We begin with a poem:
The Zen of Python, by Tim Peters Beautiful is better than ugly. Explicit is better than implicit. Simple is better than complex. Complex is better than complicated. Flat is better than nested. Sparse is better than dense. Readability counts. Special cases aren't special enough to break the rules. Although practicality beats purity. Errors should never pass silently. Unless explicitly silenced. In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess. There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it. Although that way may not be obvious at first unless you're Dutch. Now is better than never. Although never is often better than *right* now. If the implementation is hard to explain, it's a bad idea. If the implementation is easy to explain, it may be a good idea. Namespaces are one honking great idea -- let's do more of those!
Take a moment and reflect on what stood out to you. Why did it stand out to you? Are there any lessons that you take away from this poem?
The poem may be called “The Zen of Python,” but it reflects a mindset that brings zen to progammers of any language. A simplicity of mind, a mantra, an ethos that not only makes them productive but also cultivates a peaceful existence.
Contrary to popular belief, good software is not convoluted or complicated. Good software is consistent and predictable. I am not necessarily saying that it is easy: there are some types of things that are just plain difficult. But over the course of the last thirty years of modern computing, there are plenty of things that we have seen over and over again. They are not hard problems. I’m talking about things as simple as what to name your files. But we’ve done these things over and over again and now understand how to do them in a way that makes our software accessible to others.
This section of articles is a veritable grab-bag of random topics that you will need to grasp on your way to becoming a Blue Collar Computer Scientist1. I try to unite them using the themes of consistency and predictability. There are certain patterns in computer programming that make life easier, but I can’t really explain them without just showing them to you.
Your understanding of what consistent, predictable, accessible software means will develop and change as you learn more and gain more skills. However, keep this mantra in your heart and reflect on it as you learn. Seeing the patterns and predictability in the world of programming will give you an immense and special insight.
Happy Coding!