Column

I like new movies and old music.

Why new movies but old music?

Maybe new TV is better because old movies – and TV – were not very good simply because moving pictures were a new medium, and it has taken artists time to mature.

Maybe old music is better because rock 'n' roll of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s was particularly brilliant, a musical Renaissance era.

But we do know that art is subjective; what I like is not necessarily what you like.

So though I prefer contemporary movies over the classics, some people opt for the opposite; they think old TV shows were the Renaissance period – and I just have no taste for good television.

Is there possibly another explanation, having to do with repetition?

Does repetition strengthen and reinforce one’s preference? Or do we just repeat things we like... a lot?

I often watch every episode and every season of a TV show I enjoy, but I watch each episode only once. Each episode is similar, but different. The patterns of the characters and interactions are similar, but the dialogue and exact story is, of course, different.

But with music, not only do I listen to the same artists, I listen to the same songs over and over again. I’ve heard “Jailhouse Rock” a million times, but only watched the movie once or twice. Hearing something I like, repeatedly, reinforces the song’s pattern, makes me more comfortable with it, and, I think, ultimately leads me to liking it more.

The same could be said of software patterns.

Building on my last article on “Sculpting Conditionals,” nothing helps me more than reviewing someone else's code. I can quickly detect a pattern I’m not familiar with. Frequently, an unfamiliar design pattern indicates trouble. And if the bad pattern occurs once in a code review, it’s worth checking to see if it was done elsewhere in code that is already committed. Unfamiliar patterns should be a klaxon horn, something deserving attention. After some study I might discover that the new pattern is actually better than the old pattern, and it will become something I adopt, but it is always initially a warning.