Bolyn Weekly is published every week to share events in my life, observations, and topics of interest—often, it’s just a stream of trivial thoughts.
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Do Not Accumulate Technical Debt
Recently, while reviewing some code I wrote last semester, I discovered several old issues. The code is understandable, but it’s extremely disorganized—one section implements multiple functions, and every time I generate a graph, I have to uncomment some lines and comment out others. It’s dizzying. For such process-driven tasks, the best approach is to organize the code sequentially into clearly defined sections and fully automate it. Then, you only need to replace the data, without altering anything else, and simply click run.
Additionally, some of the code was generated by AI in order to implement a feature quickly. At the time, I understood some parts and not others. Now, a closer look reveals that much of it is confusing. It works, but it might not be easy to modify. To keep using it, I need to fully understand and adjust the logic.
Nowadays, when using AI-generated code, it is essential to clarify the entire logic, especially the mathematical principles. The physical processes and syntax are secondary. Thorough comments must be added to prevent forgetting everything after some time.
Exercise
After more than six months without intense training—only jogging slowly—this week, following my running group, I finally picked up the pace again. Running alone isn’t enough; while I can maintain a steady run by myself, I can’t reach high intensities without a group. It’s easier to keep the intensity up when running with others
Troubles
Since the beginning of the term, I’ve been working on my thesis, and it’s been a headache. I’ve spent a month trying to derive the formulas without success, probably because I didn’t study much of this during my undergraduate years. The paper contains only two lines of formulas, yet it took over three thousand lines of code. My task is to derive the formulas from start to finish, replicate the results from a few published articles, and then add a few miscellaneous details. Now, midway through the process, the formulas are still not fully derived; every time I nearly complete the derivation, I fall short by a little bit. It feels never-ending. I believe I’ve memorized most of the code, but I haven’t actually run it yet. I hope the code works and doesn’t take too long to run; otherwise, I’m in trouble.
Input
Choose Kindness
Kindness comes in two forms: one where you consciously decide to be kind because you know it’s the right thing to do, and another where kindness is habitual or instinctive. When I was younger, I favored the former because I thought I was smart, and smart people choose to do the right thing. Now, I appreciate the latter more, even though I struggle to embody it.
Presence
Each Line of Code Is a Potential Bug
Every line of code you write is a potential bug. If possible, write as little code as necessary; avoid creating unused layers of abstraction. If optimizing the code would make it more complex, then don’t optimize