Principle Stash

Comic

Three panels. In the first, a mustachioed letter P asks a smiling computer for a reusable user card component “similar to an Instagram profile card”, and the computer answers “Understood. Razzmatazzing…”. A narrow middle panel shows a slot machine spinning HTML, CSS, React and stray tags. In the third, a sweating P reads out a precise bulleted spec of props, CSS class, validation and edge cases; the computer says “Got it, why didn’t you just say that!” while P thinks “It was in the first attempt…”.

English as an Abstraction

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A prompt precise enough to work has a file extension.

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Appears in Where Does Software Engineering Go From Here? (Part 1)

Transcript

Panel 1 — P, pointing: “Build me a reusable user card component that displays the user’s avatar, name, and role, similar to an Instagram profile card.” The computer, smiling: “Understood. Razzmatazzing…”

Panel 2 (narrow) — Caption: SEVERAL ATTEMPTS AND DEEPLY-NESTED TECHNICAL SPECS LATER… A slot machine spins under a shower of logos and stray tags: React, HTML5, <css>, <pop>, <html>, <code>, <div>.

Panel 3 — P, sweating, clutching a fistful of printouts: “Okay, look. We need a React UserCard component. Requirements: take props — userName, avatarUrl, userRole. Use the ‘user-profile-card’ CSS class for layout. Add data-type validation. Handle missing profile pics, too-long names, and non-existent roles.”

The computer, delighted: “Got it, why didn’t you just say that!”

P, thinking: “It was in the first attempt…”