编程之道--Book Seven - Corporate Wisdom

摘自《编程之道》

将此书献给那些爱笑也爱思考的程序设计者,以及那些同程序设计者打交道的管理人员,当然他们也爱笑爱思考。 

编程之道--Book Five - Mainteance

Thus spake the master programmer:

编程大师如是说:

"You can demonstrate a program for a corporate executive, but you can'tmake him computer literate."
“你可以向一位公司主管演示一套程序,但你不能让他的电脑变得象人一样。” 

7.1

A novice asked the master: "In the east there is a great tree-structurethat men call 'Corporate Headquarters'. It is bloated out of shape withvice-presidents and accountants. It issues a multitude of memos, eachsaying 'Go, Hence!' or 'Go, Hither!' and nobody knows what is meant. Everyyear new names are put onto the branches, but all to no avail. How cansuch an unnatural entity exist?"

一个新学问大师:“在东方,有一个庞大的机构,人们称作总部。它由为数众多的大小领导。每天发出大量的备忘录,每个备忘录都说:‘干这个,干那个’,没有一个人知道它是什么意思。每年这个机构都会有更多的人加进来而变得越来越大,但是去没有人去做事情。怎么烩样奇怪的东西还能存在呢?”

The master replies: "You perceive this immense structure and are disturbedthat it has no rational purpose. Can you not take amusement from itsendless gyrations? Do you not enjoy the untroubled ease of programmingbeneath its sheltering branches? Why are you bothered by its uselessness?"

大师说:“你已经知道这个巨大的机构并不合理,你就不能不管它为什么这样吗?你尽管享受它的好处就是了,干吗要去管它到底是没有效率呢?”

7.2

In the east there is a shark which is larger than all other fish. It changesinto a bird whose winds are like clouds filling the sky. When this birdmoves across the land, it brings a message from Corporate Headquarters.This message it drops into the midst of the program- mers, like a seagull making its mark upon the beach. Then the bird mounts on the wind and, with the blue sky at its back, returns home.

在遥远的东方,传说有一只巨大的鱼,叫鲲,它变成了一只大鸟,叫鹏,鹏的翅膀可以遮天蔽日,这只大鸟经过陆地的时候,它带来了一个消息,它把这个消息丢在程序员中,就象一只海鸥在海滩上做的记号,然后鹏背负蓝天,乘风而上,回家去了。

The novice programmer stares in wonder at the bird, for he understandsit not. The average programmer dreads the coming of the bird, for he fearsits message. The master programmer continues to work at his terminal, forhe does not know that the bird has come and gone.

初学者惊恐地看着这只鸟,根本不敢相信,中级程序员担心这只鸟的到来,因为它害怕它带来的消息,编程大师则继续在他的终端前工作他根本不知道这只鸟曾经来过。

7.3

The Magician of the Ivory Tower brought his latest invention for the masterprogrammer to examine. The magician wheeled a large black box into themaster's office while the master waited in silence.

一个学究带着他的最新发明去见编程大师,他把一个大黑盒子推进大师的办公室。

"This is an integrated, distributed, general-purpose workstation," beganthe magician, "ergonomically designed with a proprietary operating system,sixth generation languages, and multiple state of the art user interfaces.It took my assistants several hundred man years to construct. Is it notamazing?"

“这是综合的、分布式的通用工作站,”,学究开始介绍了,“按人体工学设计的操作系统,第六代的高级语言,多样的用户界面,整整花了我的助手好几百人年的时间,挺不错吧?”

The master raised his eyebrows slightly. "It is indeed amazing," he said.

大师扬了一下眉毛,说:“的确很了不起。”

"Corporate Headquarters has commanded," continued the magician, "thateveryone use this workstation as a platform for new programs. Do you agreeto this?"

“头儿已经说了,”这位学究继续说,“每个人都要用这个工作站作平台,你觉得怎么样?” 

"Certainly," replied the master, "I will have it transported to the datacenter immediately!" And the magician returned to his tower, well pleased.

“当然了,”,大师回答说,“我要马上把它送到数据中心去!”,这位学究满意去回去了。

Several days later, a novice wandered into the office of the masterprogrammer and said, "I cannot find the listing for my new program. Doyou know where it might be?"

几天后,一个新手走进大师的办公室说,“我找不到我新写的程序了,你知道它可能会在哪儿吗?”

"Yes," replied the master, "the listings are stacked on the platform inthe data center."

“当然,”,大师说,“你的程序在数据中心的平台里放着。”

7.4

The master programmer moves from program to program without fear. Nochange in management can harm him. He will not be fired, even if the projectis canceled. Why is this? He is filled with the Tao.

编程大师从一个项目转到另一个项目而豪无顾虑,任何管理上的变动都不能影响他,他不会被解雇,即使项目被取消了。为什么呢?他了解了道。