RTFC

Why do some programmers prefer to spend hours yakking about what a program might be doing, or what it ought to be doing, rather than actually reading the code? I may be old-fashioned, but I think that it is the programmer's job to RTFC. Many of them ("us", actually, since I still do a lot of programming) are too lazy, especially if the code in question was written by someone else.

I think that is why some systems programmers seek to induce fear in the hearts of application programmers. I used to think that this was merely a form of torture for the sysprog's amusement, but I believe this is actually a type of training.

The sysprog's hope is that if he consistently ridicules them for asking stupid questions, eventually the questions will get better. Maybe even to the point that the programmer will start to RTFC (and RTFM!) before asking for help. A forlorn hope perhaps.