After reading the phrase “My immediate reaction…” one too many times, I reacted, well, immediately, by recalling my previous immedate reactions to software “stuff”.
| Thing | Immediate Reaction |
| The name ‘C++’ | Ooh! A better ‘C’. Cool. |
| The language C++ | Neat! |
| The name ‘Smalltalk’ | Is it for women? They’re supposed to be better at small-talk than men. |
| The language Smalltalk | Neat! |
| The name ‘Java’ | eh? |
| The language Java. | Looks like a C++‘ers interpretation of Smalltalk. |
| Learning that Java Beans go int a ‘Java Archive’ a.k.a ‘JAR’ | Made a pun about putting beans in a jar. |
| EJBs | Neat! |
| Learning that EJBs go into an ‘Enterprise Archive’ a.k.a ‘EAR’ | Made a pun about putting beans in your ear. |
| Finding yet another misuse of EJBs, in accordance with Java Best Practice. | I groan. |
| Software Patterns, when they were first explained to me. | Looks neat, but why all the fuss? |
| Spotting three patterns in one Java class. | Why can’t people just write code anymore? Why do they have to write in patterns? |
| Seeing Charles Miller at work in a coat and tie. | Have you got an interview today? |
Looking at the above list, most of my immediate reactions are wrong or irrelevant. The only “immediate” reactions I seem get right are the ones that I have had practice with – such as the ones I have when I realise I am about to be wading through innappropriately patterned Java or an over-enthusiastically EJBed application. I was definitely wrong about Charles.
Moral: Don’t trust an immediate reaction to something new.
Disclaimer: This is a rant. Please ignore everything above the horizontal line.