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I just need a programmer

cs.uni.edu

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Re: I just need a programmer

#71

Post by Locke1689 »

sudont wrote: post #25
nhangen wrote: post #9

I'm one of these guys. Why didn't I learn to program? I had maybe an hour/day in between my job and my side hustle, and I just didn't have enough time to get through the problems in order to be a good programmer. Since then, I've found that watching projects come to life, while learning on the side, has made it much easier to pick up Objective C, Javascript, Ruby, etc. Of course, I didn't expect programmers to work f…

Luckily the base thinking skills transfer over, so learning how to program in Java/C means that the student now knows how to program irregardless of the language. Picking up a new language is less like learning a new dialect and more like learning the local slang and customs. Except for MUMPS. Fuck that shit.

Except for MUMPS. Fuck that shit.

Amen.

Re: I just need a programmer

#73

Post by megaframe »

I'm with this guy, if I have Ideas I learn to implement them myself, if nothing else even if I got other people to do the work I know what they're going through to do it so I can plan for it, and as issues arise I can help not just sit around trying to motivate.

Re: I just need a programmer

#74

Post by timwiseman »

danenania wrote: post #68
timwiseman wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I must respectfully beg to differ on your interpretation. The way your describe your "computationally literate and well-developed idea " is not at all what most people consider an idea. It is pseudo-code, which really is the vast majority of the implementation. Since I started using Python I no longer bother with pseudo-code at all, but when I was using Java I considered a complete pseudo-code 90% of the implementati…

Good post, but in my experience full mockups and pseudo-code is still not close to 90% of the final product unless I'm doing something that is trivial for me. There is just too much complexity that emerges in places which are difficult-to-impossible to anticipate until I've dug into code and physically tested the ideas I've laid out in pseudo-code. I'd probably put the number more in the range of 25-50% depending on…

As you say, it depends on the problem. Working in mathematics, if I have the algorithm, turning it into code is almost always very easy, but getting that algorithm can be very hard indeed.

Even if we put the number somewhere between 25-50% depending on the project, that is still a long way away from just having an idea. That still constitutes substantial progress and a solid start on execution.

Re: I just need a programmer

#75

Post by disgruntled »

The problem with offering equity is that it's often just a dangling carrot that never materializes. I've worked for several startups offering stock options over the years and observed an alarming pattern: programmers are treated as commodities to develop the idea, then laid off before the product launch. The C-levels reap all the gains and the product builders go collect unemployment.

Re: I just need a programmer

#76

Post by gamble »

angrycoder wrote: post #39

As someone who has spent most of his career at a consultancy, people like this put food on my table. The ones who end up being successful understand that they need to learn just as much about the process of software development and usability as we need to learn about their vertical. They understand that a good product is a result of give and take with your developers and analysts. The ones who fail are the type A alp…

Number 1 is so, so true.

After being burned a couple of times on this, the first thought that comes to mind when someone claims to be a subject-matter expert is that they're really an expert in the business processes used by one particular organization. It's very rare to meet someone who has sufficiently broad experience in an industry to know how and why processes differ between companies.

Re: I just need a programmer

#77

Post by nkassis »

timwiseman wrote: post #67
geebee wrote: post #14

This is a good post. I'd take it one step farther. To say the idea is nothing without the execution still (kind of) suggests that they are different things. I think that where it comes to software, the execution is the idea. I wouldn't quite claim that ideas aren't worth much. I know a few academics, and they are rightly careful about sharing their ideas before they get far enough with the implementation (lab work, p…

I know a few academics, and they are rightly careful about sharing their ideas before they get far enough with the implementation (lab work, publications) to ensure that they will be credited. Perhaps it is just different fields, but most academics I know (I know math from my own graduate studies and history indirectly through my wife) will talk your ear off about their current work if you express a willingness to li…

This blog post seems to have something about that: http://pospapendix.blogspot.com/2008/04/richard-feynman-stor... (it's in there somewhere, search for patent)

Re: I just need a programmer

#78

Post by kenjackson »

gregpilling wrote: post #3
wccrawford wrote: post #2

Wait, so they're surprised that they can't find students willing to work hard in return for some vague hope of money in the future? Wow. Color me shocked. /sarcasm And the advice that they could just learn programming themselves? I don't think anyone ever says 'I need X, but don't know anything about it myself. I'll just learn it.' (At least, nobody that thinks logically.) It doesn't work that way. (Okay, granted, so…

"I don't think anyone ever says 'I need X, but don't know anything about it myself. I'll just learn it.'" Yes, people do that. Like me, when I was interested in having a strawbale house I read a book and built a strawbale house (took 6 months). Learned a lot about construction in the process. When I wanted a website, I read a book and built my first website. Like the house, it was not the ultimate expression in its f…

You're definitely unusual. Almost everything I own I bought by exchanging cash for the product. Most services, I exchange cash for the service. I generate the cash by doing things I'm good at.

My dad is unusual too though. Say you need a new dryer, he'll go on and tell you that all it is is some heating something or other, sheet metal, yada yada yada. I'm half way to Sears... :-)

Re: I just need a programmer

#79

Post by earl »

sudont wrote: post #25
nhangen wrote: post #9

I'm one of these guys. Why didn't I learn to program? I had maybe an hour/day in between my job and my side hustle, and I just didn't have enough time to get through the problems in order to be a good programmer. Since then, I've found that watching projects come to life, while learning on the side, has made it much easier to pick up Objective C, Javascript, Ruby, etc. Of course, I didn't expect programmers to work f…

Luckily the base thinking skills transfer over, so learning how to program in Java/C means that the student now knows how to program irregardless of the language. Picking up a new language is less like learning a new dialect and more like learning the local slang and customs. Except for MUMPS. Fuck that shit.

You worked for epic too?

Re: I just need a programmer

#80

Post by sudont »

earl wrote: post #79
sudont wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Luckily the base thinking skills transfer over, so learning how to program in Java/C means that the student now knows how to program irregardless of the language. Picking up a new language is less like learning a new dialect and more like learning the local slang and customs. Except for MUMPS. Fuck that shit.

You worked for epic too?

Hah, no. I do know a couple of their senior engineers--who get the privilege of using .NET over MUMPS.
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