Posts about 4-bit-rules

4-bit Rules of Computing, Part 4

Here is the fifth part of my blog series expanding on my 4-bit rules of computing.

In this post: rules 7, 8, and 9; which discuss testing and debugging. They are all related in a way: having to do with making good-quality craft work. Because, as much as computer people like to believe that we're "engineers" or that this is "computer science", we're not really. We're crafts people, in a profession that's still very young and finding its roots and methods in order to be consistently successful.

I'm definitely not trying to pretend I'm an "engineer". For real rigour, there is much more required than a few simple rules. But these are some realistic and humble rules in the area of testing that I aim to stick to.

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4-bit Rules of Computing, Part 3

Here is the forth part of my blog series expanding on my 4-bit rules of computing.

Previously in Milosophical Me: Mike was reflecting on Comments, both in source code and in social media, and had come to the conclusion that they are to be avoided, that they can be more harmful than helpful, and that source codes (and people) should be allowed to speak for them selves.

There is an exception to Rule 5 (Rule 0 allows for this): doc-comments. In this post I explore what they are, how they differ from regular comments, and how to use them to assist your fellow hackers.

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4-bit Rules of Computing, Part 2

Here is the third part of my blog series expanding on my 4-bit rules of computing.

In this installment: Rules 5, on comments. Rule 5 is a bit contentious and I've taken too long in writing my thoughts on it — which is probably telling. Nonetheless I still want to press ahead and get these words out. I also wanted to include Rule 6 with this post, but I'm taking my own advice and breaking the post into two, because it really was getting quite long.

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