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Computing

What if Amerika was only written for 32-bit PowerPC?

why the lucky stiff

Computing is exceedingly prone to trends in which harmful technologies become prevalent to the extent of being inescapable. One of the longest-running examples is (or was — as of 2021, this trend is finally dying) object-oriented programming with mutable state. Another is the Semantic Web. Yet another is NoSQL databases. Some of these things aren’t so bad if applied in the right context, but the fervour with which their proponents cling to these technologies even in situations in which they are manifestly unsuitable is counterproductive to a healthy intellectual environment. Computer technologies aren’t team sports.

As of January 2022, I’ve been doing significantly more computing-related stuff again for about 18 months or so, mostly in/to do with Scheme, with some Emacs Lisp. I’ve been enjoying it, even. This is moderately surprising after I spent five desparate years of my life looking for a way out of doing programming. Tim Bray advised:

If you used to like to code but don’t do it any more, I suggest you see if you still do.

This calls for a more nuanced reflection on what I do and don’t like about programming.