|
Code implements the policy of the author. One of the most important aspects of any computing tool is its influence
on the thinking habits of those who try to use it. To err is human but to really foul things up requires a computer. The computer is no better than its program. A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming
is not worth knowing. Computers are uninteresting; they only give you answers. Real Programmers don't play tennis, or any sport that requires you
to change clothes. Mountain climbing is OK, and real programmers always
wear their climbing boots to work in case a mountain should suddenly
spring up in the middle of a machine room. Not only computer-based art work, but the computing medium itself is
an obvious product of the cultures that create it. When using graphics software, you should ask yourself, For whom was
this program developed? This question is important because it determines
what the software lets you do and tries to make you do; what it makes
easy and what it makes prohibitively difficult. Every significant computer system puts in place a working order, and
we then live within it. If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then
the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization. |