On Wizards and Sorcerers

In Wizards and Sorcerers, Viktor Löfgren describes two ways in which people approach the task of getting computers to do one’s bidding (a.k.a. programming).

There are many such dichotomies, but this one resonated with me since I’d recently tried a transition between these dichotomies. My natural inclination has been what Viktor describes as a Wizard, but a few months ago, just for experiment’s sake, I forced myself to work in a pattern that, on reading his post, feels like a Sorcerer.

I don’t have an outcome of experiment to state (other than remarking it has been fun!). I feel both these ways are valid, in fact in a team one wants a mixture of both since the best search algorithm is usually a mixture of both breadth and depth first search, with a sprinkling of heuristics atop.

Viktor runs Marginalia, a search engine that specializes in indexing what has variously been described as the old web, the indie web, the small web. Marginalia also has an explore page that you can use as a gateway to countless hours of surfing, similar to Joy’s rabbit holes.