Re: Re (tilly) 1: Artistic Method

[Dragonfly]

Ah, yes, and when I look at that line of code, I see just as much subtlety and nuance as I do when I look at a Japanese brush painting. Your code means exactly what you intended, it is correct the first time, and you have found the harmony that occurs when everything is in balance.

Most of the best one-liners I've seen started as much more than that, and were eventually expressed by the programmer in a program that completely disguises the amount of study and care that went into mastery of that code. Your one-liner looks simple, no? But it is most certainly not. Others who have studied your form, either in practice, or appreciation, can see that.

[tilly]

I agree that is a very well formed program. But the work that went into it wasn't mine. If you want to put that on the shoulders of one person, that person would probably be Gisle Aas. (Who in turn depended on others.)

That is an amazing thing about programming. People can and do build off of other people's work. I can take that example, read it over the phone to someone, and in a matter of minutes they can tailor it to their needs.

Now people often remark that Perl is known for amazing one-liners. But few ask why it is.

I would argue that it is because Larry Wall did a very good job of reconceptualizing what people need to know to write useful programs, and did a good job of allowing people to contribute to that and then build off of each other's work.