The Programmer's Apprenticeship - 06: All About the Internet

Word count: 1.1kReading time: 7 min

 2018/09/29

This is the sixth post in the reading notes series for The Programmer’s Apprenticeship: From Good to Great. The author, Jeff Atwood, is one of the founders of Stack Overflow. His articles cover a wide range of topics. He is a seasoned programmer, manager, and entrepreneur. This book discusses many things beyond programming. Whether you are a junior engineer or a senior engineer, this book is worth reading. As your experience grows, every time you re-read this book, you will gain new insights. Just as the title “From Good to Great” suggests, the author points out the path for you, but whether you can succeed depends on your own cultivation.

I will excerpt some wonderful remarks from the book and sometimes add my own insights or experiences. The outline of the reading notes is consistent with the outline of the book itself. This is also a method I learned from another source and have been using: “How to Read a Book”. I record it for my own frequent review and for readers’ reference. Below is the The Programmer’s Apprenticeship reading note series:

Saving the Internet, Preserving All Memories

(Based on Jeff Atwood’s Preserving The Internet… and Everything Else)

In “Preserving Our Digital Pre-History”, Jeff nominated Jason Scott to be our generation’s digital historian in residence. It looks like a few people must have agreed, because in March 2011, he officially became an archivist at the Internet Archive.

Jason recently invited Jeff to visit the Internet Archive, and he walked away profoundly impressed with their mission. The Internet Archive is the beginning of a cure – the beginning of complete, detailed, accessible, searchable memory for society.

One of the most immediate benefits is curing linkrot. We’ve all experienced the frustration of clicking a link that’s dead. It’s a “digital heart attack.” The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine allows us to travel back in time to see the web as it was.

But it goes beyond just web pages. They are archiving everything: books, audio, video, and even software. As Jeff notes:

“If you care about the history of the Internet – and you should, because it’s the history of us – then you should support the Internet Archive.”

The Importance of Net Neutrality

(Based on Jeff Atwood’s The Importance of Net Neutrality)

Net neutrality is “the most important public policy you’ve probably never heard of.” It refers to the principle that Internet service providers should treat all data on the Internet the same, not discriminating or charging differentially by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or method of communication.

Jeff admits he didn’t fully understand its importance until reading Lawrence Lessig and Tim Wu. The core argument is simple: innovation depends on a neutral network.

If the network owners can pick winners and losers (by throttling traffic or charging extra for fast lanes), then the next Google, Netflix, or Facebook might never get off the ground. The Internet was designed to be a dumb network that moves bits without prejudice. Keeping it that way is essential for the future of free speech and innovation.

“The internet is the first medium that can truly compete with the broadcast monopolies of television and radio. It is the first medium that allows anyone to be a broadcaster. But that freedom is threatened if the network itself is not neutral.”

Copyright Protection on YouTube

(Based on Jeff Atwood’s YouTube vs. Fair Use and YouTube: The Big Copyright Lie)

YouTube is a massive repository of human creativity, but it’s also a battlefield for copyright. Jeff points out the “Big Copyright Lie” of YouTube: the vast majority of its most popular content is not 100% original. It’s remixes, clips, and mashups of existing copyrighted material.

This brings us to the concept of Fair Use. Fair use is a legal doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders. It includes commentary, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching, or scholarship.

However, YouTube’s automated Content ID system often ignores Fair Use. It flags content based on digital fingerprints, regardless of context. This creates a “guilty until proven innocent” system where creators have to fight to get their lawful content reinstated.

Jeff argues that we need a better balance. We need to protect the rights of copyright holders, but we also need to protect the rights of creators to build upon culture. The current system is heavily weighted in favor of big media companies, often at the expense of individual creativity.

“Culture is a remix. Everything is a remix. If we can’t build on what came before us, we stop progressing.”

The Programmer’s Apprenticeship (or Building a Career in Software) is a compilation of the best articles from the Coding Horror blog. The book is divided into 8 chapters, covering topics such as time management, programming methods, web design, testing, user needs, the Internet, game programming, and technical reading. The topics selected by the author are all pain points in a programmer’s career. Many articles have high click-through rates and reply rates on blogs and the Internet. —— from Douban

Jeff Atwood founded the Coding Horror blog (codinghorror.com) in 2004 to record his thoughts and bits and pieces of his software development experience. Today, the blog has nearly 100,000 visits per day. Readers participate in comments, and various views and wisdom collide passionately there. —— from Douban

The writing style of The Programmer’s Apprenticeship is humorous, understanding, and caring; it is suitable for programmers at all stages from novice to veteran, and also suitable for students of computer science and related majors who are about to become programmers. The Programmer’s Apprenticeship can help readers pay more attention to the human nature and humanistic factors of technical work, thereby achieving a successful turning point in their programmer career. —— from Douban

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