A nice whistle and flute

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A nice whistle and flute

Phil Factor

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April 23, 2016 at 11:10 am

#400064

Comments posted to this topic are about the item A nice whistle and flute
Best wishes,
Phil Factor

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tripleAxe SSCertifiable Points: 5706 More actions · Answer 1

Great article, and good advice in there.

I'm off to get some new glasses.

Eric M Russell SSC Guru Points: 125521 More actions · Answer 2

... It really doesn't enhance the relationship with the client to burst into giggles, or to exclaim 'What idiot wrote this stuff?' 'Silence', he told me, 'is usually the best option. Also, try to avoid making a low whistle through your teeth'. You might think that we lived in simpler, less complicated times, and such advice is no longer sufficient to launch a career as a consultant, but all fresh technology is bewilderingly complicated at first. ...

Yeah, imagine what it would feel like if one's physician did to that in the examination room. It's not enough to know our stuff; we must have good bedside manner too.

"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho

jay-h SSCoach Points: 18816 More actions · Answer 3

"Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up." - Robert Frost

...

-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1003859 More actions · Answer 4

Good advice, Phil. It's not just for consultants, though. DBAs and Developers need to apply such thoughtfulness, as well.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Gary Varga SSC Guru Points: 82166 More actions · Answer 5

Whilst it is important to be passionate about ones endeavours it is essential to remember the same is as likely to be as true with regards to ones predecessors. The solution you come across may be the result of a lot of effort and application of knowledge and experience in the face of a formidable situation.

Also, the manager who engaged you might just well be the original coder :w00t:

Gaz

-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1003859 More actions · Answer 6

Gary Varga (4/25/2016)
The solution you come across may be the result of a lot of effort and application of knowledge and experience in the face of a formidable situation.

It's been my personal experience that that's almost never true. At least not according to the code I've seen over the decades. Rather it's usually a serious knee-jerk response to something "urgent" by people on a picnic and almost everything was urgent because they forgot the blanket, the basket, and the bug spray.

Also, the manager who engaged you might just well be the original coder :w00t:

He's the one that forgot the blanket and the basket.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

John Rowan SSC Guru Points: 56440 More actions · Answer 7

What I learned then was that, in analyzing and fixing a problem with any application, there was usually a good reason for every technical decision.

Good article Phil. This is something I learned very early on as well. When looking to enhance or fix something, I'm always asking myself the question, 'what were their reasons for doing this the way they did it?'. There's almost always a method to the madness. Sometimes, code is written in a way as to overcome some technical challenge they were facing at the time. Other times, it was written a certain way because it was the best way the developer knew at that time. I feed like I'm always learning and growing and I often times look back at things I did 6 months, a year or more ago and realize that I now know a better way to accomplish the same task. For this same reason, if I find myself coding out-of-the-box to get around some technical challenge, I will add a detailed reason into the code documentation so the 'method to my madness' can be understood by others, or even a future me.

John Rowan

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Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help[/url] - by Jeff Moden

JJ B SSCertifiable Points: 5100 More actions · Answer 8

What I learned then was that, in analyzing and fixing a problem with any application, there was usually a good reason for every technical decision.

This is why I so strongly believe that one of the most important purposes of good documentation is to answer the question *why*. My goal when I document is that people who come after me (or myself 10 years later) not have to spend any more time answering the question of "It was done this way because..." beyond reading my answer right there next to the code.

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1003859 More actions · Answer 9

JJ B (4/25/2016)
What I learned then was that, in analyzing and fixing a problem with any application, there was usually a good reason for every technical decision.
This is why I so strongly believe that one of the most important purposes of good documentation is to answer the question *why*. My goal when I document is that people who come after me (or myself 10 years later) not have to spend any more time answering the question of "It was done this way because..." beyond reading my answer right there next to the code.

+1000 to THAT!

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Eric M Russell SSC Guru Points: 125521 More actions · Answer 10

I don't get the title: "A nice whistle and flute".

"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho

TomThomson SSC Guru Points: 104773 More actions · Answer 11

Eric M Russell (4/25/2016)
I don't get the title: "A nice whistle and flute".

Cockney rhyming slang. It means "A nice suit".

edit: but I think a real Cockney would more likely "A nice whistle" because Cockney rhyme-phrases are generally truncated (and the short form sometimes mutates); the classic example is "dancers" which is rhyming slang for "stairs" (truncated and mutated "dancing bears").

second edit: quite a lot of Cockney rhyming slang has spread way beyond Cockney territory, so some of it is in common use as far away from St Mary-le-Bow as Manchester or even Glasgow.

Tom

TomThomson SSC Guru Points: 104773 More actions · Answer 12

Jeff Moden (4/25/2016)
Good advice, Phil. It's not just for consultants, though. DBAs and Developers need to apply such thoughtfulness, as well.

Yes, and Project Managers too - especially those who get appointed to rescue failing projects of which they have no prior knowledge.

Tom

Phil Factor SSC-Insane Points: 20244 More actions · Answer 13

@eric,

The rise of rhyming slang was in response to the increasing enforcement of London's censorship laws. Originally, it was only used by a small number of cockney gangs and as a coded speech amongst actors, but was adopted by the popular music halls where entire sketches and songs were done in them to avoid the lord chancellor taking away their license. Any officer of the law would be baffled by all the laughter, cheers and whistles that accompanied the bizarre recitatives. The rhyming slang was generally chosen for its ironic element.

It is still useful for the Englishman travelling abroad to speak it so as to avoid accidentally causing any offence to the locals.

I can find no explanation for calling a suit a 'whistle' (whistle and flute) but it happened. I suspect that it applied to a 'loud' suit (bright colours or flashy tailoring)

Best wishes,
Phil Factor

Gary Varga SSC Guru Points: 82166 More actions · Answer 14

TomThomson (4/25/2016)
...the classic example is "dancers" which is rhyming slang for "stairs" (truncated and mutated "dancing bears")...

??? Surely you mean "apples 'n' pears"!!!

I have never heard of Dancing Bears anywhere near Bow Bells.

Gaz

-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!