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The problem is that it builds and establishes a habit that we will _accidentally_ engage in when we are tired, distracted, etc. This is where accidents happen, and why it is important to never consider yourself above the fray.

It’s not that anyone is always careless, it’s that everyone eventually has an off day, and in those off days our careful habits become careless ones.

Observation: USA curriculum, or, often in recent times, lack thereof, has not seemed to harm the USA’s position in the STEM field

1) when getting things done: the connective tissue of human relationships is at least of equal importance as the technical merits of a solution

2) in relationships: over and explicit communicating is never bad

3) always be an optimist - the world has always had problems, and not every problem will be solved in my lifetime - so push the needle, and live happily.

*spacing

It may be that the best place for that technology is in prototyping environments. Similar to something being mocked up before cut into HTML/CSS/JS. The biggest problem I imagine with graphical is the maintenance of it.

I see what you mean, but I think that we are both correct - I agree entirely that stories in pictures can give both a deeper or quicker understanding of most topics - the issue is that they cannot clarify or directly state something. The best works of art are open to many interpretations - or we would never re-read imaginative literature, re-visit galleries we had been to previously, and so on.

On the other hand, for an instruction manual, there is little room for interpretation as the words only have so many definitions (though read "Authority and American Usage" by DFW to really open a can of worms), so we do not often re-read a manual for a process we know (though it could be argued we ought to). I also concede that for simple tasks entirely visual instruction manuals suffice, and to that end I will say that I've enjoyed writing simple things with Scratch (for example), but I would hesitate to write a program that needed to be maintained with a visual language.

To put a more fine point on it: For the top 1% of programmers it may be the case that they would work best in a visual language, but the maintenance and support of those applications by the bottom 99% would erase many of the gains (I am here assuming programming as a professional activity in support of an organization's goals, not, as it were, a strictly artistic personal activity). In a professional context - I am unfeeling about what my predecessors felt about any part of the code, I only need to know what their intentions were, and I need them to tell me so, as explicitly as possible.

*Edit: I think that there may be use in clarifying whether we are discussing professional programming or programming as a hobby - because I enjoy both, and while I enjoy learning and using some languages (cough Haskell, Lisp) for myself, I would be very hesitant to use them professionally due to the difficulty others have in maintaining/understanding them. (Food for thought: why do Java, Javascript, and Python absolutely dominate our field despite having "better" alternatives?)

Because smarter people than I have answered this question:

> Programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute. - Abelson

As to why that might be the case: when the bugs you wrote are found; the edge-cases you missed are discovered; or the vulnerabilities you didn’t know about it are unearthed, another person, sometimes future you, will have to read your intentions; try to interpret them; and address the above. When you code, you are telling a story and are in control of the narrative. When you paint a picture (I.e. graphical) you have less control over the narrative and interpretation.

Or at least that’s my hot-take.

I have always been of the opinion that you ought to read the stoics in the order of:

1. Epictetus (foundational with the enchiridion) [trans Robert Dobbin] 2. Seneca’s letters (eloquent exhortations from one person to another) [trans Robin Campbell] 3. Aurelius’s meditations (powerful self-reflections not meant for publication) [trans Martin Hammond]

I found that, going back, both Seneca or Epictetus were lesser reads than Aurelius, but I’m still glad I read them.

[These are my preferred translations, but I did see this comment and just ordered the translation mentioned https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8717216]

I’ve had several great connections and solid job interviews, as well as my current role at the USDS.

I am currently* a “Senior/Lead SWE” that’s flirted a lot with SRE.

Earlier in my career it was a lot harder to get responses, but still managed to get an interview or three out of it.

CreativEngine | Frontend/Web Developer (mid/sr) | 60-120k DOE and Role| ONSITE, Los Angeles (Playa Vista) | Full Time

We are a development and design house with major clients including the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. We are laid back and closer to a start-up than a government company. We focus on attention to detail and never being a 'dead-end' for out clients.

Position: Mid to Senior Front End Developer

A junior dev would need to have a serious knack for HTML/CSS and be hungry, humble, and quick on their feet.

Bare Minimum Skills: * Attention to detail * Ability to improvise off a given design * HTML/CSS * Experience with a CSS preprocessor * Experience with mobile and multiple browser CSS * Understanding of UX/UI

Salary: Jr/Mid: 60 - 90k Mid/Sr: 70 - 120k

If you are curious and want to learn more, send me an email and I'll send you more details - or we can grab a coffee, either in D.C. (next time I'm out) or Playa Vista. Title it "Front end from HN!"

kelvin [at] creativengine

Applicants must be able to pass a background check (read: No felonies).

Also here are two of our workstations:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzDfre8PkRkSaUZMYzFJcExDdzQ... https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzDfre8PkRkSYTlhM1c4OGY3aVJ...

CreativEngine | Frontend/Web Developer | 70-100+k DOE| Playa Vista, CA | Full Time, Onsite - Possible Remote

CreativEngine builds internal tools and a CMS for various government agencies.

We have a small but supportive team, and have a dog friendly office. We aren't big on frills, but we do spend where we thinks it helps: we have standing desks, yoga balls, Aerons, treadmills, new hardware, and anything else that is necessary. We also are happy to pay for training, ranging from online courses to conferences/seminars.

We are looking for someone that enjoys working with HTML, CSS and clients, that wants to grow with a company. We expect you to be able to cut up for mobile and multibrowser support, as well as to know a bit of JS.

We're currently refining a lot of our tools and our CMS, while supporting still active clients.

Our tech stack is pretty wide, spanning legacy languages to Kubernetes.

If you are curious about getting into the thick of it with government, want to spend some time kicking it around D.C., or love cutting up client sites send me an email and we can grab a coffee, either in D.C. or Playa Vista.

Applicants must be able to pass a background check (read: No felonies).

Remote may be considered, but we aren't 100% there yet as a company.

kelvin [at] creativengine