Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Thursday August 25 2016, @05:43AM   Printer-friendly
from the weighing-different-approaches dept.

Professional programming is hard: dealing with large amounts of data, network requests which can fail in umpteen bizarro ways, and Gordian Knot style interdependencies. And then, to top it all off, there's all those different programming paradigms to choose from.

For example, in passive programming, communication between program modules happens through public function/method calls.

In reactive programming, communication occurs through publishing events to which subscribers react.

Both styles of programming differ in how they manage state [responsibility]. Both styles differ in how dependencies are expressed. And both styles differ in the strains put on you, the put-upon, well-paid programmer, trying to construct a mental model of the code and its interactions.

In the July/August issue of acmqueue, Andre Medeiros proposes that modules employ both approaches in Dynamics of Change: Why Reactivity Matters — Tame the dynamics of change by centralizing each concern in its own module (open, DOI: 10.1145/2956641.2971330) (DX). He provides an introduction to the two approaches — their advantages and shortcomings — and then illustrates how combining the two provides a clearer presentation of state for the developer.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by meustrus on Thursday August 25 2016, @04:25PM

    by meustrus (4961) on Thursday August 25 2016, @04:25PM (#393085)

    It's easy to forget that the hard problems exist, because we tend to drink until we forget when we don't get to work on them.

    --
    If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 25 2016, @04:39PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 25 2016, @04:39PM (#393093)

    > ... easy to forget that the hard problems exist...

    My tiny company / engineering consultancy specializes in hard problems -- we model highly nonlinear systems with multiple inputs and multiple coupled outputs. No shortage of work. Not for the faint of heart. Pay is OK (less than lawyers) but we get a lot of satisfaction. We'd make more money as quants, but where is the satisfaction in making rich people richer?

    My best engineer-programmer has a great attitude -- we like problems, more problems mean more work.