Idiot Programming/Design Cleanup

IdiotProgramming and IdiotDesign are two extremely bloated Darth Wiki tropes that are RICH with examples. I tried to read through both pages, but it's impossible for me to do so because of just how big both pages are. Given this, it's pretty much a guarantee that there's bound to be some problematic examples that slip through the cracks, whether it be complaining, shoehorning, ZC Es, or other kinds of misuse. Plus, because of the subject matter that these two tropes deal with (extremely problematic software programming and design,) I'm legit questioning why a cleanup thread about them hasn't already been made before. (Seriously, I want to know why.)

I originally wanted Wick Checks about them to be made, but that was when I thought having others do my work for me was a good idea...somehow. In hindsight, a cleanup thread really should've been my first option. (And FYI, this thread is anybody's work, not just mine.)

Edited by JHD on May 9th 2021 at 8:29:04 AM

I agree with a cleanup effort idea, though this might be better for Short Term Projects.

Ignore This

Edited by JHD on May 11th 2021 at 7:20:24 AM

Oh, boy. I don't even have to look at the page to guess that most of the examples will boil down to one of two categories:

1. Ones which assume people have infinite time, infinite resources, and/or the capability to break the laws of physics.

2. Ones which don't consider there design is that way because the alternative is worse, with a dash of self-righteous arrogance.

On the bright side I think the solution is simple - we should just nuke the page, the reason being that this has nothing to do with tropes. (I know TV Tropes is bit of an Artifact Title, but most pages still have something to do with tropes and/or fiction. This one...doesn't.)

While both pages could be useful, as it currently stands they are just way too complainy and sound more like "I personally disagree with this" or "how dare this program have a single bug". Obviously Darth Wiki is intended for more negative tropes, but I don't see what the page provides other than letting people rant. Here are some things I think we could do:

1. Go through all examples and fact check, delete the ones that aren't objective enough

2. Redo the folder titles that trade clarity for being witty

3. Turn the page into Useful Notes and only list common examples of bad programming

4. Cut the page entirely

Also, I know there's No Real Life Examples, Please!, but are there other pages that are only real life examples? Is this even a trope if it doesn't appear in any media?

and

I put them in the "Needs checking" section of the WickCheckProject Sandbox a while back, but I didn't make check pages for them cuz I know better than to force my work onto others. I learned that the hard way with the Ho Yay debacle.

Edited by JHD on May 11th 2021 at 7:28:17 AM

Why would they need a wick check? They're not real tropes, so they don't even have wicks in a way that requires a wick check. All of the examples are on the page itself.

To fix the issues with them, of course. Though I must admit, it'd probably be difficult to do so with these two since they're apparently not tropes to begin with.

Should the pages even have wicks?

I think the answer depends on who you ask. Me personally, I'm on the fence. Maybe they should, but maybe they shouldn't. It's either-or, and I can't decide which.

Edited by JHD on May 11th 2021 at 9:13:36 AM

I mean, why would you do a wick check on something that doesn't really have wicks? Examples of Idiot Programming and Idiot Design aren't even supposed to be added to other pages, so there's nothing to check. You can just look at the examples on the page itself.

EDIT: Actually, there are a few examples out there... I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to be the case, though.

Edited by Zuxtron on May 11th 2021 at 9:15:59 AM

Yeah, you're right. I've removed them from the aforementioned Sandbox for those reasons.

(Also, I didn't know examples on the actual page itself are not wicks. The Ho Yay and DTD checks were made with the assumption they were.)

Edited by JHD on May 11th 2021 at 9:23:38 AM