Time invested is worth a lot
Posted 2019-08-12
Blog
Articles- terminal.d gets clipboard functions, ldc 1.20 out.
- DConf keynote speaker announced: Lua architect Roberto Ierusalimschy, Named args DIP discussed
- February 3, 2020
- Adam's terminal suite explained
- Understanding mixin templates, terminal.d improvements
- My attribute-by-default proposal. Also dmd 2.090 came out.
- DConf 2020 announced: June 17-20 in London. @safe by default debated. Adam did: Android, JNI, WebSocket in arsd libs
- tar.xz, --DRT tip, dom bug fixes, more Android and JNI, link to old phobos docs
- LDC 1.19 - Android, AVR. My rant on tests, update on JNI and COM.
- Walter's string interpolation proposal is OK but not great. My Android thing nearing beta release. dub downtime explained.
- Android project update, introduction to arsd.jni
- New pattern about interface contracts
- Adam shares Windows console secrets - DO NOT USE chcp!!
- Adam's rant on benchmarks
- Socket tutorial
- November 4, 2019
- October 28, 2019
- arsd package updates, forum nonsense
- Update on Android
- Adam does iOS "goodbye world"
- September 30, 2019
- D turns 20, Adam rants on software freedom
- Named arg DIPs and my thoughts on code organization
- September 9, 2019
- I wrote about mixin templates vs string mixins on Stack Overflow
- August 26, 2019
- Bug bounty in D again - my hot take, on reusing code, a fun picture, my tentative plan for the next month
- Time invested is worth a lot
- cgi.d's new scheduler, static this tricks
- July 29, 2019
- July 22, 2019
- Solving vs managing problems
- A big week in the arsd repo
- July 1, 2019
- June 24, 2019
- June 17, 2019
- CRTP thoughts, named arguments DIP review, DConf videos now on youtube
- musings on hybrid CT/RT tests, some more progress on new web framework
- a little more webassembly
- May 20, 2019
- Adam's string interpolation proposal
- DMD 2.086 live, GCC 9 with D support formally released, DConf coming soon, links to posts on builder pattern and disallowing implicit conversions with templates, and 2d array op overloads
- template constraint error improvements coming?
- dmd 2.086 beta, dstep 1.0 released, Adam works on memory usage
- obj-c and webassembly report, tips on is expressions linked.
- new ldc, new dmd, dpp on the blog
- D's future discussed in forums
- LDC beta, DConf blog link, Adam introduces gamehelpers.d
- March 18, 2019
- LDC 1.15.0-beta1, responsive design rant
- dmd 2.085.0 released
- Obj-C interop and D without druntime code to copy/paste
- dmd beta, more info coming next time, demo of new web framework initial prototype
- automatic web interface discussion, reflection tips and tricks
- Adam busy with weather and a move, lots of community announcements
- January 28, 2019
- Working on official blog 2018 retro, C++ new wrapped, dmd reading zips?
- dmd obj-c growing, Adam static foreaches an interface to RPC
- dmd 2.084, hope for future, but busy non-D week for me
- IDE tools released, my cgi.d gets new features
- DConf announced, tip, Adam rants: mouse trap
- This Week in D is back!
My thoughts on invested time and inventions are below.
On a side note, I do want to acknowledge that many of you probably are not too excited about most these posts, and I apologize for that. My day job and I just changed ways so I might have more time in the near future, but I haven't decided what I want to do with it yet, and I'm not sure any of it will be of interest to you all.
If you have requests, please email me (adam.ruppe@gmail.com) ideas and maybe it'll spark something.
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A random thought
I wanted to share with you all a thought about invested work and knowledge today. Looking at just time worked isn't very instructive - having the appropriate tools makes a big difference, as does invested time before in training and experience.
Last week, I had some trouble with my bicycle. I spent about an hour and got it... almost fixed, but frustratingly still not quite there. I instead took it to the local mechanic and he fixed it correctly in about ten minutes.
I probably could have achieved the same result... if I spent another hour or two on it. As such, I feel he could have perfectly fairly billed me for 2 hours; the 15 mins there was just the visible tip of an iceberg of underlying skill. The value he delivered to me was saving me a bunch of frustration; the fact that he could do it so quickly in no way reduces what it was worth to me. And the reason he could do it quickly is that he already spent a lot of time in the past fixing similar problems on other people's bikes and getting to know all the underlying principles.
Similarly, when you invent something new, how much of the invention is really yours? I sometimes see people ask why weren't bicycles invented hundreds of years sooner; they seem like such simple machines. But the truth is there's a lot of complex parts in there. Building a chain that doesn't break requires metallurgy that wasn't invented till the 1800's.. tires require a rubber process that again, wasn't invented until the 1800's. The invention of the bicycle wasn't held back by some missing genius entrepreneur, instead it was more waiting for society as a whole to lay the foundation that enabled it.
So by all means, appreciate the skill of people who have spent the time honing their craft, but it is also important to recognize that we can all see as far as we do - even the best of us - because we are standing on the shoulders of giants.
Basically everything we are and do is just the visible tip of a world-sized iceberg.