Your Name - CS 1337 - Lab 46

   1:  Excerpts from "The Zen of Programming"
   2:  
   3:  My story begins a few weeks after I had graduated from college with a 
   4:  bachelor's degree in computer science. My goal upon graduating was to 
   5:  work for a research and development organization, preferably in compiler 
   6:  or operating system design. I finally found an organization that was 
   7:  willing to hire me, but only on the condition that I "learn the system" 
   8:  by performing program maintenance for an unspecified period of time.
   9:  
  10:  Naturally, I was somewhat offended at this suggestion. I had not gone 
  11:  through five years of college just to waste my time fixing some other 
  12:  programmer's mistakes! However, there was the promise of interesting 
  13:  work in the future, so I accepted, making a mental note that I could 
  14:  always find another job if this one did not work out.
  15:  
  16:  When I reported to work the next week, I was taken to meet the 
  17:  master of the maintenance group. The personnel manager led me, quick
  18:  step, through the darkened corridors of the development center, finally
  19:  pointing out a door at the end of a long hallway. "He's in there," she said
  20:  and then scurried away as if ill-at-ease.
  21:  
  22:  I walked to the doorway and peered inside. I saw a man working at a 
  23:  terminal, but his back was towards me, so I had no idea of his age or 
  24:  appearance. I was just about to make my presence known by coughing, when 
  25:  without as much as a single backward glance, the master said, "Please be 
  26:  seated."
  27:  
  28:  I peered over his shoulder at the incomprehensible displays that flashed 
  29:  upon his terminal as his slender fingers danced across the keyboard. 
  30:  Finally, he gave a little grunt of satisfaction, logged off, and then 
  31:  turned to face me.
  32:  
  33:  What I saw surprised me, for he did not seem to be the type of man who 
  34:  would be a Zen master. His face was blank, almost ugly, and his hair 
  35:  formed a confused nimbus about his head. But what one noticed first were 
  36:  his eyes, which showed pale blue even through his thick spectacles. 
  37:  
  38:  He inspected me from head to foot and nodded, as if confirming a private 
  39:  opinion. "So you are the new-hire?" he asked sourly. 
  40:  
  41:  "Yes," I replied and, simulating an enthusiasm I did not feel, I gave him 
  42:  a quick rundown of my experiences and grades in college.
  43:  
  44:  The master listened politely and then said, "That is all well and good, 
  45:  but have you ever done program maintenance?"
  46:  
  47:  I confessed that I had not.
  48:  
  49:  The master heaved a great sigh. "Well, we shall do what we can," he 
  50:  said. Then he took an enormous program listing from a shelf. Opening it 
  51:  at random, he handed it to me and asked, "What do you make of this?"
  52:  
  53:  I stared at the listing. It was assembly code intermingled with some 
  54:  strange macro language. Every tenth line transferred control to some 
  55:  cryptic subroutine and if there was any structure to the program, it was 
  56:  incomprehensible to me. "What is this program?" I asked.
  57:  
  58:  The master took the listing from my lap. "It is The Code of the Ancient 
  59:  Masters," he said, "And when you have learned to snatch the error code 
  60:  from the trap frame, it will be time for you to leave." Then he closed 
  61:  the listing and returned it to the shelf. 
  62:  
  63:  I soon learned that program maintenance was more difficult than I had 
  64:  assumed. I first attempted to learn the assembler in which The Code had 
  65:  been written, but much to my annoyance, I discovered that the assembler
  66:  had never been properly documented. All that existed was a set of notes
  67:  from the hardware developers, who had died or left the company many 
  68:  years before. The Code was of little help. It is true that there were 
  69:  occasional comments, but these were as opaque as the assembler, 
  70:  containing nothing but tantalizing references to primeval hardware 
  71:  architecture. 
  72:  
  73:  When I complained to the master, he listened politely, created a long 
  74:  moment of silence between us and then answered me.
  75:  
  76:  "You are seeking to understand something that cannot be understood by 
  77:  your rational mind," he said, "All that results is frustration. You must 
  78:  empty your mind. Only then will you come to understand The Code."