I'm fixing someone else’s code right now and a few single line comments would have saved my client thousands of dollars.

Today I put in a log statement to see why the code deletes data from the database if there is no new temperature data for the time period. The cron job has been running all day and so far every time it attempts to delete the data, there is no data to delete.

Another line runs a different script if the time is 15:00. No idea what is magical about that time. I added a bunch of log statements to see what happens at 15:00 that is different from every other hour of the day. So far I have no clue.

I’m sure the original coder had a reason for inserting these bits of code, but damned if I know what it was.

There are dozens of instances like this in the code. A one line comment would have saved me hours of work and the client several thousand dollars.

I'll go one better: I've got servers in my machine room that I don't know the purpose of. Literally in some cases the way I've found out what they do is shut them off and wait for someone to complain.

I've seen stuff like that before, typically it's intended to be temporary code put in as a way of troubleshooting or achieving a non-standard result but wasn't cleaned up properly. I see that so often that I simply assume it's the case and not even try to run it down any further. Just make it work properly and move on.

Deleting from any empty database could just be a sanity check. If it's logically supposed to be empty at a given time, it's a perfect time to clean up database errors...

Maybe they don’t want people like you on the site. I wouldn’t.

It’s not too bad considering the alternatives. Not all of my customers are able to download software so I still sell through catalogs. They get a 35-40% discount—which is more than Apple charges. Plus I need to press discs and print manuals.

It would be nice if Apple would fix the search features on the Mac and iOS Apps stores so people can actually find my software.

Comparing a digital download to physical distribution is nonsensical. The alternatives for downloaded software involve setting up your own online store and credit card processing, which costs on the order of $5/month and 3% of sales. Apple does not provide nearly enough more to justify $99/year and 30% of sales.

Can you link is to what you sell?

I think his point is that we need to work hard to avoid discouraging curiosity. Often it is replaced with rote memorization or knowing things because an authority figure says it is so.

This is particularly true in math, as it is presented in many schools.

Math is a weird topic. It can be completely wrong when teachers don't understand maths, and even with teachers that do convey the goal and added values of math, it's still off to me. The algorithms are too complex and learned without any real clues (you basically program pupils as biological Turing Machines / Arithmetic Units.. very sad).

Agreed. It takes a while to figure out what iOS7 breaks in your app, but there are plenty of resources out there that tell you exactly how to fix all of the problems. Sliding content under the top menu was the big one for me, but it’s a one line fix. (Or three if you like your if statements on multiple lines.) Turning off the bright colors for links and buttons is another one liner. It was probably less than 20 lines of code and a day’s work to update my apps.

There are a bunch of new features that I’m adding. I especially like the ability to speak text with a Siri-like voice.

I think my interfaces fit into the iOS7 ecosystem, but until they start enforcing the policy on Feb 1, I won’t really know. Figuring out what the rules really mean is always a big unknown in the app review process.