“let code die” is a recurring mantra that the pastagang group has picked up and run with
read its origins here
And
If you are grieving or otherwise sensitive to mortality, you can thing of this concept as ‘let it float down the river’. Be an observer, take an interest, but don’t form unhealthy attachments where they aren’t necessary. You can work on this by forming/strengthening healthy attachments with humans using careful trust, self-care and strong boundaries.
of course, code can only die if someone has written it in the first place. there are always periods of growth where code gets more. at some point, there is so much code that new code doesn’t have a chance to fit in. when pruning a fruit tree, there is the rule of thumb that you should make enough space so that a dove could fly through. it’s vital for the tree’s health to cut it regularly, removing dead branches to make sure the tree gets enough air and light. the best time to cut a fruit tree is in the winter, and so is it the best time to let code die when it has cooled down. there is a cognitive aspect to it too: the more often something gets repeated, the more it fades away in your perception. when playing an acoustic instrument, your body has to do hard work when repeating something over and over again. the longer you beat that drum, blow that horn, sing that note, the more your body will beg you to let the music die. so you will stop sooner or later, or change the pace. when making music with code, you “just” need to use your fingers once to pound your keys. after that, the machine does the body work, sucking current out of your wall, shifting electrons around to finally move that membrane. after the initial thrill of a fresh sound, it is easy to forget that it’s still running. you’re probably busy writing more code somewhere else. the mantra of let code die tries to remember you to check your branches and cut them regularly. when do decide to let code die, you make space in the code itself, but also space in time where that sound used to play and space in the frequency domain where that sound used to live, space, that,
The pastagang paradox:
Temporary code will live permanently. Code you want to live long and prosper will die young.
everything produced is a product of everything that preceded it, whether it’s still around or not
well, your code will die anyway at some point. plus exercise is good, repetition is good. repetition is also good and bear in mind that repetition is good too. In moderation. and unmoderation.
i let all the changes I contributed to this blog post die.
blog post by pastagang