What Makes Great Programmers Different?
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What Makes Great Programmers Different?
1–10 of 62 posts
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#2They spend time building useful things rather than getting caught up in online discussion forums.
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#3So, how do you know if you are a bad programmer? It seems that a programmer could be bad but think they are great....
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#4So, how do you know if you are a bad programmer? It seems that a programmer could be bad but think they are great....
Wait, you mean like how everyone is in the top 10% and they only hire the elusive 1%?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_superiority
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#5"being capable of quickly shifting registers from the large picture to small details and back again — relies on the strong memory"
Something like that, yes. Just huge memory and fast processor. And unfortunatelly it is just talent, after 10-15 years in the profession you will see your limits: your programing skills can be developed further and further to be very good, but it cannot be developed to be really great. I am a good programmer, but not a great one. When I was young, I thought I am great (winning some small math competitions when I was a child helped to develop this false belief), but now I know I am just good: I don't have that incredible brain power (memory + speed).
But I am not depressed: being good is also fun, and anyway programming is not my identity: my identity is more a combination of software product design + programming.
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#6"being capable of quickly shifting registers from the large picture to small details and back again — relies on the strong memory" Something like that, yes. Just huge memory and fast processor. And unfortunatelly it is just talent, after 10-15 years in the profession you will see your limits: your programing skills can be developed further and further to be very good, but it cannot be developed to be really great. I…
I would hope your identity was more closely linked to friends, family and hobbies than your career, regardless of how much you enjoy what you do.
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#7"being capable of quickly shifting registers from the large picture to small details and back again — relies on the strong memory" Something like that, yes. Just huge memory and fast processor. And unfortunatelly it is just talent, after 10-15 years in the profession you will see your limits: your programing skills can be developed further and further to be very good, but it cannot be developed to be really great. I…
I would hope your identity was more closely linked to friends, family and hobbies than your career, regardless of how much you enjoy what you do.
I can by the friends and family portion, but why would it be better to have your identity linked to your hobbies than to your career?
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would hope your identity was more closely linked to friends, family and hobbies than your career, regardless of how much you enjoy what you do.
I can by the friends and family portion, but why would it be better to have your identity linked to your hobbies than to your career?
Because you have more control over your hobbies. At the end of the day, the success of your career is (at least in part) dependant on luck and the decisions of others.
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#9"being capable of quickly shifting registers from the large picture to small details and back again — relies on the strong memory" Something like that, yes. Just huge memory and fast processor. And unfortunatelly it is just talent, after 10-15 years in the profession you will see your limits: your programing skills can be developed further and further to be very good, but it cannot be developed to be really great. I…
I would hope your identity was more closely linked to friends, family and hobbies than your career, regardless of how much you enjoy what you do.
Definitely much of my identity is linked to my family (especially since my children have been born).
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#10So, how do you know if you are a bad programmer? It seems that a programmer could be bad but think they are great....
It's really hard to know how competent you are in any field, if you are incompetent.
There are known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. The problem with really bad programmers, is that the unknown unknowns for them are really large... so they have no ability to gauge just how incompetent they are.