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It is an amazing time for programmers

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Re: It is an amazing time for programmers

#81

Post by jlundberg »

krapp wrote: post #55

This seems to be a submarine advertisement for a telephony API startup. It seems like it's been around for a few years so it probably isn't vibe-coded, but I do wonder if even small services like this will inevitably be gobbled up by AI. Like I know it probably isn't the case but I've become so jaded now that I'm looking at their teams page and wonder if these are even real people. Yes it's an amazing time for progra…

Author here.

Actually wrote the draft on this in January but last week finally got enough time to complete this with proper project links etc.

We are certainly real people, except for one of the faces on our /support page who’s signature we use when replying to particularly aggressive fraudsters (to avoid feeling personally offended).

The service might look easy on the surface, but getting all required infrastructure in place here in Europe is hard and the telecom world is surprisingly complex.

”I am jealous at you guys: backend services still has a future” a coder friend told me today at lunch.

On topic, I obviously don’t think the community train has passed.

Especially on meetups I see a lot of genuine connections between programmers being made. Threads, the app, has recently been the most relevant place for me to casually chat with other programmers.

I don’t vouch for people to spam: but to overcome their imposter syndrome and dare to talk about coding with fellow programmers. Even the legends.

And they often invite for conversations: wether it’s a comment field, pull request or tweet.

Re: It is an amazing time for programmers

#82

Post by CuriouslyC »

cpfohl wrote: post #42

Along similar lines: many of your favorite authors, musicians, and creators have public email addresses and seem to love getting emails. I’ve started writing notes with my kids to their favorite authors with ideas and always a thank you note. I’ve gotten replies from authors on NYT best sellers lists, musicians, and more. People like to be appreciated.

Ironically, I've found the best way to engage with creators is their YouTube channels. They're incentivized to engage by the algorithm, so if you can land a thoughtful comment early so they don't have to wade through 500 comments to see it the odds you'll get a short reply or a heart are pretty good.

Re: It is an amazing time for programmers

#83

Post by embedding-shape »

suncemoje wrote: post #63
austin-cheney wrote: post #58

Quite the gap. The legends the article talks about are legends because they either started a project that blew up in popularity and/or solved a demanded problem with original code. For most people writing software for a living that is gone. Its been gone since I started writing software 20 years ago. The goal post has moved. Its no longer about solving any problem. Its about hiring. The distinction is massive. Most o…

Reminds me of when Jensen Huang recently compared Linux to OpenClaw and showed this ridiculous GitHub star comparison. To me these projects are incomparable.

It's worth remembering that when people like Jensen talk publicly, they most of time are addressing investors in various indirect and direct ways. Comparing Linux with OpenClaw is obviously bullshit and irrelevant, for almost everyone except clueless investors who like that sort of stuff. He's saying those things for the people who neither understand Linux nor OpenClaw, but have lots of money regardless.

Re: It is an amazing time for programmers

#84

Post by CuriouslyC »

jlundberg wrote: post #30
nkjoep wrote: post #9

Amazing how these people are even reachable via phone, their numbers are pretty easy to find.

Yep, the biggest blocker for a good conversation is people simply not writing an email or trying to make that call. Which is why I wrote this. Is the same at conferences: one of the best things you can do is to fo and talk to the person holding the lecture. They usually appreciate it very much. You don’t need to be famous to do that.

Most famous people are really busy though. Even people who have given me engaged replies often took a month or more to write back.

Re: It is an amazing time for programmers

#85

Post by [deleted] »

cpfohl wrote: post #42

Along similar lines: many of your favorite authors, musicians, and creators have public email addresses and seem to love getting emails. I’ve started writing notes with my kids to their favorite authors with ideas and always a thank you note. I’ve gotten replies from authors on NYT best sellers lists, musicians, and more. People like to be appreciated.

[deleted]

Re: It is an amazing time for programmers

#86

Post by rramadass »

I want only one thing from the above list;

Somebody sit with Fabrice Bellard and pick his brain on how he thinks, how he organizes projects, how he studies so many different domains, how he implements them, views on work-life balance etc. etc.

Basically i want a brain dump of Fabrice Bellard.

Re: It is an amazing time for programmers

#87

Post by burnt-resistor »

ozim wrote: post #65
jdw64 wrote: post #7

I also want to communicate with someone and have programming conversations. There's no one around me to talk about programming with. I'm the only programmer around. Aside from AI and books, I sometimes want to talk with a real person.

For me problem is that talking with developers most of the time is more annoying than it is worth. Being one-upped all the time, having devs nag about tiny irrelevant flaws just to show who is smarter. Adding just one more sentence to keep upper hand and trying to „make better” when good wasn’t done yet. When I was younger I also had my fair share of those flaws.

Insecure and overvalued jerks are toxic. If someone can't bring their ego under control and be professional, they're probably better absent or away from customers rather than keeping around.

The best developers are consultative, inquisitive, and focused on delivering value that makes stakeholders' lives easier. No one outside of technical people care about implementation tools or details.

Re: It is an amazing time for programmers

#88

Post by anotherevan »

cpfohl wrote: post #42

Along similar lines: many of your favorite authors, musicians, and creators have public email addresses and seem to love getting emails. I’ve started writing notes with my kids to their favorite authors with ideas and always a thank you note. I’ve gotten replies from authors on NYT best sellers lists, musicians, and more. People like to be appreciated.

I know some authors in particular never, ever want to be sent story ideas. The potential of being accused of or sued for plagiarism down the track for something even vaguely similar is non-zero.

Re: It is an amazing time for programmers

#89

Post by embedding-shape »

rramadass wrote: post #78
ozim wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me problem is that talking with developers most of the time is more annoying than it is worth. Being one-upped all the time, having devs nag about tiny irrelevant flaws just to show who is smarter. Adding just one more sentence to keep upper hand and trying to „make better” when good wasn’t done yet. When I was younger I also had my fair share of those flaws.

Ha, Ha, Very true though we don't like to admit it to ourselves. HN is full of these types (myself included when something really triggers me). The amount of trivialities/nitpicking/arguing-for-the-sake-of-arguing going on here is enough to try anybody's patience. I think if i were to discuss things face-to-face with some of the people here it may most probably end in screaming/yelling and fisticuffs ;-) It is a fund…

> I think if i were to discuss things face-to-face with some of the people here it may most probably end in screaming/yelling and fisticuffs

I had the same feeling, until some years ago I met up with some local HNers and lo and behold; they're nothing like what's going on here typically, just regular people who can have regular (but interesting) conversations :)

I'm guessing for many it's really hard to "read the vibe" when it's just text, and people take everything very literally here, while in real life, even people who write and behave like that here, don't actually act the same.

Maybe facial expressions, body language and more basically solves all those trivialities/nitpicking/arguing-for-the-sake-of-arguing issue, at the very least because those who perpetrate those things, actually can see the "what the fuck is this guy on about" expressions in real-time as they speak to people. That's my guess at least.

Re: It is an amazing time for programmers

#90

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

gorjusborg wrote: post #68
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have them around here. I stopped going, because the “circle of avoidance” around me makes me self-conscious. The ageism in New York, is even worse than in Silicon Valley.

What do you mean by circle of avoidance?

When I go to these gigs, I tend to be the oldest person there.

No one makes eye contact, and no one looks at me. I find it extremely difficult to start conversations, and I'm a fairly gregarious chap. There's usually a space around me, about a meter wide; even when it's crowded.

The good news is, I rarely have trouble finding a seat.

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