On Wed, Oct 23, 2013 at 08:02:07AM -0700, Ron wrote: > I feel that I must respond to the statements that > 1. > the Bitcoin codebase is actually really > simple and readable. > > 2. > However remember that the implications of that > codebase are anything but simple; there's lots of reasons to think > Satoshi himself didn't understand Bitcoin all that well, even by the > time he left the project. > > On point one: if it was/is so readable, why hasn't it been documented better, > if at all? > Why haven't the obscure names of important items been globally searched and > replaced? > Why are there still mixed formatting "styles" still in the code. I think it > is the fear that C++ > is so brittle, that one change may bring the whole house of cards down.
The nature of Bitcoin is that in any language one change could accidentally bring the whole house of cards down. Also the time and effort it takes to review changes for maliciously or accidentally added exploits. > I feel that it is the language (C++) that is hindering the expression of > ideas in the code. > This goes to your point two about Satoshi's understanding. I think just the > opposite: > that he knew what he wanted but that C++ hindered him in expressing and > implementing it. > I think that if anything, C++ was what Satoshi "didn't understand all that > well". > > But then who does understand C++, really? See > https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/comp.lang.lisp/7xCvdzijzgU/4xCFzLc3d5EJ > and the quote: > Whenever I solve a difficult problem with C++, I feel like I’ve won a bar > fight. — Michael Fogus > > I don't think readability is attainable easily in C++. It requires > intentionally writing so that > others may understand your code. How many programmers have ever done that? > And this > is like swimming upstream in C++, where things are designed to be hidden! I'm making the statement that "the Bitcoin codebase is actually really simple and readable." based on personal experience: for what the reference client does - solve a previously thought unsolvable problem in cryptography - the code is simple and readable. (try reading the OpenSSL source-code sometime as a comparison) My experience has consistently been that understanding what the code does is by far the easiest part of understanding Bitcoin; understanding what the effect of what the code does in terms of the system as a whole is at least another one or two orders of magnitude more difficult. -- 'peter'[:-1]@petertodd.org 0000000000000000c9e44ec3cb95d6ea51b7e8d29901be451ce3a2bd7b0ed8ae
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