Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderAsking people what they've read "just for the heck of it" is the wrong question, because code is not linear, so it's extremely ungainly to read without purpose. But as soon as the skilled code reader has a purpose in mind -- a question to answer -- he or she can rapidly find a meaningful narrative. Put into that context, programmers read code constantly, and the more they read the better they get. So I don't like the "nobody actually…
Code is not literature the same way equations are not mathematics. Take any math or physics book, extract all of the equations, and throw away the text. That's how we write programs... just the equations. However, look at Physically Based Rendering (http://www.pbrt.org/). It won an Academy Award. It should win a Pulitzer. All of the actual source code is in the book and the book is quite readable. Or look at Lisp in Small Pieces (https://pages.lip6.fr/Christian.Queinnec/WWW/LiSP.html). There you will find…
Discussed at the time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7091495 Thread from 2017: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13855185
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 424
- Total comments
- 161
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-01-20 | Code is not LiteratureFirst breakout · Best thread | antifuchs | 240 | 83 |
| 2015-03-12 | Code is not literature (2014) | oskarth | 1 | 0 |
| 2016-02-28 | Code is not literature | kercker | 3 | 0 |
| 2017-03-13 | Code is not literature (2014) | setra | 112 | 65 |
| 2019-08-07 | Code Is Not Literature | mpweiher | 2 | 0 |
| 2019-08-11 | Code Is Not Literature (2014)Latest 20+ point return | mpweiher | 66 | 13 |