编程之道--Book Eight - Hardware and Software

摘自《编程之道》

将此书献给那些爱笑也爱思考的程序设计者,以及那些同程序设计者打交道的管理人员,当然他们也爱笑爱思考。 

编程之道--Book Five - Mainteance

Thus spake the master programmer:

编程大师如是说:

"Without the wind, the grass does not move.Without software, hardware is useless."

风不动则草不动,没有软件,硬件只是一堆发热的电子器件 

8.1

A novice asked the master: "I perceive that one computer company is muchlarger than all others. It towers above its competition like a giant amongdwarfs. Any one of its divisions could comprise an entire business. Whyis this so?" 

一个初学者问编程大师:“我知道有一家计算机公司比所有其它的公司都大。在它面前它的竞争对手就象站在巨人面前的侏儒。它的任一部门都有各自的业务,为什么会这样呢?”

The master replied, "Why do you ask such foolish questions? That companyis large because it is so large. If it only made hardware, nobody wouldbuy it. If it only maintained systems, people would treat it like a servant.But because it combines all of these things, people think it one of thegods! By not seeking to strive, it conquers without effort."

大师说,“为什么你问如此愚蠢的问题呢?那家公司大是因为它就是如此之大,如果它只做硬件,就没有人会买,如果它只维护系统,人们只会把它当作仆人,但是它的业务囊括了所有这些东西,人们就对它顶礼莫拜好象不用努力奋斗就可击败竞争对手

8.2

A master programmer passed a novice programmer one day. The master notedthe novice's preoccupation with a hand-held computer game. "Excuse me",he said, "may I examine it?"

有一天编程大师碰见了一个正玩掌上游戏机的编程新手,他说:“给我看一下?”

The novice bolted to attention and handed the device to the master. "Isee that the device claims to have three levels of play: Easy, Medium,and Hard", said the master. "Yet every such device has another level ofplay, where the device seeks not to conquer the human, nor to be conqueredby the human."

新手把游戏机递给大师,“我看到上面说明了三种难度的玩法:容易,中等,高难”,大师说,“但是每个这样的游戏机都有另外一种玩法,此时游戏机即不是想着怎么赢你,也不是怎么被你赢。”

"Pray, great master," implored the novice, "how does one find this mysterious setting?"

“那么请问大师”,初学者说,“这种玩法到底是怎样玩的呢?”

The master dropped the device to the ground and crushed it under foot.And suddenly the novice was enlightened.

大师把游戏机摔到地下然后用脚踩碎它,突然初学者明白了。

8.3 

There was once a programmer who worked upon microprocessors. "Look at howwell off I am here," he said to a mainframe programmer who came to visit,"I have my own operating system and file storage device. I do not haveto share my resources with anyone. The software is self-consistent andeasy-to-use. Why do you not quit your present job and join me here?"

有一个工作在微机上的程序员对前来参观的大型机程序员说:“看看我这里吧,我有自己的操作系统和文件存储设备,我不需要与别人共享任何资源,软件条条有理并且易于操作。为什么你不辞去你的工作到这里来呢?”

The mainframe programmer then began to describe his system to his friend,saying: "The mainframe sits like an ancient sage meditating in the midstof the data center. Its disk drives lie end-to-end like a great ocean ofmachinery. The software is a multi-faceted as a diamond and as convolutedas a primeval jungle. The programs, each unique, move through the systemlike a swift-flowing river. That is why I am happy where I am."

大型机的程序员对他的朋友说:“大型机就象古代圣贤一样深思熟虑,它的磁盘设备从头到尾就象是一个巨大的机械设备的海洋。软件象钻石一样有多个面,象远古的森林一样令人费解。每一个程序都象水经过河流一样穿行于系统中,那就是为什么我乐于为它工作”

The microcomputer programmer, upon hearing this, fell silent. But the twoprogrammers remained friends until the end of their days.

微机程序员听了这些话后,默默不语,但这两个程序员至死都是很好的朋友

8.4

Hardware met Software on the road to Changtse. Software said: "You arethe Yin and I am the Yang. If we travel together we will become famousand earn vast sums of money." And so the pair set forth together, thinkingto conquer the world.

硬件和软件在路上碰见了,软件说:“你是阴我是阳,如果我们联手就可以赚大钱。”所以它们走到了一直,考虑怎样征服世界。

Presently, they met Firmware, who was dressed in tattered rags, andhobbled along propped on a thorny stick. Firmware said to them: "The Taolies beyond Yin and Yang. It is silent and still as a pool of water. Itdoes not seek fame, therefore nobody knows its presence. It does not seeksfortune, for it is complete within itself. It exists beyond space andtime."

不久,它们遇到了固件,固件衣衫褴褛,拄着一根拐棍步履蹒跚。固件对它们说:“道在于阴阳之外。它静如止水,它从不指望能扬名远近,所以没有人知道它的 存在。它也不寻求幸福,它只是与它自己的存在在一起,它存在于空间和时间之外。”

Software and Hardware, ashamed, returned to their homes.

软件和硬件面有惭色,各自回了家。