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 orderJoel does not mention that Netscape code was so bad that it cost them serious credibility and customers. As a Netscape user back in the day, I did not care whether Netscape used unittests or duct tape, but I switched from Netscape to Internet Explorer because Netscape was so buggy it was painful. Over a few years Netscape code became so unmaintainable they had to start from scratch, which cost them years. Joel wrote in another famous article that this…
The problem with this blog post is that it's long been used to justify writing crappy code, when it's actually about writing simple code, and those aren't necessarily the same thing. If your duct-tape go kart falls apart going around a corner and gives you a permanent injury you're gonna wish you spent a bit more time at the starting line wondering what to build it out of.
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
- 399
- Total comments
- 168
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-09-24 | The Duct Tape ProgrammerFirst breakout · Best thread | mqt | 333 | 118 |
| 2015-02-11 | The Duct Tape ProgrammerLatest 20+ point return | luu | 63 | 50 |
| 2015-06-17 | The Duct Tape Programmer (2009) | ch215 | 2 | 0 |
| 2016-09-16 | The Duct Tape Programmer (2009) | bleakgadfly | 1 | 0 |