From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.0 required=5.0 tests=MAILING_LIST_MULTI autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 3939 invoked from network); 2 Nov 2022 02:38:28 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (50.116.15.146) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 2 Nov 2022 02:38:28 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id AD23441DC5; Wed, 2 Nov 2022 12:37:48 +1000 (AEST) Received: from lists.tip.net.au (lists.tip.net.au [203.10.76.3]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 6D1C3409FF for ; Wed, 2 Nov 2022 12:37:42 +1000 (AEST) Received: from [192.168.1.2] (219-90-191-162.ip.adam.com.au [219.90.191.162]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mailhost.tip.net.au (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 4N29z80kSfz8t8Z; Wed, 2 Nov 2022 13:37:39 +1100 (AEDT) From: steve jenkin Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Mime-Version: 1.0 (Mac OS X Mail 12.4 \(3445.104.21\)) Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2022 13:36:34 +1100 Message-Id: To: TUHS X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.3445.104.21) Message-ID-Hash: 7PT6DAUWFGTMORN5YUKVUD2KRFXFLOQE X-Message-ID-Hash: 7PT6DAUWFGTMORN5YUKVUD2KRFXFLOQE X-MailFrom: sjenkin@canb.auug.org.au X-Mailman-Rule-Misses: dmarc-mitigation; no-senders; approved; emergency; loop; banned-address; member-moderation; header-match-tuhs.tuhs.org-0; nonmember-moderation; administrivia; implicit-dest; max-recipients; max-size; news-moderation; no-subject; digests; suspicious-header X-Mailman-Version: 3.3.6b1 Precedence: list Subject: [TUHS] Early Unix and Keyboard Skills List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list Archived-At: List-Archive: List-Help: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: I=E2=80=99m re-reading Brian Kernighan=E2=80=99s book on Early Unix = (=E2=80=98Unix: A History & Memoir=E2=80=99)=20 and he mentions the (on disk) documentation that came with Unix - = something that made it stand out, even for some decades. Doug McIlroy has commented on v2-v3 (1972-73?) being an extremely = productive year for Ken & Dennis. But as well, they wrote papers and man pages, probably more. I=E2=80=99ve never heard anyone mention keyboard skills with the people = of the CSRC - doesn=E2=80=99t anyone know? There=E2=80=99s at least one Internet meme that highly productive coders = necessarily have good keyboard skills, which leads to also producing documentation or, at least, not avoiding = it entirely, as often happens commercially. Underlying this is something I once caught as a random comment: The commonality of skills between Writing & Coding. Does anyone has any good refs for this crossover? Is it a real effect or a biased view. That great programmers are also =E2=80=9Cgood writers=E2=80=9D: takes time & focus, clarity of vision, deliberate intent and = many revisions, chopping away the cruft that=E2=80=99s isn=E2=80=99t = =E2=80=9Cthe thing=E2=80=9D and =E2=80=9Cpolishing=E2=80=9D, not rushing = it out the door. Ken is famous for his brevity and succinct statements. Not sure if that=E2=80=99s a personal preference, a mastered skill or = =E2=80=9Ceconomy in everything=E2=80=9D. steve j =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D A Research UNIX Reader: Annotated Excerpts from the Programmer's Manual, = 1971-1986 M.D. McIlroy pg 10 3.4. Languages CC (v2 page 52) V2 saw a burst of languages: a new TMG,=20 a B that worked in both core-resident and software-paged versions, the completion of Fortran IV (Thompson and Ritchie), and Ritchie's first C, conceived as B with data types. In that furiously productive year Thompson and Ritchie together wrote and debugged about 100,000 lines of production code. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Programming's Dirtiest Little Secret Wednesday, September 10, 2008 = It's just simple arithmetic. If you spend more time hammering = out code, then in order to keep up, you need to spend less time doing = something else. But when it comes to programming, there are only so many things = you can sacrifice!=20 You can cut down on your documentation.=20 You can cut down on commenting your code.=20 You can cut down on email conversations and=20 participation in online discussions, preferring group = discussions and hallway conversations. And... well, that's about it. So guess what non-touch-typists sacrifice?=20 All of it, man.=20 They sacrifice all of it. Touch typists can spot an illtyperate programmer from a mile = away.=20 They don't even have to be in the same room. For starters, non-typists are almost invisible.=20 They don't leave a footprint in our online community. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D -- Steve Jenkin, IT Systems and Design=20 0412 786 915 (+61 412 786 915) PO Box 38, Kippax ACT 2615, AUSTRALIA mailto:sjenkin@canb.auug.org.au http://members.tip.net.au/~sjenkin