Agile Racecar: Software, Magic, and Life

... contd. from Part -1: Your Conscience is Your Compiler Friend: Ok, got it. I used to think these are instincts. Me: Well, you can hack it, i.e. ignore your conscience, but then you're corrupting your "code" and it affects your "program" behavior. And soon, you can't fix it anymore. It's gone, unless you do major "refactoring". Or a complete rewrite- which for humans is death and rebirth... and what does anyone know about death and beyond anyway? In this life, you can only do refactoring, there's no rewrite. Friend: Nice analogy. TDD! Me: Well, TDD- Test-driven development is to ensure you are always following your conscience...But at the same time, allowing yourself the oppportunity to learn and the privilege to change your mind some day as you mature. TDD lets you easily incorporate lessons you learn as you grow and mature. It helps you change more easily than would be otherwise possible for you. It helps you easily figure

Your Conscience is Your Compiler! The following is the exact transcript of an IM chat about "Conscience" I had with a friend: Friend: I follow my instincts. Me: Animals follow instincts - humans follow their conscience. It's the only God I know. Your conscience always tells you what's right or wrong. Friend: No murali, I disagree. How do you define what's right? Me: Your conscience tells you- always. If you do something you believe is wrong, you'll feel guilty. If you don't believe it's wrong, you won't feel guilty Friend: Yeah, but why do you do things? Me: Because we are human. Friend: No, it's because we want to survive. Me: It takes a lot of character to always obey your conscience, a lot of strength.We survive either way. But if you and your conscience are on good terms, you have unshakeable self-belief. Friend: Yeah Me: And you'll care about little things like pride, self-respect, principles, character, reputati