Re:Rob Pike's 5 Rules of Programming
by skeeter2020 on Wednesday March 18, 2026 @01:03PM
(#47428277)
I have seen a huge decline in data first over the past decade-plus; maybe related to a lot more pragmatic training where code-first and abstraction helped you go faster, earlier but I definitely came of age starting with the schema and there are an awful lot of problems & systems that essentially are UI and functions on top of the schema.
Re:Rob Pike's 5 Rules of Programming
by danielmarkbruce on Wednesday March 18, 2026 @03:11PM
(#47430128)
UI + functions on top of schema if you've designed the schema well. Otherwise, it's a whole other thing.
I think you are referring to:
"Show me your flowchart and conceal your tables, and I shall continue to be mystified. Show me your tables, and I won't usually need your flowchart; it'll be obvious." -- Fred Brooks, The Mythical Man Month (1975)
Re:Rob Pike's 5 Rules of Programming
by eikenberry on Wednesday March 18, 2026 @04:39PM
(#47431146)
I don't think they were ever meant to be in order of importance.
Having implemented my shared of highly complex high-performance algorithms in the past, the key was always to figure out how to massage the raw data into structures that allow the algorithm to fly. It requires both a decent knowledge of the various algorithm options you have, as well as being flexible to see that the data could be presented a different way to get to the same result orders of magnitude faster.