Code Te Ching Book I - Code

What is the sound of one hand hacking?

Book I (道) of the Code Te Ching is complete. Following the style of four standard English translations of the Tao Te Ching (道德經), and the two texts from Ma Wang Tui (馬王堆帛書), A (chia) and B (i) compared by Prof. Robert Henricks.

The central concept of the TTC is its preaching of wu wei (non-action), or action without high-minded ideals, action that does not have a conceptual driving force, or action done for the act - not the fruits of the act. We can only assume that the author(s) created these verses as a labor of love, not out of a desire for some future reward or high-minded ideal. There are those who say that action not driven by rational thought is blind and that its results are substandard. The realizations within the Taoist texts, like the Tao itself, could not have been the same were they analyzed or pinned down with any rigid western conceptual framework. This potently short, 5,000 character, 81-chapter book has endured for eons. If nothing else: that is proof positive that action does not have to be intentional to be good or lasting.

This relates to my philosophy of code. Simplicity, subtlety - these are the ways of the master. Thus spake Jeff Hawkins:

Complexity is a symptom of confusion, not a cause.

Simplify a problem, framed in its most basic essence, and no coding problems are insurmountable. There are many ways to simplify, thinking down to the machine, or up to the highest levels of abstraction... somewhere there exists an answer. Getting stuck in a silo stifles thoughts and breeds substandard results. Sometimes you must think like a customer, or a client - a coder or a manager - but always effortlessness is the goal. This is the way of the master, the hacker, the elite. Simplicity is the way, agility is the method.

Book II is next, and focuses on team leaders: Te (aptly pronounced "duh").