There was once a programmer who was asked to change all the green lights to blue. When the LD noticed the programmer looking at the screen and notating all the green lights so he could select them, the LD mentioned that there is a quicker way to accomplish this task. The programmer bluntly told the LD that there was no such method and that he had to manually select all the green lights. The LD again said that there was a method, because he had seen other programmers do it in the past. Once again, the programmer protested. So as the programmer took his time notating and typing in the green fixtures, the LD called me and had me explain to him the simple two key presses that allow it to happen automatically. Of course that programmer was promptly removed from the LD’s list of programmers.
—From “Feeding the Machines,” PLSN, July 2014 by Brad Schiller: “What NOT to Do.”
