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Discussion on: What is your advice to people just getting started in code?

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Isaac Lyman

"Programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute." -Abelson & Sussman, "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs"

Conclusions you should reach from this statement:

  • Code is an art, not a science. Okay, fine, it's also a science. But thinking of it as an art is highly productive.
  • Everyone's code is a little different. That's a good thing.
  • Being a great coder means putting more effort into your code than users will necessarily be aware of.
  • Messy, misaligned, or inconsistent code is an evil in and of itself.