Be an environmentalist programmer

First into social work ten years ago, at that time the Chinese don’t have any version of the software development management, no programming specification, software development is very chaotic than today, then simply by some of his own study summarizes some of the C programming language good little notes, later, these notes written an article named “programming training. Today, some feeling again, want to enlarge the subject, from “personal accomplishment” extended to “environmental protection”, the so-called, is poor, rich is up to the world, today than technical personnel more than a decade ago are rich in technology and the environment a lot of, so, should be more or less to shoulder the responsibility of the “economic world”.

To put it bluntly, environmental protection is to protect a good environment, to contribute to a good environment, and to fight against people and things that destroy the environment. In fact, from a technical point of view, we can do some things. Because the technological environment around us still has a lot of room for improvement, and some hard-won things still need to be carefully maintained. In addition, it is good for us to eat less junk food and live a healthy life.

Environmentalist software development

Let’s start with environmental protection in software development. Such as:

• Environmental protection needs. When we analyze requirements, if we can do not like “whose fault is it?”, if we can ask more questions in the face of requirements: why do we have such requirements? What kind of problem does this feature mainly solve? Why not the other one? Can we simplify this? In fact, we do not need to innovate, just need to really ask these questions, we can see less detours, less helpless and painful overtime, less internal friction, less complaining, also can save some resources for the society, so as to protect the environment.

• Environmentally friendly development. If we took a little more time to think when we were designing and writing code, we could code less (see “More time, Less Code”). If we consider more in the first place, don’t rush to go to use iterative method to know the world, more thinking about how to put the decoupled complex things, simplify the complicated things, how to make an elegant design, how to let our program less tricky thing, how to make our program more concise and clearer, more direct, At first to think about the future possible changes in demand, the future need to how to test software, the future system need how operations, so we can be less rework, less refactoring, owe less debt, less some low-level mistakes, bear less pressure after system online, so, we can also save some resources for the society. To put it more bluntly, you produce more efficiency with less code, use less CPU, save some power, and indirectly protect the environment. (see Why C++?)

• Environmental culture. When we are doing software development, if you can influence and help colleagues around you, let them write more accomplishment more efficient code to higher quality, and launch a team set up the engineer culture, with the team to affect your boss, your company, can let them a little more emphasis on technology, attaches great importance to the technical staff, so you must also be a beneficiary.

• Environmental management. When you as a manager, as a method, if you can really create more focus on software development of programmer productivity, for they share, paving the way for them, and create conditions for them, so they would be more feedback from you, would be less distrust, will be less passive, will be more active, will be more responsibility, This can not only stimulate team enthusiasm, but also lead to greater productivity. It is also a kind of environmental protection.

Of course, there’s a lot more of this, and you might think it’s too idealistic, and we can’t change it right away, but we can give it a try.

Technological environmentalism

In fact, there is a lot of technology that can be done around us. For example, on Linux, use less root and select before delete for SQL. That way, you won’t have to do something you regret (see programmer woe) and start over, at least without wasting power. When writing code, be careful to manage memory, resources, concurrency with threads, organize the business logic in your code, do good unit testing, automate regression testing, etc., so that you have fewer bugs and less time to investigate when you have bugs. Less hacking software, less access to some messy websites, so that you will be less in some viruses, less loss, less redo the system, also can save energy, most importantly can save you a lot of time, so that you can do something more valuable.

Of course, in addition, we should also be an open-minded environmentalist, such as the following things:

• IE6. If you do not use IE6, and influence people around you to upgrade IE6, try Chrome or Firefox, tell your friends more about how to design passwords, how to protect their privacy and security on the Internet, how to prevent Trojan horses, then you will have fewer problems, less install systems twice, you will save some electricity, So I can spend more time doing more meaningful things. It is also contributing to the whole world and mankind. (Look at some software manufacturers, occupy the user’s desktop, but also all day long pop-up window, saying that it is not safe, that is not safe. You still do security, you can actually tolerate IE6 installed on the user’s machine, you also do what security! In March 2011, the percentage of Internet Explorer 6 users in China was 34%. At that time, China had 450 million Internet users, one in every three people. In March 2012, The proportion of Internet users in China was still about 24%, but the number of Internet users in China reached 513 million, that is to say, one in every five people. However, China still has the most IE6 users in the world. See the picture below (from: www.ie6countdown.com). What do you think of the picture below?

• Refuse to crack the software. Why refuse these things, because you may not know the harm of this software, including some Chinese version of open source software. These software will take some trojans, such as: you next the Chinese version of putty, the result has trojans, the somebody else stole the password of your website. Swim about the net, you may not know, the computer that joins the net swims private service is basically whole chicken, and, have a lot of site cheat you to download software crack a program, actually you downloaded a Trojan horse. And so on. These are very unhealthy lives.

• Refuse to copy and copy. If you despise those naked copycats and don’t use their products, some people will say that you just want to advertise your own noble, ZB, false noble, people will say that you don’t need. In fact is not, you do, is to “environmental protection”, in order to “protect a healthy IT environment”, although you don’t have innovation, but your behavior is to encourage innovation environment, in this way, if the environment is under the innovative culture influence, will be more healthy, technical personnel will be respect, and our own will eventually benefit. We are contributing to society indirectly, though we are only suppressing plagiarism and copycats. The company that copies this, copies this, copies that all the time, look at the product lines you made yourself? It’s a mess. Look for yourself, you have personal space, group space, and alumni record, and then you have to make a Facebook-style “friend”, and a Microblog, and then a wechat, brother ah, you put these very similar things on more than N servers, don’t you think it is a waste? You are the king of copycat, you copy your own products all the time. Others say your product manager is top notch. What a moron. For your copy spirit, I can only bow!

• Reject Baidu search. If you can still learn baidu, you might as well look at my weibo (this, the (at), and this and this) (ago, baidu search out a lot of open source software (PuTTY, WinSCP) of the first link is full with Trojan, baidu is a virus) online, you will find that not only is the issue of advertising, baidu A lot of things are unsearchable, including his own. Using Baidu is a waste of time and computing resources. If you tell your friends don’t use baidu search, but with Google, and patiently taught them over the wall, so that we can let those “poor hungry, rich man” enterprise less thinks himself, the most important thing is that allow them to make less spam and waste products, the world less trash, natural and environmental protection.

• Reject an overly commercial atmosphere. A lot of neighborhoods are too commercial. It’s all advertising. The whole community is not for the techies at all, it’s for the software makers, it’s for the companies. All they do is write advertorials, do ads and hold conferences for big companies. They just want to make money. The web page is full of colorful advertisements, open their web page, will consume a lot of electricity, browse the articles on their website, to their conference to listen to their software advertising to share, will let their life and time waste, their consumption of physical strength not to say, but has not got what nutrition, quite not environmental protection.

• Refuse to be restless. For example: restless entrepreneurs, being squeezed by venture capital round after round. To please VCS, sacrifice their own original intention, to find a ranking, to send spam, to burn money to buy fake prosperity, etc. In addition, to pursue the new technology, less less grandiose, don’t keep is huge amounts of data, high performance, to be an architect, manager, take how much salary, rather than that, it is better to calm down and study the technology of the decade, think about your side of the problem, step by step walk steadfastly, few sexes that trip less so, You’ll have more ability, more confidence, and you’ll be able to do more, solve more problems, and your career pool will be better, and you’ll be greener.

There’s more, and I’m sure you understand what I’m trying to say. In fact, WHAT I want to say is that it is not only a kind of “personal cultivation”, it is also a way to contribute to society, but also a “low-carbon environmental protection” lifestyle.

Let us come together to do cultured environmentalist programmers, eat less junk food, more green health life!

I saw that many netizens disagreed with my opinion and accused me of being extreme and extreme. It’s great. I know. I’m glad I touched on your most sensitive points.

You can compromise to reality, you can continue to love your junk food, you can continue to use the baidu search, you can continue to live within the walls, although I feel sorry for you, but I won’t force you, because I can understand you can not environmental protection, is originally, these things, it is good to you can do it, you can’t do, is your choice. Everyone’s life everyone to choose their own, want to live a healthy life, or unhealthy life, are your own rights.

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