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Re:Is there a software-engineering methodology for functiona... by jrockway on Sunday February 06, 2011 @04:31PM (#2186504)
This is one of my least favorite types of questions. It's like asking, "is there a painting methodology for latex-based paints?" Well, no. You use latex-based paints just like you use oil-based paints. Apply it to the paper until your sense of taste tells you you have art.

Programming is the same way. Write a small amount of code until you have something beautiful. This methodology will get you far with any language.

The hard part is refining the sense of taste. Just like there are a lot of poor starving artists who never get it, there are going to be a lot of poor starving programmers who never get it. That's sad, but that's the reality of creativity. Not everyone has it.

But you can try, and the way you try is by reading other programs and writing your programs in a similar style. There are low-level things and high-level things to look out for, and you're not going to get them by reading Stack Overflow. You have to play with a language and its libraries on a daily basis for years. Then you will begin to find the "methodology" you are looking for.

There are no easy answers.

Re:Is there a software-engineering methodology for functiona... by rdouble on Sunday February 06, 2011 @04:41PM (#2186522)
Well, no. You use latex-based paints just like you use oil-based paints. Apply it to the paper until your sense of taste tells you you have art.

Except you don't use oil-based paints the same way you use latex. Most of the time you wouldn't use either on paper.

Painting is a bad example to argue your point. Painting requires adherence to a certain technical methodology or else you don't get anywhere near your envisioned artistic result.