Hey /sci/ ! I'm a code artisan ask me anything!

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>>8019790

>>8019792
I really really like PHP

>>8019790
Backbait: how do you design superb assembly code? And I am talking Woz-grade code here.

What does artisanal code look like?

>>8020395
Not OP, but I would venture to say that this requires a deep, fundamental understanding of how your hardware works.

>>8020531
Yes.

My thesis is that elite level works do require deep understanding of the system you work with. And the reference to Woz was there for good reasons. His command of 6502 assembly language is at the very top.

Realising that the Apple II Basic had pointer handling requirement that was not time critical led him to design SWEET-16, a piece of code well worth studying.

Compiler spuds have for years bleated that compilers beat human hand coding. This of course is little ore than luke warm poo. Only when the compilers grasp the concepts the way Woz did and make purpose designed virtual machines will I begin to entertain such thoughts. Not before.

>>8019790
Where does this meme come from?
What is a code artisan?

>>8020587
Like every other programmer memes this comes from /g/.

The meaning is that the typical programmer job (the ones that CS majors get) are actually really trivial and for that we call them code monkeys, but the monkeys did not give up without a fight, and some retarded braindead monkey came up with the idea of calling himself a 'code artisan' as a way to say that the other programmers were not actually true scotsmen, only he was the one good programmer, so good that his code, as trivial as it may be, is an art.

Like all 4chan memes, autism is behind it.

>>8020604
Actually it's more of a silicon valley hipster meme and was ridiculed not long after inception

>>8020587
As an alternative to the idea posted here >>8020604 I think the background is historical.

Back in the day writing code was a mix of art, science and craft. These days companies prefer cheapo labour force and want to eliminate the artisans of days of old and instead turn codewriting into pure craft requiring minimal thinking and even lesser education. The outsourcing tendency towards India is part of this process. So they paid peanuts. And they got codemonkeys.

>>8020640
>art, science and craft.
Programming was never and will never be an art. What the fuck are you talking about?

>inb4 you have to get creative to produce code

Sure, and Cauchy had to be creative to rigorously explain calculus, but that does not make him an artist.

Everything else you said is sensible though.

>>8020646
Are we actually in a discussion about what "art" is? To me at least it is the result of creativity. Following a set of rules is a craft. Doing so blindly is what you have PHP for.

I am probably a bit older than most here and back in the day I was specialized in assembly programming for embedded systems. Constraints are so big you have to learn from the best. And you get to appreciate good work.

>>8020581
Couldn't have said it better myself.

>>8020646
>Programming was never and will never be an art. What the fuck are you talking about?

Don Knuth and I beg to differ.