前几天的饭桌上,Jay建议我建一个技术Blog。虽然我的技术也并不怎么地,但我也一直想弄个类似的东西,只是多年来练成的“明日”功使我将这个计划一拖再拖。现在有了个支持者在旁边助威,所以也就不得不努力一下了。
一个好的开始,没有别人的关注,也是很难坚持下去的。虽然并不愿意,但生活中我却往往落得鲁迅先生在《呐喊》自序里所谓“置身于毫无边际的荒原”这样的处境。希望这一次不会马上落得如此下场。我自认是没有什么毅力的人,所以鬼知道什么时候这里就会停止更新,但愿不会太快吧。
有了Blog,起名字是第一件事。这里引用的典故是Booch的《Object Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications》第一章的一个笑话,大致内容是这样的:
An engineer, a mathematician and a software engineer were arguing about who had the oldest profession. "In the beginning, God said, 'Let there be light,' " the electrical engineer said. "You need an electrical engineer to do that, so I have the oldest profession." The mathematician also cited the Bible, pointing out that God created order out of chaos. "That's what a mathematician does, so I have the oldest profession," the mathematician said. The software engineer laughed at his companions. "Why are you laughing?" the mathematician asked. "Well, you just proved my point," the software engineer said. "Who do you think created that chaos to begin with?"
上面这段文字可能并不是Booch的原文,因为我是从另外一个地方找到的这段文字,但大意是一样的。自从1946年ENIAC诞生,到现在仅仅一个花甲。而硬件和软件工程师们已经创造了可以说是地球上最复杂的人造系统——计算机系统,同时也为人类带来了无尽的麻烦。如今,计算机硬件的设计和应用已经基本达到了工业化的标准,但计算机软件却随着规模和功能的强大,却变得越来越难以维护。虽然软件工程学已经诞生几十年了,但软件开发还远没有达到工程学的要求。对于这一结果,程序员们(说得好听点叫做软件工程师)功不可没。可以说,他们创造了这一切,他们是真正的chaos-makers。而我,正在努力成为他们中的一员。于是,我的目标也就成为了我的Blog的名字。