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68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

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Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#131

Post by ashtonkem »

Scarblac wrote: post #126
ashtonkem wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nonsense. You can migrate a back end developer to the front end in far less time than it takes to train a new front end developer from scratch. The domain knowledge of front end specific tasks must be learned, sure, but the core fundamentals of how to program remain. You don’t suddenly forget how to actually program once you pick up JS, all jokes notwithstanding.

True for the programming part of front end development, not so much for the making things look good part.

Having crossed over from a back end developer to a front-end developer at a design shop, it’s not that hard. Nowhere near as hard as learning to program the very first time. I think that a lot of the discussed differences between different portions of the “stack” is actually the narcissism of small differences [0]; they share more in common than we typically give them credit for.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism_of_small_difference...

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#132

Post by SloopJon »

CivBase wrote: post #123
anthony_r wrote: post #100

> Never use a credit card for credit. The only kind of credit, or debt, that is acceptable is debt to acquire something whose exchange value is extremely likely to increase, like in a home. The exchange value of most things diminishes or vanishes the moment you purchase them. Don’t be in debt to losers. While true on credit, I would like to point out that the statement "something whose exchange value is extremely lik…

I did not buy a house because I expected it to appreciate in value. I bought a house because the alternative was to pay rent. Rent is a service. A renter does not get anything of inherent, transferable value out of the exchange. A renter is also subject to the whims of his/her landlord and, from my experience, a renter has to move regularly to avoid rent increases and bad landlords. The majority of my mortgage paymen…

> The majority of my mortgage payment goes towards ownership of a product - my house

For many (most?) people that's not true. Even ignoring that mortgage payments often include property taxes and/or private mortgage insurance, you can expect to pay more interest than principal for the first fifteen years or more of a thirty-year mortgage.

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#133

Post by sojournerc »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #107

Here's one I heard elsewhere, and isn't in the list. If you're searching for something important, search until you find one that satisfies all your requirements. Then, don't stop, keep searching until you find a better one. Then stop. This raises you maybe a whole standard deviation in quality, without taking exponential time. Works for all sorts of things. A new pair of shoes; a favorite dish in a restaurant; a spou…

Good luck searching for your next spouse while you have one ;)

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#135

Post by ashtonkem »

timw4mail wrote: post #98
jacquesm wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's dated. This used to be true, absolutely. But the size of various eco-systems is such that if you want to really master something now you have to invest a lot of time and if you bet on the wrong horse then you can lose a lot of time and effort for little return. Front end is especially brutal in this sense.

That's because "front-end development", especially with JavaScript frameworks, is a popularity driven hype cycle.

That appears to have calmed down significantly in the past few years, with React in particular showing a level of stability and staying power in this space that I thought was impossible.

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#136

Post by oldsklgdfth »

jstanley wrote: post #71

> Pros are just amateurs who know how to gracefully recover from their mistakes. This is very true. Last year I saw a motorcycle stunt display in the Isle of Man. It was all very impressive, and the chap had extremely good control of the bike, but the time that his skill was most apparent was when he had the rear wheel of the bike on a car bonnet and it started sliding off to one side. I thought he was for sure going…

While doing some home improvement with a friend I kept trying to get everything just right.

My friend's response was "A craftsman is someone that can cover up their screw ups".

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#137

Post by ashtonkem »

anthony_r wrote: post #100

> Never use a credit card for credit. The only kind of credit, or debt, that is acceptable is debt to acquire something whose exchange value is extremely likely to increase, like in a home. The exchange value of most things diminishes or vanishes the moment you purchase them. Don’t be in debt to losers. While true on credit, I would like to point out that the statement "something whose exchange value is extremely lik…

Owning a home is useful in that you must have somewhere to live, and ownership can reduce your cost of living. That’s separate from the price rising, even stable prices allow you to build equity and lower your CoL.

My unpopular opinion is that home prices should fluctuate around inflation, barring sudden changes in local population. The utility of a home is effectively fixed, most of us will never afford two, making the ability for them to rise in value faster than wages in the area limited. Furthermore, without maintenance and occasional renovations homes actually degrade, implying that their value should actually slip slightly compared to inflation without occasional infusions of cash.

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#138

Post by jimmydddd »

9nGQluzmnq3M wrote: post #73
jstanley wrote: post #71

> Pros are just amateurs who know how to gracefully recover from their mistakes. This is very true. Last year I saw a motorcycle stunt display in the Isle of Man. It was all very impressive, and the chap had extremely good control of the bike, but the time that his skill was most apparent was when he had the rear wheel of the bike on a car bonnet and it started sliding off to one side. I thought he was for sure going…

This is true in many fields, including IT. Anybody can install a piece of software by repeatedly clicking OK, and most of the time it'll go fine, but you'll need the expert when the install/upgrade goes horribly wrong with a slew of incomprehensible error messages.

Agreed. Reminds me of a friend in finance who oversees reconciling the transactions at the end of the day. He says that most days he does almost nothing, but every once in a while, at the end of the day, the department can't track down where some $300 milion transaction ended up. That's when his expertise comes into play.

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#139

Post by ardit33 »

Autowired wrote: post #115

> Everyone is shy. Other people are waiting for you to introduce yourself to them, they are waiting for you to send them an email, they are waiting for you to ask them on a date. Go ahead. Maybe take this one with a grain of salt.

Yeah, the author is projecting here. Assuming others feel/think the same as he does or did at some point.

Re: 68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

#140

Post by earthboundkid »

SloopJon wrote: post #132
CivBase wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did not buy a house because I expected it to appreciate in value. I bought a house because the alternative was to pay rent. Rent is a service. A renter does not get anything of inherent, transferable value out of the exchange. A renter is also subject to the whims of his/her landlord and, from my experience, a renter has to move regularly to avoid rent increases and bad landlords. The majority of my mortgage paymen…

> The majority of my mortgage payment goes towards ownership of a product - my house For many (most?) people that's not true. Even ignoring that mortgage payments often include property taxes and/or private mortgage insurance, you can expect to pay more interest than principal for the first fifteen years or more of a thirty-year mortgage.

Yes, if you look at your mortgage payments, very little is going to principal.

On the flipside, when you rent, you get certain services—maintenance of property and major appliances—that you don't get as a home owner. When I started my mortgage I was surprised at how much money I started spending on home stuff that I never used to spend as a renter. Partly it's because you own it so you have higher standards, but partly you're just eating costs that used to be hidden.

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