Monday, November 30, 2009

COTD: Undisciplined (At Best)

clipped from chicagoboyz.net
You hit the nail squarely on the head this time. I wrote complex simulation and signal processing/world modelling software early in my career and can absolutely verify what you write here.
I spent a couple of hours over the break going through the comments left behind by the unfortunate programmer who had to deal with the CRU’s climate modelling software. Many of the comments struck a real chord of recognition. However, what *really* struck me is how horribly organized and undisciplined these people are. No one was betting trillions of dollars on the software that I was writing (although millions *were* involved) but I guarantee you that we had a far clearer path from our signal data to the models that ultimately emerged.