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Type checking is a symptom, not a solution

(programmingsimplicity.substack.com)
67 points mpweiher | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.327s | source
1. zzzeek ◴[] No.45142592[source]
"Type checking is an antipattern" because it admits that our software has more than seven dependencies, which is cognitively unacceptable

"Type checking is an antipattern" because electrical engineers designing CPUs have nothing like type checking to rely upon

These two statements alone seem, to be charitable, wrong. But together, I have a sneaky feeling that a running CPU is at least as cognitively overwhelming as a modern software application. Which would mean cognitively overwhelming systems are not an antipattern. Or that CPU designers are also engaging in an active antipattern. So these arguments would appear to contradict each other in any case.

Overall a post like this that makes huge grandiose claims and ends with basically nothing to show at the end rings pretty hollow. Yes complexity is inconvenient but handwaving "there should be systems that are simple ! easy to understand!" yeah thanks! show us one? Oh, the mainboard of an iPhone, that's easy to understand? It literally requires software to figure out how to lay out all the tiny components on both sides like that. It is...not simple at all.