Hardly. The attitude you're demonstrating is the real anathema. You're just confusing people recoiling from your abrasive disposition with disagreement over the importance of tests (as others have done in this thread).
> Enterprise JS is 400 lines of code... 0 lines of tests. Kudos, NYT.
See how your comment carries across a real difficulty working with other people? This would have said the same thing, albeit without the slam to the author:
> This project has no tests. Maybe I'll fork it and add some, in order to make it more robust.
Another example from your history:
> adding position:relative without knowing what it does... great advice
Someone made a good point here which is actually grounded in reality, and you responded with a smartass remark which might have discouraged him from contributing in the future. One of the guidelines for Hacker News is that you shouldn't write a comment that you wouldn't say to someone's face. If you go around quipping like that to peoples' faces, I pity your acquaintances.
You could have worded it this way:
> That isn't what position: relative is meant for. There is another way to accomplish that: <blah>
Just be positive to your fellow human being. It's not fucking difficult. That's why you're getting downvoted.
> I'm suspicious of anyone who spends their time critiquing others' work so harshly instead of innovating on their own.
How in any way is that 'positive'? Also, read the OP's original post. Is it really that offensive to you? I can almost see it as some poke of a joke--humor. Something that seems to escape the boring minds of those who long to be someone special, DEFENDING THE INTERNET! Stop being a superhero, read the comment and move on. There is no reason for you to regulate anyone's internet experience.
I'm not trying to take sides, but from an unbiased point of view, you argument is invalid.
Since you and goldenthunder completely missed this, allow me to clarify that OP could have been critiquing the project's choice of variable names and I would have said the exact same thing.
You clearly don't understand the importance of TDD like many others (count the downvotes).
If you cannot stay with the curve because of your lack of knowledge, maybe you should spend less time flaming on Hackernews and more time studying up, sir.
I'm not seeing how my statement has anything to do with TDD. OP was very harsh in his critique, whether it be valid or not (which I never said anything about), and that's all I was making a point about.
Going from there to my supposed 'lack of knowledge' is a poor representation of yourself, too.
I didn't express myself well. It was an example where a style attribute may be implicit in one browser, but lead to incorrect rendering in another. In other cases it may be a hack. So I guess the advice is: be explicit.
btw: Microsoft must be the least "green" software-company ever. All the electricity spent on figuring out how to write css for IE.. :)
In the US, maybe, but your statement is rather insulting for engineers in Quebec.
Here, software engineers must follow an engineering program at university, spend at least 2 years working under an Ordre des Ingénieurs member's supervision, and pass a test before they can use the title of (software) engineer. The mandatory courses cover things like ethics, sociology, physics, electrical and electronic circuits, computer architecture, differential equations and numerical methods, and vector calculus.
Now, it's true that "programmers" don't require certification. The Ordre des ingénieurs and Quebec are thinking about ways to make the programmer profession more regulated, but it's of course hard to implement without an international agreement on the matter.
I, for one, do not want any kind of regulation for our trade. People can wrangle over the term "engineer" if they'd like. I don't use it for myself, as I am quite content to be called a programmer. One could argue that a guild/regulatory body would put us in a stronger position to negotiate salaries, via a kind of artificial shortage (since some individuals won't get certified). But the last thing that I want, personally, is to have to answer to any kind of guild that tries to tell me that I am or am not a "proper" programmer.
When it comes to the use of the term "engineer" in the states, it's not about regulating the trade or determining what's "proper," it's about making sure that people who use a title have the minimum knowledge and qualifications implied by the title.
I understand what you're saying, but what will we consider an "engineer" to be, in the case of programmers?
A "programmer" can be someone who picked up PHP in their spare time, and may have a degree in art history, for all anyone knows. It can also be someone with a solid background in CS, with a degree to boot. Both of them can get jobs as "programmers" (though in this case, probably very different wage scales) if they are good enough to get hired.
It's true in many parts of the world, and indeed I went through a similar ordeal to have "Software Engineer" in my diploma. However, I find all this does nothing to improve the quality of the talent, and these credentials are useless as a predictor of future performance.
So if software engineering certification is institutionalized worldwide tomorrow, my bet is it won't change a thing in practice. The problem is with the discipline itself, not with what is written on the credentials.
What the hell does that even mean? Of course the state has the right to accredit professional bodies who can then accredit professionals. It's not some deterministic whim of the state deciding who can and can't be a "", it's simple quality assurance for people who are employing the services of said professional.
I believe the argument is not that those without certifications cannot be engineers, but that engineering professions are regulated by the state (via certifications) and thus professions that do not require a state licence must not be 'true' engineering.
Can't agree more about the value of Discrete Math. Any programming worth his salt can wax about combinatorics and counting problems at a moment's notice. I'm thoroughly convinced I'd be a few years further along as a programmer had I learned discrete math at an early age.
But anyway, the Teaching Company offers a phenomenal course on Discrete Math, taught by none other than the "Math Magician" Arthur Benjamin (seriously, this guy is magic. He can do 5 digit squares in his head!). It's easily torrent-able / available through more traditional means.
My solution is to run a linux media server that broadcasts over UPnP to a PS3 using MediaTomb. Streaming is top notch, it even transcodes filetypes that the PS3 can't handle natively.
Anyway, it's way less complicated than a MythTV setup.
I also use a chrome plugin to inject some styling and other fun features to HN. It's on github at https://github.com/wookiehangover/grapeDrink-for-hackernews . Mine's definitely not as conventionally handsome tho.