I read Fenyman’s book in high school and it should be a must read for students and folks like Rick Perry. Feynman explains what science is and what a scientific experiment should be. His example of Cargo cult science is classic.
Wikipedia has a good definition of Cargo cult programming that is based on the same concept.
Next time you interview someone, check if he/she is a cargo cult programmer.
Here are some tips to identify them…
- Starts by writing a class factory instead of a class
- Implements their own framework rather then reusing an existing framework
- The classes and their relations look like spaghetti when drawn on paper
- Not Invented here mindset
- Rewrites other folks code without talking to them
- Applies the latest patterns, processes and methodologies without really understanding them
- Thinks users are stupid
- Writes code before understanding the user’s goals
What other things can you add to this list? Contact me @SoftwareWeaver
