Shanti’s Dispatches

My Blog Comment Autofill Greasemonkey script is back.

In its first incarnation, you’d be on Digg, reddit, etc and the script would actually fill in your blog’s URL into the submission field!

Now, I check the meta generator tag, i.e. if you view source on this page you’ll see something like this in the header:

<meta name=”generator” content=”WordPress 2.3.2″ />

Typepad is also supported. Blogger has a bollocks commenting system, so this script will not work with Blogger blogs.

The Open Source Itch

This script was born because it was simply maddening to have to retype my details every time I wanted to post a quick blurb in a blog comment.

That’s why many open source projects start out as hacks and only gradually morph into more sophisticated projects.

I’ve come across many coders who have not properly planned their Greatist Hits of programming, per se.

Sit across from a group of coders at your average meetup, and ask them if they write tests first for their fun “side project”:

Dev #1: Well, y’know, I kind of just develop the code (without tests) as I go.
Dev #2: If I had more time, y’know… I’d write tests, and stuff.

This mirrors my own tinkerings. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with Test-Driven Development or that it’s in any way inferior to Cowboy Method (TM).

I’m just saying… a lot of hackers… hackers in the wild, do not tend to follow TDD when tinkering on their own fun projects.

I would add tests… but I might change this later, and then I’d have to change the tests, too.

Ah screw it. I’ll just code it up and get the darn thing working first…

A lot of these projects end up being the del.icio.uses, YouTubes and Scribds of the world.