codeless_code 0.1.2

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-232.txt

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+Date: 2016-06-19
+Number: 232
+Title: Education
+Geekiness: 2
+Names: Djishin, Satou, Banzen
+Topics: mentoring, monads, confidence, knowledge, java
+Tagline: In which we learn something new.
+
+For years the young monk [[Djishin]] had been apprenticed to
+old master [[Banzen]]. Although this was a privilege it
+brought Djishin little joy, for lately the master had been
+growing visibly irritated with the young monk.  Yet the monk
+could not fathom the reason.
+
+One morning Djishin said to his fellow apprentice [[Satou]]:
+I have committed Banzen's teachings to heart and perform my
+duties according to his example, yet his disdain for me is
+palpable!  And whenever I ask if I have done anything to
+incur his displeasure, he tells me No!  I am at my wit's end
+with the old man!
+
+Satou replied: If you can no longer march uphill, then the
+way forward is not in front of you.
+
+Djishin said: I cannot quit his service any more than I
+could bite my own legs off.  Yet my patience has waned to
+the thinnest sliver.  Soon, I fear, the master will push me
+too far, and I will surely rebel.
+
+Satou replied: Then run from the path and don't look back;
+for I cannot see your rebellion ending well for anyone, except
+perhaps the undertaker.
+
+- - -
+
+Not long after, Banzen was reviewing Satou's code and noted
+that she was now using Java's new /Optional/ class
+practically everywhere.  Banzen scolded the nun for her
+usual habit of playing with novelties instead of focusing
+her efforts on building a reliable implementation with
+customary patterns.
+
+Overhearing this exchange, Djishin felt the last dregs of
+patience drain from his body.
+The monk spat: /Optional/ is no passing fad; it is Java's
+implementation of the /Maybe/ monad, and any fool who truly
+cares about reliable implementations would do well to
+follow the nun's example!
+
+There followed an awful silence.  No one moved.
+Djishin could feel his heart pounding in his ears.
+
+Finally the master arched a bushy white eyebrow, saying:
+And what -- my impertinent, /former/ apprentice -- is a Monad?
+
+With a shaky voice, Djishin explained the nature of monads and
+[[#143|how he had learned of them]].
+When he finished, Banzen strode over to the monk, raised his staff,
+and flung both arms around the boy.
+
+At last! exclaimed the master.
+I have been wondering whether I'd trained a monk or a mockingbird.
+Now I can say to the other masters: on this day I learned /two/ things,
+for at last Djishin told me something that I did not know.

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-233.txt

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+Date: 2016-07-04
+Number: 233
+Title: The Falling and the Rising Rain
+Geekiness: 2
+Names: Suku
+Topics: design, abstraction, refactoring, reuse, complexity, simplicity, big design up front, YAGNI
+Tagline: In which we return to nature's ways.
+
+
+
+Two monks were arguing about the best way to implement two
+somewhat-similar workflows in their application.  They went to the
+visiting master [[Suku]] to settle their dispute.
+
+
+
+The first monk said,
+     "I believe we should implement both workflows separately
+     to keep them from constraining each other.
+When all work is done
+     we can identify the common parts,
+     and combine them into generic base classes or utilities.
+If similar workflows are desired in the future,
+     we will follow this process:
+     design each new flow independently,
+     make use of the generic code where possible,
+     and combine workflow-specific code
+     into generic implementations when appropriate."
+
+Suku said to the first monk,
+     "This is a most natural approach.
+When it rains on the mountain,
+     tiny droplets cascade down the stones.
+As the waters descend into the valley,
+     ten thousand rivulets merge
+     into a thousand brooks,
+     then a hundred creeks,
+     then ten streams,
+     then one mighty river."
+
+
+
+The second monk said,
+     "I believe we should implement both workflows together,
+     using their features to define a generic framework.
+When special cases or alternate flows arise,
+     we can abstract them out as configurable features,
+     or add hooks into the framework as appropriate.
+If similar workflows are desired in the future,
+     we will follow this process:
+     implement each new flow using the framework,
+     and if this proves impossible,
+     split the framework's generic implementations
+     to allow workflow-specific code as needed."
+
+Suku said to the second monk,
+     "This also is a natural approach.
+When it rains on the mountain,
+     tiny droplets nourish the roots of the sapling.
+As the mighty oak ascends toward the heavens,
+     one trunk divides
+     into ten boughs,
+     then a hundred limbs,
+     then a thousand branches,
+     then ten thousand twigs."
+
+
+
+Both monks bowed and turned to leave --
+their argument still unsettled --
+whereupon Suku sighed in frustration
+and rapped the backs of their heads with her staff.
+
+"Monks!" she said to the pair.
+"If the world were wiped clean except for mountains and rain,
+which would arise first: the river, or the oak tree?"

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-234.txt

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+Date: 2016-07-10
+Number: 234
+Title: Ozymandias
+Geekiness: 1
+Names:
+Topics: FIXME, TODO, kludges
+Tagline: In which we fail to get around to it.
+Illus.0.src: papers.jpg
+
+The nun [[Hwídah]] has composed this uncharacteristically
+somber sonnet for your contemplation:
+
+     I chanced upon an ancient cache of code:       //
+     a stack of printouts, tall as any man,         //
+     that in decaying boxes had been stowed.        //
+     Ten thousand crumbling pages long it ran.      //
+     Abandoned in the blackness to erode,           //
+     what steered a ship through blackness to the moon. //
+     The language is unused in this late year.      //
+     The target hardware, likewise, lies in ruin.   //
+     Entombed within one lone procedure's scope,    //
+     a line of code and then these words appear:    //
+                                                    //
+     <tt># TEMPORARY, I HOPE HOPE HOPE</tt>         //
+                                                    //
+     The code beside persisting to the last --      //
+     as permanent as aught upon this sphere --      //
+     while overhead, a vacant moon flies past.      //
+
+
+<div style="padding-top:3in" />
+
+
+== Editor's note
+
+Inspired by <a href="http://qz.com/726338/the-code-that-took-america-to-the-moon-was-just-published-to-github-and-its-like-a-1960s-time-capsule/">this story</a> of the Apollo Guidance Computer code for Apollo 11,
+and
+<a href="https://github.com/chrislgarry/Apollo-11/blob/master/Luminary099/LUNAR_LANDING_GUIDANCE_EQUATIONS.agc#L179">this code within</a>,
+and Percy Bysshe Shelley's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymandias">Ozymandias</a> of course.
+
+I tried to keep to Shelley's unusual (and non-standard)
+rhyme scheme for the sonnet, but I departed from it in the
+second-to-last line for poetic reasons.  For a language
+which excels in stealing words from other cultures, English
+has an appalling lack of rhymes.
+
+{{*}} Special thanks to Dan Sutton for pointing out a most embarrassing typo.

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-24.txt

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+Date: 2010-11-25
+Title: The Red Notebook
+Number: 24
+Geekiness: 1
+Names: Temple of the Morning Brass Gong, Kaimu
+Topics: null, testing
+
+In the annals of the [[Temple of the Morning Brass Gong]], this
+is recorded in the chapter titled /Unit Testing/:
+
+Java master [[Kaimu]] would occasionally answer questions with
+the single word /null./  When asked what this meant, he
+would invariably reply with the same, impenetrable /null./
+
+A young monk, of a solitary and sickly nature, began
+taking note of which questions elicted this response.  These
+he copied into a small red notebook, whose pages grew quite
+full over the months.  The monk was observed to meditate
+over this notebook late into the night.
+
+"Have you unlocked the mind of your beloved
+master Kaimu yet?" taunted his brothers one day.
+
+/"Null,"/ said the monk.
+
+At this, the other monks held him fast and kicked him until
+he was well bruised.  His precious red book they tossed into
+the fire.
+
+The Java master heard this, and told the clan's abbot to
+investigate.  "Here are forty-eight questions for the young
+monk," said the master.  "Report his answers to me."
+
+The abbot did this.  For most of the questions the monk
+gave a plain answer.  For several, he responded with the
+enigmatic /null./  For the remainder, he was silent.
+
+The Java master stroked his beard as he examined the paper
+given him by the abbot.
+
+"For his answer to question twelve, box the monk's ears; for
+he was insolent," said the master.  "For his answer to
+question thirty-one, whip his backside with a willow-wand;
+for he prevaricated.  Then provide him with another red
+notebook."
+
+"And what of the brothers who beat him?" asked the abbot.
+
+"Reward them, for they have done a service to the temple.
+I now know the algorithm of the monk to be flawed."
+
+

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-25.txt

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+Date: 2010-11-25
+Title: Compromise
+Number: 25
+Geekiness: 0
+Topics: teamwork, compromise
+
+Two monks came to the Java master with very different
+implementation strategies for a particular project.  Each
+presented their case with passion and conviction.
+
+After some consideration, the master told them to divide up
+the subsystems.  Each monk would take half and proceed
+with their preferred strategy.
+
+The first monk protested: "For any given problem, is there
+not often one solution which is superior?"
+
+The second monk was equally unhappy: "And even if the
+superior choice is unclear, is it not generally better to
+proceed consistently, and thus avoid chaos?"
+
+"Yes," said the Java master.  "Were neither of you paying
+attention?"

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-26.txt

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+Date: 2010-11-26
+Title: The Uncorrected Monk
+Number: 26
+Geekiness: 0
+Names: Banzen, Seven-Clawed Blind Eagle Clan
+Topics: perfection, mentoring, improvement, code reviews
+
+Two priests of the [[Seven-Clawed Blind Eagle Clan]] found Java
+master [[Banzen]] sobbing at his keyboard.  They asked what
+ailed him so.
+
+"The code of this monk is abysmal," said the master.  "The
+package structure is unintuitive, the class names
+undescriptive, the methods overly complex, and the comments
+entirely useless.  For the last ten years he has attended
+every lecture I have given, and in truth he has followed my
+instructions to the letter.  Yet the fruits of his
+labors are unpalatable in the extreme."
+
+The first priest looked over the code.  "Certainly,
+correction is in order.  I suggest that you begin with a
+simple whipping."
+
+The master sighed and nodded, lowering the drape of his robe
+to bare his shoulders.
+
+

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-27.txt

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+Title: Koan Zero
+Number: 27
+AltTitle: Kōan Zero
+Date: 2011-03-26
+Geekiness: 0
+Topics: philosophy, zero
+Names: Qi, Jinyu
+
+The old scribe [[Qi]]
+kept the kōans of the temple in a massive
+book, known to us now as /The Codeless Code/.  In its
+pages lay the entire wisdom of the temple.  Maintaining it
+was the scribe's most singular and sacred duty.
+
+One day he was asked by a novice why the kōans were numbered
+beginning with the number /one/.
+
+"Would not /zero/ have been more appropriate for our
+profession?" queried the novice.
+
+A look of horror crept over the old man's face.  With
+trembling fingers he turned page after page of the temple's
+accounts.  Indeed, every kōan, from first to last, had the
+wrong number.  And since all documents, databases, and
+internal websites of the temple referenced the kōans by
+number alone, the damage was irreparable.
+
+The scribe was desolated.  For seven days he sat huddled in
+a corner of his office, staring at his inkless brush as though it
+were a cobra poised to strike.
+
+Silence spread through the temple like a sickness.  Since no
+new kōans were being set down, there was no subject for
+discussion at the morning meetings and nothing for the
+students to meditate upon in the afternoon.  Finally, old
+[[Jinyu]] -- the venerable Abbess Over All Clans And Concerns --
+was petitioned to resolve the matter.
+
+The abbess rapped the scribe's door sharply with her cane,
+rousing the man from his misery.
+
+"Young man," she said (for the old scribe was still many
+years her junior): "Is it not true that each day's kōan is
+produced by meditating upon the wisdom that the temple has
+gained since the prior kōan was set down?"
+
+"It is," said the scribe, bowing deeply.
+
+"Then your path is clear: go back to Kōan Number One,
+subtract the wisdom that it teaches, and Kōan Number Zero
+will be revealed.  And likewise Kōan Minus One, and Minus
+Two, and so on until the beginning of time itself."
+
+Thus was the scribe's workload doubled, yet his misery
+subtracted from itself.
+
+

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-28.txt

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+Title: Echo
+Number: 28
+Date: 2011-03-26
+Geekiness: 1
+Topics: obsolescence
+Names: Clan of Iron Bones, Huisheng
+Illus.0.src: echo.png
+
+The [[Clan of Iron Bones]] was charged with keeping the servers
+running.  This was their purpose, and this was their pride.
+
+A monk of that clan was running a security sweep when he
+noticed several non-essential services enabled.  He reported
+his findings to the abbot.
+
+"We should shut down the /echo/ service on port seven," said
+the monk.  "It is a holdover from forgotten times, and
+serves no useful purpose now.  All it does is vomit back
+whatever is fed to it, as an aid to testing network latency
+and connectivity."
+
+To the monk's astonishment, the abbot immediately banished
+him for a year to a distant hermitage high in the mountains.
+No reason was given.
+
+The journey took many weeks.  The road wound upward and
+eventually disappeared beneath drifts of snow.  The air grew
+thin.  In the final miles the mountain became treacherously
+steep: the almost-invisible path skirted a sheer drop into
+oblivion.  When night fell the monk nearly lost his life by
+straying too close to the edge.
+
+Eventually he reached a hut perched atop a lonely crag.
+The hut was cold and bare except for a bed, a bowl, and
+an ancient workstation with a VT220 terminal.
+
+One day the monk was meditating when the terminal beeped.
+Onscreen he read:
+
+<pre>
+  <b>Connection received. Payload:</b>
+  Ten thousand greetings to our distant cousin!
+  <b>Response?</b>
+</pre>
+
+The monk replied with a flurry of excited questions,
+but his every input was rejected by the terminal.
+In a flash the monk was enlightened, and typed:
+
+<pre>
+  Ten thousand greetings to our distant cousin!
+</pre>
+
+After that the terminal would beep no more than once every
+few days.  Sometimes the message was a simple /hello/.
+Sometimes it was a small poem about the antics of a quick
+brown fox.  Often it was a string of gibberish.  But the
+monk always answered promptly and faithfully.
+In this way did the monk pass the year.
+
+When he returned to the temple he continued in this manner:
+speaking only when spoken to and returning the words exactly
+as given.  And although this earned him the scorn of his
+fellows, all had to admit that he never spread rumors,
+lied for personal gain, or insulted anyone who did not
+do him injury first.
+
+
+== Qi’s commentary
+
+The monk's penance was far too lax; but then, he was a
+lucky fox.  Had he instead complained about the /discard/
+service on port nine, he would have learned how to hold his
+tongue.
+
+
+== Qi’s poem
+
+The tower stands proudly, //
+the statue gazes out to sea. //
+What great work was not created, //
+but that the builder might see his reflection in the world?
+
+
+

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-29.txt

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+Title: Goldfish
+Number: 29
+Date: 2011-03-26
+Geekiness: 1
+Topics: testing, automated testing
+Names: Jinyu, Bawan
+Illus.0.par: 3
+Illus.0.align: center
+Illus.0.src: fish.png
+
+When a novice joins the temple and claims to seek wisdom,
+they are advised to find Java master Bawan and ask him: "How
+did wily old Madame [[Jinyu]]
+become Abbess Over All Clans And Concerns?"
+
+Master [[Bawan]] will then hit the novice on the backside with a
+shovel, and instruct them to return the following night and
+ask again.  The following night the answer will be the same,
+and will conclude with the same order to return,
+until the novice is enlightened.
+
+The annals tell us this:
+
+When the Venerable Jinyu was a nun of but five and twenty
+years, she and a monk of equal age were approached by
+the abbot of their clan.
+
+"The Emperor will be coming to inspect the new VAX
+mainframe, and to choose worthy members for various Royal
+Committees," said the abbot. "Thus we wish His Excellency to
+be impressed with all facets of our temple.  The koi ponds
+are lifeless and choked with weeds.  Each of you must take
+one pond, clean it well, and ensure that new fish are
+present /each morning/ for the Emperor's amusement."
+
+The monk was given the North Pond.  The stagnant green water
+was unsuitable for any living thing, so with a yoke and
+buckets the monk hauled every last drop away.  Then he
+scrubbed the lichen from the stones, pulled the weeds, and
+brought bucket after bucket of clean water from the temple
+well.  After a week the little pool was teeming with red
+and gold carp, bought from the markets with the monk's own
+coins.
+
+Meanwhile, the South Pond lay untouched, and young Jinyu was
+nowhere to be found.
+
+With the Emperor's visit fast approaching, the abbot sent
+for the nun.  When Jinyu was brought before him, he boxed
+her ears.  "If the Emperor loses confidence in our temple,
+our IT services contract may not be the only thing cut off
+prematurely."
+
+Jinyu bowed.  "All will be as ordained, in two days' time."
+
+The following day the abbot went to the North Pond, which
+now was flush with white and black carp -- again, purchased
+by the monk from the markets in town.  Yet the South Pond's
+state was exactly as before.  He found Jinyu resting under a
+cypress tree, and boxed her ears again.
+
+Again Jinyu bowed.  "All will be as ordained, tomorrow morning."
+
+The following day, the abbot went once more to the North
+Pond, which now was bursting with striped and spotted carp.
+Yet the South Pond's state was /worse/ than before: the
+lovely garden circling it had been dug up, and standing in
+the midst of the ruin was Jinyu and her shovel.
+
+The abbot boxed Jinyu’s ears.  "Account for yourself!" he
+demanded.
+
+The nun said nothing, but turned her shovel in a clot
+of earth at the edge of the pond.  Behind it was a trench
+that Jinyu had dug all the way to the river below the
+temple.  With the clot gone, the stagnant water
+spilled out of the pond and vanished down the trench.
+
+Then Jinyu turned her shovel at the other end of the pond,
+revealing a trench which carried down the waters of
+a mountain stream.  The stream rushed into the pond and
+out the other side, cleaning the stones and sweeping away
+the dead weeds.  In the dark water, flashes of red
+and gold could be seen.
+
+- - -
+
+Thus was Jinyu chosen to head the Exalted Subcommittee on
+Automated Testing.
+
+And if anyone would dispute this account, let him first seek
+out Java master Bawan, and ask the ritual question.

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-3.txt

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+Date: 2010-11-08
+Title: Encapsulation
+Number: 3
+Version: $Revision: 1.1 $
+Geekiness: 2
+Topics: encapsulation
+Illus.0.src: encapsulation.jpg
+Illus.0.title: Whatever you do, don't tell him you need to go to the bathroom.
+
+A young monk, new to the temple, not only declared all his
+methods public but all his instance variables as well.  The
+head abbot grew weary of rebuking the monk and asked the
+Java master for advice.
+
+The next day, the master summoned the monk to take lunch
+with him in his private office.
+
+The monk entered to find a sumptuous meal laid out upon the
+conference table.  The master then bade the monk to lie upon
+the floor.
+
+The monk did as commanded, whereupon the master opened the
+monk's robes and drew a large knife.  He pressed the naked
+point firmly into the monk's chest until a ruby droplet
+welled up around the blade.  The monk cried out in terror
+and asked the master what his intention was.
+
+"To slit open your belly," explained the master, "so that I
+may spoon the rice and pour the tea inside.  My schedule is
+quite full, and I find this method of feeding guests to be
+extremely efficient."
+
+Afterward the monk required no more correction.

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-30.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+Title: Cups
+Number: 30
+Date: 2011-03-26
+Geekiness: 3
+Topics: overflow, integers, bits
+Names: Bawan
+Illus.0.src: cups.png
+Illus.0.par: 1
+Illus.0.align: center
+Illus.0.title: Today's illustration has been brought to you by the words COPY and PASTE.
+
+Java master [[Bawan]] said: "The beggar in the marketplace owns
+nothing but empty cups.  Fill all but one with tea and he
+will praise you; yet spill a drop into the last and he must
+instantly die of thirst.  Explain."
+
+No monk could answer Bawan's question.  The teacher retired
+to his chambers.
+
+That evening four students came to his door, seeking help
+with a truculent program.  Its log files were overflowing
+with ArrayIndexOutOfBounds exceptions which the students
+insisted were impossible: the array in question was declared
+to hold a thousand elements, and the index -- a one-byte
+integer -- could never exceed 255 by definition.
+
+Master Bawan pointed to an object in the corner.  "What is
+that?" he asked of each student.
+
+"A broom," said each in turn.
+
+Bawan then grabbed the broom and swung it wide over the
+heads of the students.  Pictures were swept off the walls
+and sent spinning to the floor.  Vases and cups came
+crashing down from their shelves.  Paper screens tore.  Dust
+fell from the rafters.
+
+"Not a broom!" shouted Master Bawan, still swinging like a
+madman.  "Not a broom!"
+
+
+== Qi’s Commentary
+
+Each of the beggar's cups is alike in every way to the one
+beside it, yet each also holds twice as much as the cup to
+its right.  Now quickly say what it is.
+
+== Qi’s Poem
+
+In the hand of a beggar, the staff engenders pity. //
+In the hand of a master, fear. //
+These qualities reside nowhere /in/ the staff: //
+only in the where /of/ it.
+
+

data/data/the-codeless-code/en-qi/case-31.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+Title: The Eloquent Sandal
+Number: 31
+Date: 2011-03-29
+Geekiness: 2
+Topics: philosophy, null
+Names: Kaimu
+Illus.0.src: sandal.png
+Illus.0.align: center
+Illus.0.par: 5
+Illus.0.title: Obviously it was a thrown exception.
+
+Two monks took their argument to Java master [[Kaimu]].  They
+asked him, "Is null a value, or the absence of a value?"
+
+"Null," said the master, and walked away.
+
+The monks then proceeded to argue about the meaning of the
+master's response, even after the clan had retired to the
+dormitory and all the lamps were doused:
+
+The first monk insisted that null /must/ be a value, because
+the master had used it to answer a question.
+
+The second monk insisted that null /must not/ be a value,
+because the answerless-answer did not include either of the
+proposed alternatives.
+
+A third monk, who was trying to sleep, screamed and
+threw his sandal into the darkness.
+
+A fourth monk asked slyly: "Was that an eloquent
+request for silence, or the /absence/ of an eloquent request
+for silence?"
+
+As the first two monks considered this, the moon rose.