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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

#101

Post by jodrellblank »

ogre_codes wrote: post #94
jodrellblank wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I simply don't believe he lacks those skills. He says " Python. I feel bad about this one — I have worked with Python for several years at some point and I’ve never bothered to actually learn it. " He's skilled at JavaScript and C# and worked with Python for years, what's the betting he's as good as any typical Python developer, if not better? Pretty good, I'd think. > " I struggle to read either LISP-inspired (like…

> I suspect he is more capable than he's making out; politely talking himself down. Why? If you are heads down working on core Javascript technologies, why do you step over and dig into learning more than the basics of Python? Likewise most of these languages/ skills.

Because I've seen what people who "don't know Python" post on the internet. They can't match parentheses, can't make code that runs at all, don't know the difference between a string and an int, can't distinguish function return from printing. They definitely aren't people who have skills in JavaScript, C#, know the basics of Big-O notation and have worked with Python for several years.

I'll accept his word that he doesn't know the details of Python module imports, that he isn't an expert, but surely there's a difference between "not expert at X" and "don't know X"?

Re: Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

#102

Post by saagarjha »

porknubbins wrote: post #75
watermelon59 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not exactly that, but when reading Coders at Work I was surprised to learn that a lot of big names in our field use "printf debugging" and don't like actual debugging tools. Made me feel less bad about it :)

I’ve found that the more state and code paths to the bug, or the more confused I am about the bug the more likely I am to need a bunch of print statements. Debugging for me is a fine scalpel that works great when I think I precisely understand what is going on but my code appears to be doing something impossible. Starting stepping at the top of a program and just looking for what goes wrong is a usually a huge time s…

Debuggers are in almost all cases a superset of print statements. However, you have to learn how to use them effectively since there’s so much you can do. I assure you that single stepping to the problem is not how to use a debugger to find problems ;)

Re: Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

#103

Post by saagarjha »

kebman wrote: post #72

I noticed he didn't know much about Rust. And I really want to learn Rust. Except it seems the installation size is reprehensible. Is there a way to install a minimum version to get started with some fiddling about?

There’s a playground you can try in the browser: https://play.rust-lang.org/

Re: Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

#104

Post by _jy3k »

krimbus wrote: post #100
a4444f wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The older I am, the more experience I have, the harder i find landing a job. 10+ years of experience, multiple companies. Also, not that many techs/skills from earlier years are applicable now, it seems that there were couple of technology cycles since then, and more experienced persons may have no much advantage over younger persons. If people you know do not know much, then the people you know do not know much, the…

> Also, not that many techs/skills from earlier years are applicable now, it seems that there were couple of technology cycles since then Out of curiosity, could you elaborate on that?

Sure, for example one time I was proficient in DOS low level programming, not a very useful skill now. Also, typically, when a language or technology gets any good, it already becomes obsoleted by something else (examples Delphi Pascal, Perl). What is fashionable is already on its way of being uncool. I guess Java and Python are next (very decent technologies). Though I believe there is a real progress in IT, GPT3 for example. But it happens through obsoleting older technologies. And I can't really say, that I'm better that younger programmers, because one time I knew something unusable today, I think the converse is true. There is no happy ending. I guess escort services are similar to IT (not much premium for older/experienced "workers"). I guess the knowledge that is current in IT year-by-year is called mathematics.

Re: Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

#105

Post by Flex247A »

kebman wrote: post #72

I noticed he didn't know much about Rust. And I really want to learn Rust. Except it seems the installation size is reprehensible. Is there a way to install a minimum version to get started with some fiddling about?

You could try installing the MinGW version of the compiler

Re: Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

#106

Post by tug0fwar »

MeinBlutIstBlau wrote: post #22

This article really makes me feel good as a current intern and comp sci student. I thought I clearly defined what a junior dev could be if I worked at it for another year. Having read all the stuff this guy doesn't know and what I've learned at my internship, it's almost any hint of imposter syndrome I might of had went away. Now I'm not saying he doesn't know how to program. I'm just saying it's very interesting to…

Don't be too quick to take it at face value. It's hard to write down what is actually in one's head, even for experienced writers. I'm sure he'll tell you a lot more on the stuff he claims he doesn't know if you had the good fortune of having a chat with him in person. Also, keep in mind that he probably knows deeply about some things and their extents, and so his definition of words like 'fuzzy' should be different from that of an intern's. As he puts it himself,

> Experienced developers have valuable expertise despite knowledge gaps

contributes heavily to

> learning technologies when I need them

which can be very valuable.

Re: Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

#107

Post by copperx »

watermelon59 wrote: post #34
nemo1618 wrote: post #17

I'd love to see lists like this from more high-profile programmers. What does John Carmack not know? What does Dan Bernstein not know? What does Bryan Cantrill not know?

Not exactly that, but when reading Coders at Work I was surprised to learn that a lot of big names in our field use "printf debugging" and don't like actual debugging tools. Made me feel less bad about it :)

The one exception I remember is Knuth. He loves a debugger.

Re: Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

#108

Post by andrewingram »

ErikAugust wrote: post #9
andrewingram wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you can also apply JIT to learning as well. Depending on your work, you may come across a situation that needs these things anywhere on the continuum from often to never. As the OP is a Facebook employee working as a core React team member, not knowing all these things clearly hasn't been a huge blocker. But similarly, he might well know these things to an above-average level, and just think that he doesn't.

"As the OP is a Facebook employee working as a core React team member, not knowing all these things clearly hasn't been a huge blocker." In a practical sense that should be fine, given the level of specialization that a company like Facebook can have given its size and scope. But I wonder if Dan would make it through the average Facebook engineer interview without his Redux cred however. He is also the rare person wh…

He was hired at the same conference at which he showcased Redux for the first time (as a byproduct of the content of his actual talk, which was time-travel debugging), so it's unlikely it directly gave him the cred necessary to get hired, since he was already in the hiring pipeline.

Re: Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

#109

Post by 908B64B197 »

_jy3k wrote: post #104
krimbus wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also, not that many techs/skills from earlier years are applicable now, it seems that there were couple of technology cycles since then Out of curiosity, could you elaborate on that?

Sure, for example one time I was proficient in DOS low level programming, not a very useful skill now. Also, typically, when a language or technology gets any good, it already becomes obsoleted by something else (examples Delphi Pascal, Perl). What is fashionable is already on its way of being uncool. I guess Java and Python are next (very decent technologies). Though I believe there is a real progress in IT, GPT3 fo…

I don't know.

When I see several total stack changes on a resume it sends me a strong signal that the person can adapt and learn.

Re: Things I Don’t Know as of 2018

#110

Post by aliceryhl »

alexanderscott wrote: post #38

no offense, but from this list the author is either 1) stuck in a particular domain or language or 2) not very proactive in broader learning or side projects. I agree it’s ok to not program C or understand network/transport layer in depth. but things like unix shell basics, python, micro services, docker - these are all fundamentals I assume everyone (backend, frontend, mobile, or game engine) has working understandi…

That seems like a weird list. Python? Micro services? Docker?

I have only passing familiarity with Python and as for the two others, I just know what the tools are for, but have never touched either, and I am certainly a proficient developer. My workplace just happens to use other tools.

I am very proficient with the unix shell myself, but there are certainly competent developers where I work that are not.

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