be surprised if your first reaction to Google Storage for Developers is 'WTF?!' Offering the kind of 'user-friendly' API one might expect from a bunch of computer science Ph.D.s, Google Storage even manages to overcomplicate the simple act of copying files. Which raises the question: Are Googlers with 'world-class programming skills' capable of producing straightforward, simple-to-use programming interfaces for ordinary humans?"
Whatever happened to simple interfaces, like:
"Would you like to play Global Thermonuclear War? [YES|NO]"
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
We didn't have a Google story for over two hours, so we had to post what was available.
Coding is hard! Let's go shopping!
I hope I don't sound like a Google fanboy but this is a nontrivial task and I would defend the API they have produced.
Heck, I had the exact same reaction to this article, and I haven't even looked at the API! My reaction was based solely on the wording theodp's atrocious post.
uh, i just looked a little at the code and the documentation and it seems easy to use, really can't see what is so complicated there... more simple than that is oversimplifying in my opinion
well, java is doing that to world programmers i guess.
who flood developer-boards with questions that typically look like
" Sir Sir please help sir I have project due sir I need full workking code by tomorrow sir" ??
If so, you would expect everything to be point and click, I guess.
You could just set your filter for "mere mortal" appropriately and you won't see these things anymore.
Oh, yeah, it's not easy to pad these out to 120 characters.
The da Vinci Code begs to differ.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Do you think anyone who would conflate API with UI will know what conflate means?
but wait! I'm submitting an article to /. about how hard google is!
I want to go to the apple store! apple store!
The da Vinci Code begs to differ.
I still don't understand why anyone would want to read it. Does that count?
This is about developers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zEQhhaJsU4
Are you just simply way too “dumb”* for the 21st-fuckin-century?
I know I’m (sadly) a minority here. And I know that I will probably get modded to into oblivion. But except from the stupid overengineering... come on!
How about for a change actually learning something, when it is useful for you?
* I’m not even really saying that people are too dumb. It’s just that most people grew up in a culture, where it made more sense, to complain and feel entitled, to getting spoon-fed, than to understand it themselves. Where intelligent people get hate, and dumb people get special treatment (e.g. it not being allowed to point out that fact about their mental performance).
So naturally, they choose the more efficient way.
But the thing is, that we all are very much capable of grasping those complex concepts that we always say we were too dumb for. It’s just an excuse. And the more it is used, the more mental growth we miss. So after some time, we really have a hard time using our brains. Just like with a muscle. Just like we all are born with the ability to some day run for hours, every day, in the heat.
So, no, they are not too smart. We’re just used to being lazy as hell.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
Perhaps the OP would enjoy a line of work that involves shovels and dirt.
Yeah, but shovels are too complicated an unintuitive. I mean it would probably take theodp hours to figure out which end he is supposed to hold and which end goes into the dirt.
To the shopmobile!
What? Shopping is way more difficult than coding!
Why would anyone take advice from a guy with an AOL email?
Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
I've never programmed in da Vinci, but are you saying it only supports integer arithmetic?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."