Re: Productivity With Lisp (was Re: I get it)

From: jayessay (nospam_at_foo.com)
Date: 03/14/05 

Date: 13 Mar 2005 20:34:30 -0500

Wade Humeniuk <whumeniu+anti+spam@telus.net> writes:

> Peter Seibel wrote:
>
> > Don't you need some parts to make a machine? Does that mean that the
> > parts required to make the machine are free? And you only have to pay
> > for the "extra" parts. Seems to me Alan's analogy is apt--each line of
> > code is a hand-tooled, custom part for a very complex machine. Each
> > one costs a fair bit, both to make and to maintain. The fact that you
> > can't make a machine out of no parts just means that you can't make a
> > machine for free.
> >
>
> I see your point. However Alan stated that meeting functional goals
> is positive, but that involves writing code, which is a negative. How
> can a negative produce a positive?

Obviously the point is that the two are at odds. Clearly, getting the
functionality with zero lines of code is optimal (perhaps by means of
some form of magic or "AI" - as in the goofy Star Trek ask the
computer and get the result: "Computer, generate a full ERP system
with the following characteristics. Bla bla bla...." and N
hours/minutes later out pops the result). In reality, this is always
(at least until the magic arrives) non zero, i.e., there is a cost,
i.e., a negative. The only question left is "is the result worth the
cost?"

> But as someone observing the progress of a project, if nothing was
> being written, then one could get very worried irrespective of
> whether the goal is reached. You would know that productivity is
> headed towards zero.

You would know nothing of the sort. That is a completely invalid
conclusion. Admittedly most manager/suit types would indeed "come to"
this conclusion. For any given case _it might turn out_ to be true,
but the "reasoning" is invalid.

/Jon 

-- 
'j' - a n t h o n y at romeo/charley/november com

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