Programming and Minimalism: Lessons from Orwell and the Clash

Programming and Minimalism

Jon Dahl
@jondahl
jon@zencoder.com

Monday, March 14, 2011

http://zencoder.com/jobs


What is
good programming?


What is
programming?


Process


Doing shit


Deﬁning
complex processes


Programming
is like...


Engineering

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/seattlemunicipalarchives/4818952324/

nouns
verbs


Craft


Tools


Skill


Small teams


Habits
and practices


Writing


http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/seattlemunicipalarchives/4818952324/

Simple and interesting.


Build on it.


Build on it.
Build on it.


Build on it.
Build on it.
Build on it.


Build on it.
Build on it.
Build on it.
Build on it.


Build on it.
Build on it.
Build on it.
Build on it.
Build on it.


Build on it.
Build on it.
Build on it.
Build on it.
Build on it.
Enormous, stale, and boring.


loop { Build on it. }
Enormous, stale, and boring.

Start over, but retain the best parts.


Bach


Haydn


Mozart


Beethoven


Mahler


simplicity
and complexity


test tone


white noise


Steve Reich


Arvo
Pärt


Philip Glass


minimalism


USA Patriot Act


Expanded
Surveillance Act


Propaganda


While freely conceding that the Soviet
regime exhibits certain features which
the humanitarian may be inclined to
deplore, we must, I think, agree that a
certain curtailment of the right to political
opposition is an unavoidable
concomitant of transitional periods, and
that the rigors which the Russian people
have been called upon to undergo have
been amply justiﬁed in the sphere of
concrete achievement.


I am not, indeed, sure whether it is not
true to say that the Milton who once
seemed not unlike a seventeenth-century
Shelley had not become, out of an
experience ever more bitter in each year,
more alien to the founder of that Jesuit
sect which nothing could induce him to
tolerate.
Harold Laski, Essay in Freedom of Expression


I am not, indeed, sure whether it is not
true to say that the Milton who once
seemed not unlike a seventeenth-century
Shelley had not become, out of an
experience ever more bitter in each year,
more alien to the founder of that Jesuit
sect which nothing could induce him to
tolerate.


1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or
other ﬁgure of speech which you
are used to seeing in print.


2. Never use a long word where a
short one will do.


3. If it is possible to cut a word
out, always cut it out.


4. Never use the passive where
you can use the active.


5. Never use a foreign phrase, a
scientiﬁc word, or a jargon word if
you can think of an everyday
English equivalent.


6. Break any of these rules sooner
than say anything outright
barbarous.


clear writing ➡ clear thinking


bad writing ➡ bad thinking


bad writing ➡ bad thinking

➡ totalitarianism


clear,
direct writing


1. Always take the simplest approach
to a problem.


2. Clever code is bad code.


module ApplicationHelper
def me?(user=@user)
returning(user == current_user) do |me|
yield if me && block_given?
end
end
end


<% me?(@user) do %>
<p><%= @user.private_info %></p>
<% end %>


module ApplicationHelper
def me?(user)
yield if user == current_user
end
end


3. Any code that isn’t doing
something is harming your project.


4. Accept constraints.


5. If it isn’t local business logic, it
should be a library.


view -> controller -> model


model -> library -> open library


6. Don’t over-abstract.


@user.groups.map(&:name).to_sentence


class User
def group_list
group_names = groups.map do |group|
group.name
end

group_names.to_sentence
end
end


admin_roles.include?(@user.role) ? @user.groups.map {|g|
g.name }.sort_by(&:name).to_sentence : @user.groups.select {|g|
g.public? }.map {|g| g.name }.sort_by(&:name).to_sentence


7. Always actively clean up.
Constantly.


map.connect ':controller/:action/:id.:format'

has_and_belongs_to_many :roles

start_form_tag activate_users_url


8. Apply these rules wisely.


9. Simple code is beautiful.


10. Break hard problems down.


flight.book_flight_for(customer)


def book_flight_for(customer)
reserve_flight_for(customer)
customer.charge(cost)
customer.notify(details)
end


def reserve_flight_for(customer)
if flight.available?
mark_flight_reserved_for(customer)
end
end


def charge(cost)
...
end


def notify(details)
...
end


Consume


Study


Produce


you have a
programming style


make it better


minimal


clear


direct


effective


beautiful


write beautiful code


Jon Dahl
@jondahl
jon@zencoder.com


Programming and Minimalism: Lessons from Orwell and the Clash

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