Sayings
Some sayings of the Build Buddha (and of others as well).
On Automation Link to heading
- If a thing is worth doing three times, it is worth not doing.
- If you see a snowflake server on the network, crash it.
On Planning Link to heading
- Do not make the Good the enemy of the Less-Bad.
- “Move fast and break things” is good advice… if you can afford to fix what you break.
- Short term expediency always fails in the long term. - Frank Herbert, channeling the Preacher of Arrakis
- Even reasonable men do not always agree about what is reasonable. -G. K. Chesterton
- “complexity very, very bad.” - grug
On Risk Link to heading
- The only bug-free code is the code which is not there.
- Risk mitigators prevent risk takers from destroying everything. Risk takers are the reason there is anything to destroy. (Attribution forgotten, unfortunately.)
- Pay for it now, or pay more for it later.
- Respect code which keeps the lights on.
- Testing shows the presence, not the absence of bugs. - Edsger W. Dijkstra
- Kicking the can down the road is only a viable strategy if you know how long the road is.
On Culture Link to heading
- When working with others, be strict about what you send, charitable about what you receive. (Postel’s Law, paraphrased)
- Change is difficult. Be kind to those who resist, and try to win them over peacefully. Show, don’t tell.
- Culture is the accumulated habits of a group of individuals. To change the culture, change the habits.
- Seek the path of apophatic development: the act of producing higher quality software by removing code. Code which no longer exists cannot have bugs.