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Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography

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Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography

#31

Post by kirubakaran »

jcadam wrote: post #11
computerlab wrote: post #10

I 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.

I'd like to write something like this, but I'd be unemployable if any potential employers actually read it. Old enough to have learned to program on an Apple II while they were still in production == too old to work here.

Just a data point... I mention it all the time and it hasn't worked against me http://www.kirubakaran.com/about.html

Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography

#32

Post by sotojuan »

clifanatic wrote: post #30

When I read things like this, I end up feeling a lot of sympathy for kids who are trying to learn programming and "computers" nowadays. I count myself as very fortunate that I started learning programming back in the 80's when not much was expected out of computers, since they were so (relatively) underpowered. I feel like I was able to learn programming concepts at a much more leisurely pace than you're expected to…

This is a good point—I see a bunch of people overwhelmed nowadays on forums about languages, frameworks, paradigms, ideas, etc. So many! I know we say "just pick one, it doesn't matter" but still, not an easy choice.

Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography

#34

Post by pkd »

anexprogrammer wrote: post #26
onion2k wrote: post #25

I started programming before the author was born.

Yeah me too. If his bio is "excessively long", I dread to think how mine would turn out or have to be titled.

You should still write it! I would like to read people's experiences throughout the years and the things that shaped them. I am especially intrigued by people like you who got to taste technology while it was in its teens. I am sure a lot of other people would find value in it too.

Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography

#35

Post by RodericDay »

sotojuan wrote: post #32
clifanatic wrote: post #30

When I read things like this, I end up feeling a lot of sympathy for kids who are trying to learn programming and "computers" nowadays. I count myself as very fortunate that I started learning programming back in the 80's when not much was expected out of computers, since they were so (relatively) underpowered. I feel like I was able to learn programming concepts at a much more leisurely pace than you're expected to…

This is a good point—I see a bunch of people overwhelmed nowadays on forums about languages, frameworks, paradigms, ideas, etc. So many! I know we say "just pick one, it doesn't matter" but still, not an easy choice.

I picked up programming after degrees in Mechanical and Chemical engineering, wanting to understand things more than make something immediately marketable, and I've been feeling this way for a while.

Reading "Masters of Doom" I couldn't help but feel that the technical constraints that existed at the time bred craftsmanship that seems hard to justify these days. Still trying, though.

Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography

#36

Post by dergachev »

Hey, that's our little Drupal shop that's featured here. If any Montrealers are reading this, we're always on the lookout for developer interns!

Here's Tavish's blog post from 2011 about it: https://evolvingweb.ca/blog/my-internship-at-evolving-web

Tavish, thanks for the kind words. We learned a lot from you too!!!

Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography

#37

Post by agentgt »

My biz partner and I have often thought about creating a site with mini work history biographies to help others get further in their career (it is relevant because we have a recruiting software company). Perhaps even hiding personal identification of the biographer. The idea being if "I want to be a CEO how do I get there... is there an example... what are the details that don't show up on a linkedin profile / resume".

While you can certainly read biographies of famous individuals they are often too long and are often fringe cases anyway (not representative of others in the field). Also often biographies are written after or near the end of ones career so facts maybe hazy and or contextually irrelevant by the time they are published.

For software development this is no so difficult as most developers are transparent and blog but for many industries this is not the case.

Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography

#38

Post by mturmon »

bundze wrote: post #5

What'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?

It's a good question. I came up much earlier than the OP did, so I enjoyed comparing his path to mine. His story gives some context to how younger developers think. For instance, the kind of small enthusiast projects he was doing (webpages and php) were different from mine (interpreters or games -- single-computer stuff).

But there are still some similarities -- his reasons for learning vi(m) and (La)TeX were basically the same as mine -- word of mouth from people who knew more.

Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography

#39

Post by abc_lisper »

OpenDrapery wrote: post #21
throw9183111 wrote: post #19

Why is this interesting?

"Interesting" is in the eye of the beholder. If you don't think it's interesting, then it's not. Don't ask the internet to help you form an opinion.

Yeah.. we need a baby channel on hacker news!

Just kidding. I think it is telling this is on the front page - I was arguing with fetus' until now ;)

Re: Tavish’s excessively long programmer biography

#40

Post by AlexCoventry »

OpenDrapery wrote: post #21
throw9183111 wrote: post #19

Why is this interesting?

"Interesting" is in the eye of the beholder. If you don't think it's interesting, then it's not. Don't ask the internet to help you form an opinion.

I was going to ask the same question because I wondered if I was missing something.
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