RichardKennaway comments on Rationality quotes: April 2010 - Less Wrong

5 Post author: wnoise 01 April 2010 08:41PM

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Comment author: RichardKennaway 03 April 2010 07:43:43PM 11 points [-]

I've written some of those. And every time, I test everything I write as I go, so that at every stage from the word go I have a working program. The big bang method, of writing everything first, then running it, never works.

Comment author: sketerpot 05 April 2010 09:00:17PM 1 point [-]

The "big bang" sometimes happens to me when I write in Haskell. After I fix all the compiler errors, of course. I just wish there were a language with a type system that can detect almost as many errors as Haskell's without having quite such a restrictive, bondage-fetish feel to it.

But yeah, in general, only trivial programs work the first time you run them. That's a good definition of trivial, actually.