Re: [tlug] Re: Alan Cox's remark at Fosdem

[Josh Glover <jmglov@example.com>]

On Mon, 28 Feb 2005 20:00:04 +0100, Tobias Diedrich <ranma@example.com> wrote:

> Maybe better explained on
> http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/who/dmr/odd.html:
> |"You are not expected to understand this" was intended as a remark
> |in the spirit of "This won't be on the exam," rather than as an
> |impudent challenge.
> |
> |The real problem is that we didn't understand what was going on
> |either.

The reason that I take issue with the comment (in the Linux kernel,
which is where I first saw it) is not because I am insulted, rather
because I feel that if you really *must* write code so clever /
elegant that it is resistant to understanding just by reading it,
you'd bloody well better spend half an hour figuring out how to
explain the code, and either comment extensively, or use a comment to
refer the reader to external documentation. As in the Bell Labs
example, it is often the case that if you do not take the time to
explain something, you do not truly understand it.

You know the old saying: "the best way to learn is to teach".

-Josh "the preacher stealing hearts at a travelling show" Glover