Programming thoughts I
Today I want to write something about the conversations I had with priyank about programming. Our talk revolved around who can be called as true programmers, what do we mean by good code, when can someone be called as an expert programmer? Well the thoughts that resulted at the end were mostly his observations as I was merely a listener most of the time.
It all started with finding an optimal solution to a problem in www.codechef.com related to prime nos. Unable to think more about the problem (I wasn’t able to give him some hints to solving the problem because of my weak algorithmic skills), he started asking questions on the credibility of OO programming. He wondered why some people focus more on making the code more object-oriented rather than focusing on the efficiency of the solution. I replied that it is important to focus on object-oriented-ness because it makes the code more understandable, it ensures that the modules involved are as independent as possible, making it more usable. And most importantly I said that most of the problems involved in our daily jobs are not algorithmically that complex that we have to invest such a huge amount of time in finding the most efficient solution. Instead the problem at hand is how to code such that if someone is editing your code, he doesn’t need to come to you at every point asking you what you did. Code in such a way that there is little need for others to seek help i.e it should be understandable (and yes it’s the code itself and not the comments that should suffice).
Then the conversation shifted on who can be called as a good programmer. There are many websites devoted to problems requiring to finding the optimal solutions to a problem. When companies like directi appreciates an employee who has solved a complex problem in just 0.65 millisec in its presentation, it does mean that a good programmer is the one who has the ability to crack the problem using minimal system resources and time. Also, it is essential to gain expertise over a programming language one is coding in. Because a single task can be done in different ways using different programming constructs and methods. In some of the cases, it’s the api calls of that language that make the difference in the efficiency of the solution. If one doesn’t know how the api calls perform their job, he/she can’t decipher the effectiveness of the solution. In the country where there are bulk of IT guys available to do the job, it’s these that separates one from rest. Its not what one does, it’s how one does that differentiates him/her. And we at last came to a conclusion that an expert programmer has two things:
1. A drive to always look for the efficient way to solve a problem
2. He/She should have a sound knowledge about the programming constructs so that he can meticulously utilize those methods over others when needed
These were just the thoughts that were shared during our tea break. So it is highly possible that most of the advantages of OO programming, or maybe our belief in expert programming be wrong and inaccurate
It all started with finding an optimal solution to a problem in www.codechef.com related to prime nos. Unable to think more about the problem (I wasn’t able to give him some hints to solving the problem because of my weak algorithmic skills), he started asking questions on the credibility of OO programming. He wondered why some people focus more on making the code more object-oriented rather than focusing on the efficiency of the solution. I replied that it is important to focus on object-oriented-ness because it makes the code more understandable, it ensures that the modules involved are as independent as possible, making it more usable. And most importantly I said that most of the problems involved in our daily jobs are not algorithmically that complex that we have to invest such a huge amount of time in finding the most efficient solution. Instead the problem at hand is how to code such that if someone is editing your code, he doesn’t need to come to you at every point asking you what you did. Code in such a way that there is little need for others to seek help i.e it should be understandable (and yes it’s the code itself and not the comments that should suffice).
Then the conversation shifted on who can be called as a good programmer. There are many websites devoted to problems requiring to finding the optimal solutions to a problem. When companies like directi appreciates an employee who has solved a complex problem in just 0.65 millisec in its presentation, it does mean that a good programmer is the one who has the ability to crack the problem using minimal system resources and time. Also, it is essential to gain expertise over a programming language one is coding in. Because a single task can be done in different ways using different programming constructs and methods. In some of the cases, it’s the api calls of that language that make the difference in the efficiency of the solution. If one doesn’t know how the api calls perform their job, he/she can’t decipher the effectiveness of the solution. In the country where there are bulk of IT guys available to do the job, it’s these that separates one from rest. Its not what one does, it’s how one does that differentiates him/her. And we at last came to a conclusion that an expert programmer has two things:
1. A drive to always look for the efficient way to solve a problem
2. He/She should have a sound knowledge about the programming constructs so that he can meticulously utilize those methods over others when needed
These were just the thoughts that were shared during our tea break. So it is highly possible that most of the advantages of OO programming, or maybe our belief in expert programming be wrong and inaccurate