korrents
Phil Hagelberg

Phil Hagelberg

@phil-hagelberg · 16 positions · On ppll ↗

Programmer known online as technomancy; author of Leiningen, the Clojure build tool, and a maintainer of the Fennel programming language.

Phil Hagelberg did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

4 of Phil Hagelberg's claims fit 4 mental models. Most often: Trade-offs, Incentives, Leaky abstractions.

Models they name

Their own words name the idea.

Trade-offs

Every choice gives something up, so name the cost; and check, because some trade-offs everyone assumes are not real.

Used by 66 others

No single way of modeling data and methods in code is universally correct; every approach is just a set of trade-offs.

  1. Phil Hagelberg Programmer known online as technomancy But I do want to stress that each of these five approaches are all just trade-offs, and none of them are universally wrong. in which five different paths lead to methodstechnomancy.us · 8 Feb 2022All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsBut I do want to stress that each of these five approaches are all just trade-offs, and none of them are universally wrong.

    ↗in which five different paths lead to methodstechnomancy.us

    8 Feb 2022

Because programming requires forgetting, developers should weigh the costs of their abstractions and who those abstractions leave out.

Mental modelLeaky abstractions

  1. Phil Hagelberg Programmer known online as technomancy Programming, of course, is forgetting, but we need to at least try to be aware of the costs of the abstractions we choose and consider who it is that ends up being forgotten. in which the word column has several meanings, none of them architecturaltechnomancy.us · 25 Jul 2022All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsProgramming, of course, is forgetting, but we need to at least try to be aware of the costs of the abstractions we choose and consider who it is that ends up being forgotten.

    ↗in which the word column has several meanings, none of them architecturaltechnomancy.us

    25 Jul 2022

Models we see in what they say

Our reading: their claim applies the idea without naming it. The claim is theirs; filing it here is ours.

Incentives

Look at what people are rewarded for; it explains more behaviour than what they say, your own included.

Used by 89 others

Real-name policies on social platforms exist mainly to make users legible for advertising and government surveillance, not user safety.

  1. Phil Hagelberg Programmer known online as technomancy the real goal was to make their users more legible, primarily for advertising purposes, but also to law enforcement and other authorities. in which legibility comes at a pricetechnomancy.us · 22 Nov 2022All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsthe real goal was to make their users more legible, primarily for advertising purposes, but also to law enforcement and other authorities.

    ↗in which legibility comes at a pricetechnomancy.us

    22 Nov 2022

Leaky abstractions

A shortcut that hides the details works until it doesn't; when it breaks, someone has to know what is underneath.

Used by 10 others

Because programming requires forgetting, developers should weigh the costs of their abstractions and who those abstractions leave out.

Mental modelTrade-offs

  1. Phil Hagelberg Programmer known online as technomancy Programming, of course, is forgetting, but we need to at least try to be aware of the costs of the abstractions we choose and consider who it is that ends up being forgotten. in which the word column has several meanings, none of them architecturaltechnomancy.us · 25 Jul 2022All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsProgramming, of course, is forgetting, but we need to at least try to be aware of the costs of the abstractions we choose and consider who it is that ends up being forgotten.

    ↗in which the word column has several meanings, none of them architecturaltechnomancy.us

    25 Jul 2022

Lock-in and switching costs

People stay with what they would not choose again because leaving costs more than staying; watch who sets that cost.

Used by 19 others

Replacing a monopolistic platform with a single alternative isn't enough — real resilience requires diversity among competing platforms.

  1. Phil Hagelberg Programmer known online as technomancy We shouldn't replace Github with one site at all; we need the strength and resilience that only comes with diversity in which more paths are charted towards code independencetechnomancy.us · 25 Apr 2026All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsWe shouldn't replace Github with one site at all; we need the strength and resilience that only comes with diversity

    ↗in which more paths are charted towards code independencetechnomancy.us

    25 Apr 2026