... poorly understood - and sloppily formulated - ideas
This is my favorite part of programming :)
You have an idea and attempt to codify it.
During the process, your code starts to get uglier and uglier.
Refactoring the code leads you to re-examine your conceptualization of the problem, leading to new insights outside the domain of programming.
If your code does not lend well to abstraction, it's a good indicator that perhaps your idea has missed the mark.
See the structure of the code, compare it to the structure of the idea and you have a whole new platform for creativity.
Think. Write. Refactor.
Rinse and repeat.
Turning bad ideas into good ideas.
Perhaps the reason why so many successful startups are famous for inventions resulting from other than their original ideas.
Computers are a good tool for modeling things and managing complexity. Good models will sometimes yield surprising and beneficial results. This is becoming a part of the common wisdom expressed in a variety of ways:
"Evolution is smarter than you."
"The street will find its own use for technology."
Someone should do a Wikipedia-like site based on the old Connections series on PBS. I think you could do a site like this based solely on the history of technology and its interconnections.
Someone should do a Wikipedia-like site based on the old Connections series on PBS. I think you could do a site like this based solely on the history of technology and its interconnections.
Great idea! I've been missing the insights that James Burke delivered with the original series.
You have an idea and attempt to codify it. During the process, your code starts to get uglier and uglier. Refactoring the code leads you to re-examine your conceptualization of the problem, leading to new insights outside the domain of programming. If your code does not lend well to abstraction, it's a good indicator that perhaps your idea has missed the mark. See the structure of the code, compare it to the structure of the idea and you have a whole new platform for creativity. Think. Write. Refactor. Rinse and repeat.
Turning bad ideas into good ideas.
Perhaps the reason why so many successful startups are famous for inventions resulting from other than their original ideas.