explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1319: Automation

2014-01-21T00:22:24Z

Raestloz:

Why is this administrator protected? Did an admin lock it just to make sure they'd be the first person to explain it? --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 07:12, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

It is not protected. Check the logs. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.117|108.162.246.117]] 07:39, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

Alright, done the preliminary explanation. I think I got the joke right, and I'm a programmer myself so I can relate to the graphs. However, laymen may not understand the circumstances of programming world, so maybe simpler words could be used, or a real-life example given. That and I'm not a native English speaker, so someone else should do some grammar check. Also, I posted that from my mobile, it's not really convenient (editing the post itself is already a bit hard) so I'll do some fact checking and citation-linking once I got home. I did check on the screwing definition with TheFreeDictionary, don't have time to do better search now. [[User:Raestloz|Raestloz]] ([[User talk:Raestloz|talk]]) 08:55, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

Note that in reality, many tasks can be automated successfully: while the programming takes longer that expected, may not simplify the task as much as expected and the program feels unfinished, outside circumstances can force the programmer to abandon ongoing development and use the program for partial automation instead. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:54, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

The title text reminds me of the old joke about the definition of politics -- "poli-" meaning "many" and "tics" meaning "blood sucking creatures". --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.202|108.162.219.202]] 12:31, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

Why do the lines on the "Theory" graph converge shortly after automation takes over? Surely, the idea behind writing a code in this example is to save time. Therefore, the original task line should remain relatively constant and the coding line should plunge below it, no? {{unsigned|Jevicci}}

: Once the automation takes over, the programmer will no longer have to do anything, the program will take care of it [[User:Raestloz|Raestloz]] ([[User talk:Raestloz|talk]]) 00:22, 21 January 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1319: Automation

2014-01-20T08:55:20Z

Raestloz:

1319: Automation

2014-01-20T08:47:08Z

Raestloz:

{{comic
| number = 1319
| date = January 20, 2014
| title = Automation
| image = automation.png
| titletext = 'Automating' comes from the roots 'auto-' meaning 'self-', and 'mating', meaning 'screwing'.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic refers to the way that programmers think: by creating a program that can automate menial but frequent tasks, they can save time and effort (because computers can execute commands faster than a human can). The first graph shows that writing the program will take more effort initially, but once the program is complete, it will be the one doing the tasks and the programmer will have free time to do something else.

However, writing a program is usually not a simple case write and done: programs can have defects, and certain functionalities could be hard to implement. Because of this, programmers usually spend more time than projected to finish a program. Not because they can't, but because they spend their time dealing with defects that will inevitably arise. To deal with this, programmers will usually re-think their program design some time during development (for example, to streamline the process, allowing better readability and/or performance). As time goes on the desire to see it finished can consume the programmer's effort and attention, leaving the menial tasks they should have done abandoned.

The title text refers to the double meaning of the word "screwing". Screwing is the slang for sexual intercourse (synonym to mating) but also can mean "giving someone a hard time". Thus automating translates to self-screwing (giving yourself a hard time)

{{incomplete|need fact checking and citations}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

{{comic discussion}}