New article: Write less code!

The latest article in my "Professionalism in Programming" column is out now in C Vu magazine. It's called "Write Less Code", which does seem vaguely heretical for a software developer.

Here's a teaser:

It's a sad fact in our modern world that there's just too much code. I can cope with the fact that my car engine is controlled by a computer, there's obviously software cooking the food in my microwave, and it wouldn't surprise me if my genetically modified cucumbers had an embedded micro controller in them. That's all fine; its not what I'm obsessing about. I'm worried about all the unnecessary code out there.

There's simply too much unnecessary code kicking around. Like weeds, these evil lines of code clog up our precious byes of storage, obfuscate our revision control histories, stubbornly get in the way of our development, and use up precious code space, choking the good code around them.

Why is there so much unnecessary code? Perhaps it's due to genetic flaws. Some people like the sound of their own voice. You've met them; you just can't shut them up. They're the kind of people you don't want to get stuck with at parties. Yada yada yada. Other people like their own code too much. They like it so much they write reams of it. { yada->yada.yada(); } Or perhaps they're the programmers with misguided managers who judge progress by how many thousands of lines of code have been written a day.

Join the excellent ACCU to get C Vu and read the rest of that reveting article! And yes - that is my barnet on the cover :-)