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by pydry 1915 days ago
shrug I think every time I've ever seen a disagreement about code quality it's boiled down to both developers thinking "I know it when I see it" about their separate approach.

If a set of principles lets them both think they're both correct and the other one is wrong, what exactly is the point of those principles?

This isn't just a coding thing. It's also, say, why society follows a body of laws rather than something like the 10 commandments.
2 comments
ehnto 1915 days ago
There are so many instances in code where two options are just as good as eachother by some negligible margin. The actual problem that needs solving is figuring out how to compromise and collaborate.

That's why, if I am on a team project, I much prefer working in opinionated frameworks with strong idioms. It actually doesn't matter if I think I could do it better, the framework has chosen a different way and that is fine. We all have to do it that way, and we can all compromise and collaborate. No one bickers about best, and we can get real work done.

Different when it is a project of my own, but if it requires teamwork you need a framework of collaboration as much as a framework of code.

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pydry 1915 days ago
>There are so many instances in code where two options are just as good as eachother by some negligible margin.

This is my other beef with SOLID: no trade offs.

I'd even extend your point to say that there are many times when code is not ideal but fixing it isn't worthwhile.

It would be nice to have a set of principles which recognized costs rather than promoting a vague, idealized standard for developers to fight over.

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d110af5ccf 1915 days ago
> lets them both think they're both correct and the other one is wrong, what exactly is the point of those principles

Guidelines can be useful even when subjective. Vitriolic disputes over whose (subjective) view is "correct" is an example of toxic behavior, not a problem with the guidelines being used to justify such behavior.

What would you think of someone who loudly insisted (without humor) that putting pineapple on pizza was wrong as a matter of principle? Is such expression in any way useful?

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