Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
Bite me.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                           

Please log in.
Before you can vote, you need to register. Please log in or create an account.

Micro Transaction Programming

Programming small tasks to order micro transaction
  (+2, -5)
(+2, -5)
  [vote for,
against]

The idea is to build a framework which allows people to program micro-tasks on demand for bidders. The bidders build programs from large tasks within this framework/solver which then decomposes it and then farms out the tasks to be solved by individuals. The tasks should decompose well enough so that a minimal amount of information is needed to complete the task. It's an auction based system to optimize profit for the developers and ensure quality for the bidders (ie better price == better programmer). This builds upon many ideas of human computing.
ddn3, Jul 12 2010

like this? http://www.vworker....er_RequestParm=true
[Voice, Jul 12 2010]

Design by Contract http://en.wikipedia.../Design_by_Contract
[mouseposture, Jul 13 2010]

[link]






       It will not work. The devil is in integrating the details and the "big picture". There are so many assumptions that programmers must make about the big picture when writing bits and pieces of the code. Even if you throw unit testing into the mix , it still won't work because if the programmers are testing the wrong thing, the system will still fail. On the other side if you provide that missing background information it will add too much overhead and that defeats the whole efficiency thing.
ixnaum, Jul 12 2010
  

       Rent a Coder is a step toward that.I think u can overcome the problem of dependency and integration detail, through the decomposition step. That is however the "magic" step which makes it all work, otherwise your observations are corrects.   

       This is just a seed of the idea, hopefully someone can come up with a scheme to decompose a design into sub-tasks which have fixed and known requirements and then fit it best to the people qualified, in an efficient manner.
ddn3, Jul 13 2010
  

       The problem with the lego approach:   

       Once you reach a certain complexity, perfomance suffers tremendously. And then you have to start from scratch.   

       Also, most micro-tasks have _already_ been programmed. There are libraries for every problem imaginable.   

       As has been pointed out, integration is the bigger issue.
kinemojo, Jul 13 2010
  

       //There are libraries for every problem imaginable.// And those libraries are scattered all over the place, with very uneven documentation. Finding the library you need, and dealing with its API is, effectively, what you'd be paying for, in this scheme -- and what's wrong with that? But it's not always right to use a library whenever you can. If you do, you wind up with a lot of dependencies.   

       This scheme ought to work well with the "Design by Contract" approach to software development <link>.
mouseposture, Jul 13 2010
  

       With the exponential increase in computation power and more importantly access to said power, the rules of programming will change. What takes teams years to develop could be done using automation and non-optimal lego approach for one off use applications. Imagine tasking a supercomputer cluster with making a application for cropping out images of dogs form a realtime video stream, such esoteric one off applications might be the norm in the future.
ddn3, Jul 13 2010
  

       Kind of, except that even when you increase the computing power the problem is the same ... what happens when the app suddenly runs slower because of a change in it's code? .... what do you do when your supercomputer application for cropping out images of dogs is tasked with doing the same for cats. Let's say that dogs thing ran just fine, but because someone didn't think things through on a higher level, the cats part makes the whole thing 10x slower (why? who knows ... we don't care right?) . It will still work, just 10x slower. What then? You'll need to hire someone who can see the big picture and make it run as fast as it did before. But they'll see the auto-generated micro spaghetti code and run away.   

       Or you can purchase 10x more computing power. So your future 1000 node cluster cost $5/month which was a good deal. Will you want to pay $50/month for those cats?
ixnaum, Jul 14 2010
  

       I'm sure someone will. The idea is that in nominal use case the program performs "adequately", in exception cases where the programs functionality is expanded or goes beyond normal use case it might perform less than adequate, in that case it might be cheaper to make a whole new program than try to "kludge" the existing one. The idea is that programs become one off commodities which are made on demand. Also this segways into the concept of no-maintaince programming, where programs are discarded when they cease to serve their purpose.   

       If a person was a youtube animator who paste witty messages onto videos of cats and dogs and has a million subscribers they would pay 50$ for such a service. In the coming information age, content will be king and the tool to create "unique" content will be in the most demand I suspect.
ddn3, Jul 14 2010
  

       You missed my point. I didn't say they would not pay $50 ... I said they would not pay the 10x difference. If they were paying $50 they would not pay $500 ... and if they were paying $500 they would not pay $5K and so on. The 10x jump in hardware requirement is very easy to creep in if the system is just patched together with no overall plan for integration.
ixnaum, Jul 15 2010
  

       I understand your points [ixnaum], my counter was that programs of the future are a one off commodity which are built on demand with very narrow focus. If the perform inadequately outside of that domain they have to be "rebuilt" from scratch, since that is probably "cheaper" then compensating using more CPU.   

       Given the speed of progress were approaching, a program even a year old could be hopelessly antiquated and it's easier to rebuild it than try to compensate by throwing more cpu at it.   

       To [bigsleep] your correct that step does require either human guidance or direct design.
ddn3, Jul 16 2010
  

       //... hopelessly antiquated and it's easier to rebuild it ...   

       However attractive this may be (I almost changed my vote for this because it's sounds so good) ... having thought about it more, it's not realistic at all.   

       The reason old apps are not rebuilt is that the app becomes it's own specification. For example, it's tough to rebuild DOS from scratch (even though it would take a programmer fraction of a time to do it given today's technology). The reason for this is that many of DOS's bugs, quirks and oddities are actually features. Every little oddity is necessary in the software ecosystem. By rewriting it those minuscule detail are lost. But is detail X really important? Maybe, maybe not. Finding the answer to those questions is a time consuming job.   

       Now, I know you will say, but DOS is an OS, so it's not just a regular application. To that I answer that it's very rare for an application (especially a successful and useful application) to live in a vacuum. Applications are part of a ecosystem, that's why there are so many nasty moldy legacy apps still hanging around.
ixnaum, Jul 16 2010
  

       //DOS is an OS//   

       That's awful generous of you.
Spacecoyote, Jul 16 2010
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle