Optimizing for understanding

When code review is the biggest bottleneck, you need to optimize for understanding. So now we have a problem. I get the feeling that you are enjoying this way too much. And you haven’t even hit the chapter where I use jump-roping songs to help you learn how to parse XML! If you’re already enjoying this, then things are really going bad. Two chapters from now you’ll be writing your own Ruby programs. In fact, it’s right about there that I’ll have you start writing your own role-playing game, your own file-sharing network (a la BitTorrent), as well as a program that will pull genuine random numbers from the Internet. And you know (you’ve got to know!) that this is going to turn into an obsession. First, you’ll completely forget to take the dog out. It’ll be standing by the screen door, darting its head about, as your eyes devour the code, as your fingers slip messages to the computer. Thanks to your neglect, things will start to break. Your mounds of printed sheets of code will cover up