Don’t think to write, write to think

Re:Don’t think to write, write to think by itsmemattchung on Monday August 29, 2022 @11:29PM (#32646339)

As Neil Strauss puts it, "the true art of writing is in the revising." First draft you start with a clay (the first draft) and in the second pass, you revise, sculpting the clay, attempting to edit through an ideal reader's eyes.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Don’t think to write, write to think by BurningFrog on Monday August 29, 2022 @11:57PM (#32646461)

Also the best way to write good software.

First wrote bad code that works, then fix what's wrong with it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Don’t think to write, write to think by dspillett on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @09:28AM (#32650146)

    1. Make it work.
    2. Make it work *right*.
    3. Make it work fast.
    (4. Make it work right again…)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Don’t think to write, write to think by BurningFrog on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @10:09AM (#32650696)

I put a "make it readable" step in there somewhere, but basically that's the cycle.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Don’t think to write, write to think by hvs on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @08:56AM (#32649808)

I agree. Especially when you don't really know how something is going to work. So many times when I'm working on a hard problem, coding out half a solution makes the rest of it naturally fall out (or show that I was completely wrong) without having to consciously think about it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Don’t think to write, write to think by hbrn on Tuesday August 30, 2022 @12:42PM (#32652399)

Unfortunately a lot of folks I met fall into this trap: I'm a senior engineer with XX years of experience, I cannot write bad code.

Still haven't found a good way to convince them.

[ Parent | on HN ]