How to write good code

via http://xkcd.com/844/

Interesting presentation [pdf] from Brian Kernighan

Stackoverflow has a great list of terms programmers have come up with where the standard jargon just didn’t cut it.  A few gems in here, see if you can guess what the following might be:

• Yoda conditions – arrg, right up there with with leaving off the ?> in PHP, “training wheels best practices” …
• shrug report – I get this on a daily basis
• Egyptian brackets
• Refuctoring – one word speaks volumes
• Stringly typed – one of my favs – check out Yii framework if you’re unfamiliar with the concept
• Heisenbug – an old and painful classic, I get them all the time
• Fear Driven Development – I think we’ve all been there
• Baklava code – this one is just begging to enter your vocabulary

This video really hits the nail on the head when it comes to the kind of interaction you sometimes get with clients over graphic design questions.

In this video we see Hitler castigating his core dev team for failing to to be true to Agile methodologies and cutting corners on their testing.

This comic perfectly captures that elusive but all-important question: what are the universal hallmarks of good quality code.

This is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a long while.  I can easily see them making money, setting up a paid service where membership allows you to import content of your choice 🙂