...why it hurts and what to do about it...
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Programmers like to build tools to make their jobs easier, but these tools never seem to provide more than incremental improvements. It adds up, but from a broader perspective it feels like we're just pushing more boulders up the hill. Below are some thoughts on the larger problem of why that is and what some solutions might look like.
These posts form a loose narrative, starting from the oldest item at the top of the list. The overall arc moves toward a critique of literate programming with the aim of modifying the original concept to something I call compelling programming. This goal is a something of a white whale, but "A dead whale or a stove boat!"