[ExI] Rapid prototyping

[Bryan Bishop]

On Friday 22 February 2008, Eugen Leitl wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 11:58:57PM -0600, Bryan Bishop wrote:
> > So it seems I have lost my edge when it comes to programming. Not
> > entirely. A few years ago I was able to effortlessly hack out
> > hundreds of lines of code in a few minutes, double check the specs,
> > compile, and
>
> Which language is it in? Whad did it do? Can we see a sample of
> that code?

In particular, I have been working on a little widgetting system in 
AJAX, and I only rarely touch XMLHttpRequest, so this is Javascript 
with CSS/HTML and fancy divs. I have some programmer's art for a 
diagram:

http://heybryan.org/diagrams/micropay-mockup.png

And then this is what he did in 20 minutes:

http://cgamesplay.com/cryptos/widget.html

And this is a few days later on my end (I just have to finish debugging 
the paypal call, but I have to run off to school in a few minutes 
here):

http://heybryan.org/projects/openpay/widget.php

> > continue on to the next task, but recently I was talking over some
> > specs with a friend and, without my knowledge, he went off to
> > implement a mockup, as did I, and he did in 20 minutes what took me
> > three times
>
> Can we see that code, too?

Done.

> > as long. It seems I have been away from the compiler for too long.
> > Any suggestions for improving my game?
>
> Are you contemplating a career as code monkey?

Nah, the ability to ruthlessly execute many thoughts at once in a 
precise, defined manner is important to me, not only for being able to 
encode functionality into my computers, but also for thinking in 
general. This is how I think, typically - big bursts of thought 
followed by implementation with wods or code etc.

________________________________________
Bryan Bishop
http://heybryan.org/