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Lies Programmers Tell Themselves

Posted by Soulskill on from the i'll-just-browse-the-internet-while-this-compiles dept.

itwbennett writes "Everybody lies to themselves now and again in both their personal lives ('my bathroom scale probably needs to be recalibrated') and professional lives ('this code doesn't need commenting'). ITworld has compiled some of the common lies programmers tell themselves. Here are a few examples: 'This bug won't take long to fix.' 'No one could possibly fail to understand my simple user interface.' 'Code is self documenting.' 'My homebrew framework will be nimble, lightweight, debugged, and easy to use.' 'I know this is dirty code, I will rewrite it later.' 'It's just one line... it won't break anything.' '"It works on my machine.' 'I don't need version control.' 'It's written in ____, so it'll be easy to ____.' What would you add to this list?"

4 of 452 comments (clear)

  1. Lie 10 by n1ywb · · Score: 5, Informative

    Lie 10: itworld.com has interesting, informative, insightful, and meaningful content.

    --
    -73, de n1ywb
    www.n1ywb.com
  2. we'll be greeted as liberators by lemur3 · · Score: 5, Informative

    oh uhh lies programmers tell themselves..

    how about

    this new website design is going to be great, our users will love it!

  3. Re:Commenting code by PvtVoid · · Score: 5, Informative

    Good code rarely needs commenting though. Too many comments are often an indicator of poorly organized code.

    Dear person who thinks that "good code rarely needs commenting": the entire world wants to beat you senseless with a nine iron.

    You're welcome.

  4. Re:Lies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    "I don't think anyone will smell this fart."