Reading code and writing code

[Lulu of the Lotus-Eaters]

Erik Max Francis <max at alcyone.com> wrote previously:
|The same goes for Lisp (and all its variants, like Scheme).  You might
|have to count parentheses if you had to physically write it down with
|pencil and paper, but in the real world you'll be using an editor, and
|the editor will help you match parentheses and do the gruntwork for you.

This is not the same real world I live in!

In my real world, I probably spend at least 10x as much time READING
code as I do WRITING it.  I certainly read more of my own code than of
anyone elses, but I still have to *read* it when I come back to it after
more than a few minutes... especially when it is a few months or years.

A significant fraction of that reading time is spent looking at pieces
of paper with toner on them; and much of the remaining time uses 'less',
or a webbrowser, or some other non-editor application.  Even in an
editor, I like to look at a page full of code to grok the sense, and
mostly not move the cursor around to cause bracket matches to highlight.

I LIKE the conveniences that good editors provide, including matching
parentheses and other structures.  But the amount of help that this can
possibly provide in my life experience is pretty small.

Yours, Lulu...

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