They spend time building useful things rather than getting caught up in online discussion forums.
Reading and contributing to HN is a better past time than watching TV. You can only code so many hours a day.
What Makes Great Programmers Different?
41–50 of 62 posts
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#42The only way you can be a great programmer in a meaningful sense is by putting in your best effort every single time you do some programming work, always looking out for ways to improve your work and always looking for feedback from other people, basically cultivating a "beginners mind". Once you start thinking of yourself as a great programmer, you start paying less attention to what you are actually doing and start…
The man who knows he's not wise is in fact wise?
I actually agree to some degree. Though it could definitely said that it's easier(less time & struggle) for some to create great programs than it is for others.
My entire life as a programmer has been about consistent and constant improvement. A little bit of improvement every day, every project. Committing to the craft(reading, exploring new langs/tools) will definitely allow you to create better and better code as the years go by.
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#43> The other group, the reckless, consists of those who have the skills but don't have the discipline. They are the cowboy programmers of yore. They code according to their own desires, do nothing to integrate their work with that of others, scrimp on basic discipline, and cause work for other team members. It is worthwhile to note that Steve, Linus, Feynmann (last one in physics, not coding) all belong to this catego…
I've never understood the hate for cowboy coders. A great cowboy coder can do the work of an entire team. It's so typical for people to cry that the cowboy causes work for others, but I've never seen it myself, and I expect the great many who claim it are just following the group-think they've had drilled into their heads.
If you inherit a program from some other maintainer, there is a learning curve no matter what. A good programmer quickly learns how it's put together and plays the field they're on.
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#44Am I the only one who feels like commentary that categorizes "good" and "bad" programmers is unhelpful? One can make a good case for somebody having more appreciable traits than another, but I would be loathe to call either "good" or "bad", even in comparison to each other. This kind of labeling is just namecalling, more harmful than helpful, a stroking of egos. The reality is that different people have varying stren…
The most important trait for me would be Passion.
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#45Is memory really that important? I'm just starting out with programming right now and I have rather poor memory.
It's important, but I don't think it's crucial. I've seen a couple programmers that are really good that do not have good memories. They always have apis and cheat sheets open in their browsers they are constantly referencing, along with frequent searches on google.
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#46"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 agree that greatness in part depends on a certain innate talent, and most of us, no matter how hard we may try, will never get there. I think the difference between his categorization of "Good programmers" and its subcategory of "Really good programmers" is the more interesting one though. Too many programmers seem to lack (or have lost) that drive to continually improve themselves, having become content with…
I'm on board with this statement. I've realized for quite awhile that there are some guys who are just on another level in terms of sheer ability. Sadly I am not one of them.
I've run across a fair number of the 9-5 guys who used to be really good/good & use that as motivation to never allow it to happen to me. Always gotta push forward.
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#47Is memory really that important? I'm just starting out with programming right now and I have rather poor memory.
Yes, but you don't have a poor memory, you have an untrained memory.
Nobody has an innately poor memory unless they've received egregious brain damage.
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#48I know one programmer who I would call great. Here's what I've observed from him so far: 1-A serious amount of fucks are given both via attention to detail, polish, and no corners are cut. I have been lazy comparatively and often accepted "good enough." I'm working on changing this so that my priority is what is awesome for the user, not easiest for me to implement. 2-At the micro level, before setting out with any n…
Impressive. On point 5, thing is as a programmer (any career actually) with years of code experience, you just know the possible cause for any bug, and what function/class is at fault.
To elaborate, debugging is basically "applied memory recall". When you see a symptom, what happens is that you start guessing how it could have manifested. Sheer experience basically gives you better guesses.
I've been able to debug more effectively than my coding skill level would imply by dint of my better recall ability.
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#49So, how do you know if you are a bad programmer? It seems that a programmer could be bad but think they are great....
Simple test: Find something you like in their code and ask them, "Why did you do this?"
Re: What Makes Great Programmers Different?
#50> The other group, the reckless, consists of those who have the skills but don't have the discipline. They are the cowboy programmers of yore. They code according to their own desires, do nothing to integrate their work with that of others, scrimp on basic discipline, and cause work for other team members. It is worthwhile to note that Steve, Linus, Feynmann (last one in physics, not coding) all belong to this catego…
You are using "cowboy coder" dramatically different than thr Dr. Dobbs article. He's talking about the kind of person who leaves bits of their shopping list in a comment in the source code.