Greater Hacker: Richard Stallman.
Lesser Hacker: Paul Graham.
What programming tasks should you be able to accomplish to be considered an "A" ranked Hacker?
11–20 of 26 posts
Re: What programming tasks should you be able to accomplish to be considered an "A" ranked Hacker?
#12Can you do any of the following? * Write a compiler of any kind (native code, bytecode, HLL-to-HLL, whatever). * Write an ACID storage engine. * Write a trivial OS, including the bootloader. * Write any non-trivial component of a real OS kernel. * Design a CPU or a microcontroller. * Write a rendering loop for a 3D game. * Design a secure cryptosystem out of existing cryptographic primitives. I give you an A- if you…
Isnt this what you do in your undergrad CS courses? With pretty standard algorithms?
Re: What programming tasks should you be able to accomplish to be considered an "A" ranked Hacker?
#13You're somewhere in the middle.
If that's not apparent to you, then perhaps you need to find some better peers. :)
Re: What programming tasks should you be able to accomplish to be considered an "A" ranked Hacker?
#14Greater Hacker: Richard Stallman. Lesser Hacker: Paul Graham. Where do you fit in between those two?
I find this very amusing. Something about it implying the bold statement that no hacker is lesser than Paul Graham, and then audaciously posting it on Paul Graham's site.
Re: What programming tasks should you be able to accomplish to be considered an "A" ranked Hacker?
#15Greater Hacker: Richard Stallman. Lesser Hacker: Paul Graham. Where do you fit in between those two?
I find this very amusing. Something about it implying the bold statement that no hacker is lesser than Paul Graham, and then audaciously posting it on Paul Graham's site.
he has 864 karma. wonder why he's trolling.
Re: What programming tasks should you be able to accomplish to be considered an "A" ranked Hacker?
#16Can you do any of the following? * Write a compiler of any kind (native code, bytecode, HLL-to-HLL, whatever). * Write an ACID storage engine. * Write a trivial OS, including the bootloader. * Write any non-trivial component of a real OS kernel. * Design a CPU or a microcontroller. * Write a rendering loop for a 3D game. * Design a secure cryptosystem out of existing cryptographic primitives. I give you an A- if you…
I had to do half of these to get a CS degree 10 years ago, and I can assure you that the vast majority of my class was not what I would call an A-list hacker.
It doesn't count if you have a professor holding your hand every step of the way and giving you a framework suited to exactly the project you're working on and no other.
Nonetheless, which half do you mean? In my OS class we just worked with a toy MINIX derivative and never got down to anything nearly as nitty-gritty as a bootloader, and the people who didn't drop my compilers class were A-list hackers. I never did any of the others as an undergrad, though I could have and didn't take the class where you build a CPU.
Re: What programming tasks should you be able to accomplish to be considered an "A" ranked Hacker?
#17Can you do any of the following? * Write a compiler of any kind (native code, bytecode, HLL-to-HLL, whatever). * Write an ACID storage engine. * Write a trivial OS, including the bootloader. * Write any non-trivial component of a real OS kernel. * Design a CPU or a microcontroller. * Write a rendering loop for a 3D game. * Design a secure cryptosystem out of existing cryptographic primitives. I give you an A- if you…
Isnt this what you do in your undergrad CS courses? With pretty standard algorithms?
See my response to ken.
Re: What programming tasks should you be able to accomplish to be considered an "A" ranked Hacker?
#18Greater Hacker: Richard Stallman. Lesser Hacker: Paul Graham. Where do you fit in between those two?
I find this very amusing. Something about it implying the bold statement that no hacker is lesser than Paul Graham, and then audaciously posting it on Paul Graham's site.
[Shrugs] Read it however you please, but "Lesser" is a modifier with a particular usage:
Re: What programming tasks should you be able to accomplish to be considered an "A" ranked Hacker?
#19In the long run, the more important factor is whether you are gaining faster than your peers.
The younger ones often lack perspective and breadth and depth, the older ones often stop learning or dramatically slow down.
If you continually study timeless fundamentals, current technology, as well as industry trends, then over time you will naturally lead tend to lead the pack.
Re: What programming tasks should you be able to accomplish to be considered an "A" ranked Hacker?
#20In the long run, the more important factor is whether you are gaining faster than your peers. The younger ones often lack perspective and breadth and depth, the older ones often stop learning or dramatically slow down. If you continually study timeless fundamentals, current technology, as well as industry trends, then over time you will naturally lead tend to lead the pack.
A wiser adult once convinced me that the entire theory of capitalism is based on overpaying you when you're young and underpaying you for the next 40 years...
When it comes to programming, I believe some of the most capable programmers outsource the programming to the junior programmers who are still all about the latest technology/acronym and haven't grokked the underlying fundamental patterns/architectures/commonalities/integration. By the time programmers gain enough experience to see that it's all the same, they might be starting to look at starting their true legacy, a family (not code that lives on)