rebeccawb

@rebeccawb@discuss.systems

SW Designer/consultant/mentor, author, inventor of Responsibility-Driven Design & xDD meme, heuristica (design heuristics!), patterns author, science/engineering nerd, jogger, gardener.

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grimalkina, to random
@grimalkina@mastodon.social avatar

Reading a 2016 paper on inquiry-based learning where "cognitive load" is once again used as a reason to stop any learner from doing anything FUN and HARD and EXPLORATORY my God

Being alive increases your cognitive load. We are not in some kind of robotic fry-out state every time we have to consume novel information. Working in a repetitive assembly line is low cognitive load and also destroys people

This one little tiny concept taken out of context is used for so many bad arguments.

rebeccawb,

@grimalkina Thought experiment: What would happen if you turned this on its head and asked: how can we increase the "cognitive load" and what would be the resultant experience?

rebeccawb,

@sjthomas @grimalkina Yep. And then....?

rebeccawb,

@grimalkina @sjthomas I know you are. And I respect your work. I was not attempting to put you down, but to engage in a nuanced dialog. Hard to do over toots.

rebeccawb,

@mlevison @sjthomas @grimalkina I support those objectives, Mark. And another hot button I have is the words people use to describe their work also has deep implications about how we approach it. Most sw folks aren't going to go back to read original research. I'm at a phase in my life where I can (and do). And yet...bridging such research into a professional setting seems to be ad hoc (and mostly done without running experiments).

rebeccawb, to random

I am looking for a few more individuals to attend my one day Design Heuristics and Pattern Mining Workshop Wednesday, May 29, 2024. This workshop is part of DDD Europe conference in Amsterdam. https://2024.dddeurope.com/program/heuristics-and-pattern-mining/ If you are already planning on attending the conference (or just would like to learn about Heuristics and Pattern Mining) I can send you a discount code for 15% off the regular workshop price.

If after attending this workshop, you decide to pursue writing your patterns and heuristics, and creating or revising/extending existing pattern languages I'll continue to support your efforts. I want to help you experienced designers, modelers and DDDers discover, crystalize, and then write about your practices.

rebeccawb, to random

As conference co-chair, I am excited to announce the call for participation for PLoP 2024: https://hillside.net/plop2024

This 30th anniversary of the PLoP conference, will be held October 13-16 at Skamania Lodge, in the scenic Columbia River Gorge. The Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs, People, and Practices (PLoP) was established thirty years ago by The Hillside Group. It gathers people who wish to improve the quality of life through designing and using social and technical systems in a more humane way, effectively articulating professional and other creative practices, and sharing this tacit knowledge more broadly. To achieve this, the conference promotes the use of patterns and pattern languages, as well as the underlying theory of the nature of order. This year we've expanded our call and are looking to include more topics and activities. Besides writing workshops about patterns, PLoP 2024 encourages other types of sessions too. Let your imagination run wild and propose something! For example, focus groups or workshops bring together people interested in a challenging topic to discuss it or even experience it. I hope you consider joining us.

jitterted, to random
@jitterted@sfba.social avatar

I continue to find ChatGPT and the like to not be very helpful for writing more than a little bit of code, and even there, it's mostly helpful in areas where it's with APIs that I'm familiar with, but don't use enough to be fluent in. I also find it useful in suggesting alternatives for solutions I already have, but even there it's still pretty limited (e.g., my attempts to get it to write better ArchUnit tests that don't include my test code that didn't include the "obvious" solution).

I find it much more useful in clarifying my understanding (and therefore my explanations) of concepts. For example, I've been thinking a lot about Mental Models vs. Heuristics and where the line is. For example, are "DRY" and "SOLID" mental models or heuristics? How about "OOP"? Or, more specifically: do I model my countdown timer with pause support as a "bag of seconds that get consumed" or as "end time gets postponed by amount of pause time".

rebeccawb,

@gdinwiddie @jitterted That's a more complicated model of "reality".... and then, you might even want to model the various sizes of grains of sand.... but one heuristic that Vaghn Koen talks about as a "guding" kind of heuristic is choose the action that fits your current context. If you have time and energy to do all that modeling, great, otherwise, there are other models to think about.

rebeccawb,

@gdinwiddie @jitterted A reasonable design solution is definitely contextual. I haven't worked in hard real time systems (just real time graphics systems)... and consulting for a telephone switch... where actually only a small portion of the system has such constraints as you were under, George. That surprised me.

rebeccawb, to random

Do you have recommendations about tools for thought, writing, and journaling? I have been a luddite / coasting along and not getting into specialized writing tools. I use google docs or word (and wordpress)...but am trying to venture into new territory this year. Just for fun.

I found out that I am not the kind of person who is methodical or likes mind maps. I do like the idea of keeping a stash of ideas and writings all in one tool/place. Not adverse for paying for tooling. But not planning on becoming a novelist... but do have many writing projects on my backlog. Any advice?

rebeccawb, to random

“What makes for effective pedagogy? Well, first you avoid words like “pedagogy.” Next, you learn all about your subject because a robust mental model is a prerequisite to enlightening others. Then you need a stockpile of examples that illustrate the model–varied examples that hit it from different angles. Finally, you must present the material smoothly and progressively like the graceful blooming of a rose under time-lapsed photography.”

–John Vlissides, forward to
Object Design: Roles, Responsibilities, and Collaborations

I miss John's wisdom. But I appreciate both his kind and thoughtful words to all who teach.

My wish for you in 2024 is that you do with a glad heart, lots of examples, and a continuing sense of wonder. Appreciate that beginners have many questions you've already forgotten you yourself asked. Happy 2024!

marick, to random

Episode 42 of Oddly Influenced is “The offloaded brain, part 2: applications.”

How can ecological/embodied cognition explain why software practices work? What new practices might they suggest?

https://podcast.oddly-influenced.dev/episodes/e42-the-offloaded-brain-part-2-applications (transcript available)

rebeccawb,

@marick Back in the day, when I was teaching a lot of object design courses, I'd hand out a koosh ball to every attendee. They got to keep it, too. We would toss around koosh balls to simulate message passing between objects (they used crc cards, too). And it was not only fun, but they'd realize more easily that there was an awkward collaboration. And we could try out alternatives, too. (If an object sent a message to itself, you'd toss the koosh ball in the air and catch it).

We also had tactile exercises to classify things (I brought physical things for them to sort and compare). Packed a lot of stuff in my suitcase in those days

rebeccawb, to random

OK.. listing of authors on papers is such a difficult topic... I'm inspired by this spoof paper to call for rotating order of names... https://arxiv.org/pdf/2304.01393.pdf

mike_bowler, to programming
@mike_bowler@hachyderm.io avatar

Research shows that code comments rarely stay in sync with the code they’re describing. Other psychology research shows that incorrect comments are worse than no comments at all. Should we get rid of code comments entirely or are some worth keeping around?

My thoughts at https://agiletechnicalexcellence.com/2023/08/27/code-comments.html

rebeccawb,

@dhemery @gdinwiddie @mike_bowler I've encountered anti-abstractionist thinking, too. I find the key to getting around that is to talk about conceptualization and clarity, rather than using that scary (to some) word, abstraction.

Sheril, to books
@Sheril@mastodon.social avatar

“What an astonishing thing a book is… one glance at it & you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly & silently inside your head, directly to you.

Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.”

  • Carl Sagan
rebeccawb,

@Sheril Wonderful quote, but I always remember we aren't really inside the mind of the writer. If our culture and context differ (and that is bound to happen over time), there will be a disconnect. We can't help but interpret what we read as it is filtered through our context. So be it. Writing is a gift to others. It connects us.

rebeccawb, to random

The Call for Participation for the 30th Pattern Languages of Programs conference is available. This year, the conference will return to Allerton, Illinois... a beautiful venue where papers on patterns, pattern languages, and essays that take both a forward looking and reflective look at patterns are welcome.

If patterns have had an impact on you and your career, whether those patterns are about software design, human interactions, or other topics... I encourage you to consider submitting an initial proposal and writing a paper that will be workshopped at the conference. Pattern consumers, pattern authors, pattern curious folks are welcome. Here is the CFP: https://www.hillside.net/plop/2023/images/PLoP-2023-CFP.pdf

rebeccawb, to random

A new post on how experiences influence our heuristics, reflections on my conversation with @HeyChelseaTroy https://wirfs-brock.com/blog/2023/05/02/our-heuristics-are-shaped-through-experience/

jitterted, to random
@jitterted@sfba.social avatar

Some day I hope to write a book called "Useful Design Patterns that aren't from the Gang of Four".

So tired of retreads over the same ground (and, TBH, often not very good ones).

rebeccawb,

@jitterted You ought to submit an essay about that to this year's 30th PLoP conference. Seriously. We're looking for that kind of reflection... and as an educator/consultant, your thoughts are invaluable. Could be the start of your book.

rebeccawb,

@mlevison @jitterted Nice. I enourage you too, Mark, to submit some of your work to this year's PLoP conference. See https://www.hillside.net/plop/2023/index.php?nav=submissions and if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask.

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