Computer programming is the process of creating computer software. Use this tag if you have any questions relating to this area.
Questions tagged [programming]
31 questions
17
votes
1 answer
Does using headphones to drown out ambient noise reduce the quality of work?
There has been some fierce discussion about this subject in blogosphere and on Programmers.SE. It all started with Joel Spolsky's claim:
[...] putting on headphones to drown out the ambient noise has been shown
to reduce the quality of work that…
vartec
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16
votes
0 answers
Do mechanical keyboards improve accuracy?
A famous mechanical keyboard site claims that:
Many mechanical keyboard fans rave at the loud, clicky sound they produce when using one of these keyboards. As mentioned above, the mechanical switches that make this loud noise are what’s ensuring…
Sklivvz
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16
votes
1 answer
Do programming aptitude tests provide a reliable measurement of skills?
Universities and companies conduct, administer, or provide programmer aptitude tests. A number of people have expressed both skepticism as well as agreement that they may be useful with the hiring process as claimed by one company,
From a practical…
Raju
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14
votes
1 answer
Did the creator of Unix say "One of my most productive days was throwing away 1000 lines of code."?
Various books and web pages claim that Ken Thompson said:
"One of my most productive days was throwing away 1000 lines of code."
It's found for instance in The Art of UNIX Programming by Eric S. Raymond, p. 24.
Is there any evidence that Ken…
Barry Harrison
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14
votes
1 answer
Did Babbage write programs for the Analytical Engine prior to Lovelace?
Charles Babbage was the inventor of Analytical Engine and Difference Engine.
Ada Lovelace was a mathematician and computer programmer.
The Guardian says :
Often described as the world's first computer programmer, Lovelace showed a keen interest in…
Prem
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14
votes
1 answer
Does the average software developer not own (or has never read) a book on software development?
The book 'Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams' by Timothy Lister and Tom DeMarco makes an unreferenced claim that:
"The average software developer, for example, doesn't own a single
book on the subject of his or her work, and hasn't ever…
combinatorics
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14
votes
1 answer
Does Emacs cause "Emacs pinky"?
From http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/emacs_pinky.html:
Emacs makes frequent use of the Control key. On a conventional keyboard, the Control Key is at the lower left corner of the keyboard, usually not very large and is pressed by the pinky finger. For…
user5582
11
votes
1 answer
Was Alan Bradley named after Alan Kay?
Alan Bradley is a character in the 1982 film Tron, the software developer who wrote Tron, a security program and the eponymous protagonist of the film. Alan Kay, on the other hand, is a pioneer of object oriented programming and graphical user…
yannis
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9
votes
2 answers
Does having a specification result in better code?
From Joel on Software, 12 Steps to Better Code, Joel asserts that:
Writing specs is like flossing: everybody agrees that it's a good
thing, but nobody does it.
And:
Software that wasn't built from a spec usually winds up badly designed
and the…
Dave Hillier
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7
votes
2 answers
Do iOS developers earn more than Android developers?
There are a few articles on the Internet that say so and I've personally heard it from some people around me.
If this is really so, then what would be the main cause of this?
Sources:
MOBILE
iOS Developers Make More Money, But Android's Volume Is…
Haider
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6
votes
0 answers
Was the flawless execution of code used as motivation for moonlanding denial?
In this video around 2:25 on programmer stereotypes it is mentioned in the part named female programmers that the code Margaret Hamilton wrote for the Apollo mission was so flawless that some use it as evidence that the moon landing never…
Neil Meyer
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6
votes
1 answer
Is code read more often than it's written?
There is a popular quote, maybe originated by Robert C. Martin, that says that code is read ten times more than it's written (meaning edited). Goodreads reports it.
As another example the quote is reported in a Microsoft blog.
However I could never…
gurghet
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4
votes
1 answer
Is XML one of the most widely-used formats for sharing structured information?
W3C claims that
XML is one of the most widely-used formats for sharing structured information today
Does anyone know if there is any corroborating evidence (studies, reviews, etc.) for this statement?
thad
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4
votes
2 answers
Was a new deep learning toolkit released once every 22 days in 2015?
Guest Post (Part II): Deep Reinforcement Learning with Neon says:
The deep learning ecosystem has evolved a lot since then. Supposedly a new deep learning toolkit was released once every 22 days in 2015. Amongst the popular ones are both the…
Franck Dernoncourt
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3
votes
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Does Test Driven Development decrease development time and create better quality software?
As any software developer out there I hold my own opinions about programming related stuff. I also hold my own opinion about TDD (Test Driven Development).
But my opinion is irrelevant because it's just that, an opinion.
The more I read about TDD…
Pips
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