Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography
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Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography
#2Could this be used like a resume?
Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography
#3Could this be used like a resume?
I wouldn't recommend it. It's too long and too unstructured for that purpose. Also it's inverted such that the most important parts are at the very end. If the CV is so long that it probably won't be read completely by everyone involved in a hiring process, you at least want the most relevant parts in the beginning.
It also doesn't quite work as a story, since it's mostly just a list of events. Even biographies need a narrative arc and some kind of a hook. So it's perhaps best to just take the README at face value on why this was written: "I want to learn more about how people learn what they learn and examine the sometimes serendipitous or roundabout ways that people come by their skills."
Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography
#4[deleted]
Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography
#5What's the point actually? I mean, I admire the diligence required to write it all down but how should this change my outlook on programming? The general idea is 'in order to be a good programmer, keep doing computer stuff'. Do we need extensive biographies full of details to learn this?
Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography
#6What's the point actually? I mean, I admire the diligence required to write it all down but how should this change my outlook on programming? The general idea is 'in order to be a good programmer, keep doing computer stuff'. Do we need extensive biographies full of details to learn this?
I don't think there needs to be a point. I enjoyed reading the story, and comparing it to my own.
Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography
#7TL;DR - Programming - don't get discouraged, it's hard but possible for anyone really - fun too sometimes! ;)
Really great write-up to share with aspiring programmers of all kinds - debunks a lot of stories many of us tell themselves and others ;)
I hope for more honest personal stories like these (not only for "programming"?) - always great to read about those. The internet (IRC and forums like HN especially) has always been doing that for me and I hope it continues to be that way for others too (anyone willing to learn really).
Edit: I've seen he knows and mentions Julia Evans - I've got the feeling that the Montreal "scene" is on the forefront in terms of inclusivity - big fan here - cheers from the old world :)
Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography
#8Looking forward to the exciting conclusion, did the author just get their first prof prog job? Does that make them good, or hireable, or are they the same? I don't believe so.
Maybe keep it going, and it'll get really interesting around years 5, 10, or even 20 past their first prof job.
Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography
#9This reminded me of this 'technical memoir' discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10412868
Also the book "Proudly Serving my Corporate Masters: 10 years as a Microsoft programmer"
Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography
#10I wrote up something similar a few months ago called "Everything I Have Ever Programmed": https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/everything-i-have-ever-progra...
I recommend taking a bit of time to do a similar write-up, it comes easily and you'll probably be surprised by the sheer amount of stuff you've worked on, and might see some interesting patterns.