125K views · May 15, 2018 · 50:23 · 4 HN recommenders · 5 mentions · discussed 2018–2020
Kevlin Henney's GOTO 2018 talk argues that much of what looks new in software is a recycling of concepts with long histories. It draws on history to show the slow, steady current beneath constant churn in frameworks and trends.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN recommends it for historical perspective on software ideas and for dispelling myths such as the origins of waterfall.
“There's a talk well worth watching by Kevlin Henney called 'Old Is the New New' [1]”HN comment, 2019
“There's a talk well worth watching by Kevlin Henney called 'Old Is the New New' [1]”
Waterfall originally included design iteration, later forgotten
There's a talk well worth watching by Kevlin Henney called 'Old Is the New New' [1], where he points out that waterfall was initially conceived with design iteration in mind and yet that part was just essentially forgotten and replaced by something overly-simplified in common understanding. [1] this video
Covers programming concepts that keep being recycled as new
You remind me of this Kevlin Henney talks that manages to cover a rather big range of programming concepts that keep getting recycled as the big new thing this video
“I can recommend Old Is the New New by Kevlin Henney for a good, historical perspective”
Historical perspective on how little actually changes in software
The points on the fluff in particular resonate with me because idespite being a fairly good software engineer, I would say it was only recently I truly started seeing past the fluff. However, typing this out, I realise I would have said the same thing 10 years ago, and 5 years ago, and I probably will again another 5 years from now. I think the truth is that we're always missing the forest for all the trees -- only at increasing levels of abstraction: at first, everything is foreign, then syntax becomes fluff, then APIs become fluff, then patterns, then languages, then compilers, then ... I look forward to learning what the next level of fluff will be. > The majority of the stuff being released every day is just a rehash of the same ideas. Truly revolutionary stuff only happens every few years. Maybe not even that often. I can recommend Old Is the New New by Kevlin Henney for a good, historical perspective on how little actually changes sometimes: this video Edit: now this was more interesting than I anticipated. What is the next level of fluff? Concurrency? Advanced data structures? Phrasing problems for SMT solvers? Probabilistic modeling? Or are the things I picture as fluff just specific techniques, because the next level of fluff is so meta I wouldn't even recognise it now?
“I would recommend watching this talk [0] from Kevlin Henney to anyone who likes that book.”
Pairs well with The Mythical Man-Month
I've read only the The Mythical Man-Month from this list. It is amazing how the project management really did not change much. Similar ideas (sometimes same) to similar problems. I would recommend watching this talk [0] from Kevlin Henney to anyone who likes that book. [0]: this video
“not every ‘new’ development is as new as it appears; “Old is the New New”.”
Supports point that new developments are often old ideas
I don’t think so. Building software is a creative process that benefits from team diversity in multiple aspects. You need both young and older people. I’m 54 and still going strong. :-) Also, not every ‘new’ development is as new as it appears; “Old is the New New”. this video
