Quotes About Communication

"Let me not live," said Aretine's Antonia, "if I had not rather hear thy discourse than see a play."

Hence it is clear how much more cruel the pen is than the sword.

Hence it is clear how much more cruel the pen is than the sword. (Hinc Gham Sit Calmus Saevior Ense Patet)

[W]hen I hear or read a good line I can hardly wait to tell it to somebody else...

Professionals speak truth to power. Professionals have the courage to say no to their managers. How do you say no to your boss? After all, it's your boss! Aren't you supposed to do what your boss says? No. Not if you are a professional. Slaves are not allowed to say no. Laborers may be hesitant to say no. But professionals are expected to say no. It's the only way you can really get anything done.

Professionals speak truth to power. Professionals have the courage to say no to their managers. How do you say no to your boss? After all, it's your boss! Aren't you supposed to do what your boss says? No. Not if you are a professional. Slaves are not allowed to say no. Laborers may be hesitant to say no. But professionals are expected to say no. Indeed, good managers crave someone who has the guts to say no. It's the only way you can really get anything done.

The proper use of comments is to compensate for our failure to express ourself in code. Note that I used the word failure. I meant it. Comments are always failures.

You see, programmers tend to be arrogant, self-absorbed introverts. We didn't get into this business because we like people.

QA and Development should be working together to ensure the quality of the system. The

Three arguments (triadic) should be avoided where possible. More than three (polyadic) requires very special justification—and then shouldn't be used anyway.

Design and programming are human activities; forget that and all is lost. —Bjarne Stroustrup, 1991

Say what you mean. Mean what you say.

Providing too much detail can be an invitation for micro-management.

The folks who think that code will one day disappear are like mathematicians who hope one day to discover a mathematics that does not have to be formal. They are hoping that one day we will discover a way to create machines that can do what we want rather than what we say. These machines will have to be able to understand us so well that they can translate vaguely specified needs into perfectly executing programs that precisely meet those needs. This will never happen.

The problem isn't the simplicity of the code but the implicity of the code (to coin a phrase): the degree to which the context is not explicit in the code itself.

If we really want to spend our days programming, we are going to have to learn to talk to—people.1

Because this ratio is so high, we want the reading of code to be easy, even if it makes the writing harder. Of course there's no way to write code without reading it, so making it easy to read actually makes it easier to write.

Professionals use their powers for good and write code that others can understand.

Cuteness in code often appears in the form of colloquialisms or slang. For example, don't use the name whack() to mean kill(). Don't tell little culture-dependent jokes like eatMyShorts() to mean abort(). Say what you mean. Mean what you say.

Code formatting is important. It is too important to ignore and it is too important to treat religiously. Code formatting is about communication, and communication is the professional developer's first order of business.

To do Agile right, you had to work in pairs, write tests first, refactor, and commit to simple designs. You had to work in short cycles, producing executable output in each. You had to communicate with business on a regular and continuous basis.

Professional developers do not prevent others from working in the code. They do not build walls of ownership around code. Rather, they work with each other on as much of the system as they can. They learn from each other by working with each other on other parts of the system.

The most efficient and effective way to review code is to collaborate in writing it.

Professionals work together. You can't work together while you are sitting in corners wearing headphones. So I want you sitting around tables facing each other. I want you to be able to smell each other's fear. I want you to be able to overhear someone's frustrated mutterings. I want serendipitous communication, both verbal and body language. I want you communicating as a unit.