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Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

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Re: Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

#31
post #13

There's three kinds of article you can write: 1, things you know about 2, things you don't know about (this article as an example) 3, things you don't know you don't know about (hackernoon and medium are full of this kind of c*ap, people creaming their pants over switching their computer on for the first time) There's absolutely zero value in the last two, they add so much noise and worse they make the author look li…

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Re: Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

#32
Sometimes there’s an unrealistic expectation that engineers know everything, but senior engineers I’ve worked with and hired knew most of that list... at least somewhat.

Yes, comfort with bash and a knowledge of how networking actually works is something I expect someone working on computer software for 10+ years to have gotten familiar with at some point.

I also expect people who build libraries inspired by prior work (FRP) to actually learn a bit about the prior work. I’m surprised he has not dabbled with functional programming.

Re: Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

#34
post #13

There's three kinds of article you can write: 1, things you know about 2, things you don't know about (this article as an example) 3, things you don't know you don't know about (hackernoon and medium are full of this kind of c*ap, people creaming their pants over switching their computer on for the first time) There's absolutely zero value in the last two, they add so much noise and worse they make the author look li…

There is more to writing than just the content. The history and the background of the author plays a significant role. Let me give some reasons WRT this article:

1. In this article, the author says that he does not know streams. Now, when he learns it well, he can write about "How he learned about streams", and a beginner would empathize more with this article rather than some expert ranting about it in their blog. 2. It is inspiring for the readers. It sends a message: "If you master one skill and master it well, you can still add a lot of value to the world. Knowing everything in the field is not really important". 3. Many people write not just for others, but also for themselves. Making your insecurities public is a good way to acknowledge and face them.

Re: Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

#35

> People often assume that I know far more than I actually do. That’s not a bad problem to have and I’m not complaining. It is also not a good problem to have, either. There will always be a few people who think you know everything, and a few people who think you know nothing. The only plausible reason why everybody would think you know everything is that you act like you know everything around everybody. Put differe…

> It is much better to be underestimated than to be overestimated

Being constantly underestimated probably doesn't feel so great when it's hard to find employment or when people don't respect your technical opinions.

Re: Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

#36
Very surprised that he is not expert at functional programming...

I always assumed that all the folks behind React were driven by a desire to make web programming more functional generally - that this was an ideal toward which they thought we should be working. And furthermore assumed that this was informed by a deep understanding of functional programming generally and the reasons why it is desirable as a programming methodology.

That inspired me to learn more about functional programming... which definitely wasn't a bad thing to do.

But I guess I have just been projecting - I have a friend who I've always considered smarter than me who raves about functional programming... and I guess I just thought this is what smart people generally have come to realise is the god's truth about programming.

It's good to know in a way that Dan is not in fact this religious about it. I wonder how other React devs feel.

Re: Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

#37
I would like a list to see what he does know, according to himself. Somehow I get giddy making a comparison between what he knows and doesn’t know. I want to make a mental model of what a real dev looks like, even if it is a biased one.

Re: Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

#39
Not to derail the core message, but one learning approach I've enjoyed in the past is to come up with a list like this and then try to learn a little bit about all of them. Doesn't need to be deep knowledge, just a basic "hello world" or equivalent to get your feet wet. It's a lot harder to get breadth when you stick to technologies that solve a problem you're facing, so sometimes it's fun to just explore a technology for the sake of seeing what it's like. Maybe with a more solid basic understanding, you'll recognize a case in the future where it could be useful or where it would be fun to throw into a side project. Also, some technologies may stand out as more fun and things that you naturally want to dig into further.

Of course, that doesn't mean you now know any of these things, but even some small experience breaks through a psychological barrier, from something intimidating and unknown to something a bit more tangible.

Re: Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

#40
post #9

I don't know anything about the person who wrote this, but I know almost everything they don't know. Am I a much better programmer/engineer than I thought?

I’ve been programming for almost 30 years, know most of the things on his list, but a few years ago I got an email from a guy interested in one of my apps and he told me about the apps he built and how much money he was making. He had nearly zero programming experience or skill, but his apps were more successful than mine.

My point is that knowing 20 different programming languages did not make me more successful or better. This guy kind of sort of knew one language and was crushing me in sales.

On an unrelated note, I knew a guy that knew every new tool and language under the sun. Was always learning the latest thing. Terrible engineer —- everything too complicated and abstracted. Hard to follow, hard to work with.

I don’t believe knowing more necissarily makes for a better enginner at all.

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