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From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

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Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#101

Post by zizzles »

relics443 wrote: post #63

TL;DR there are a lot of incompetent developers out there. This isn't a comment about the author, as much as it's about something she said. "Today you can take a lot of programming and Computer Sciences courses online. Everyone can be developer! There are also a lot of developer bootcamps: within 8–12 weeks you can become a developer." This is a very dangerous line of thinking. Some people have convinced themselves t…

Explain to me what you think the key differences are between a competent and incompetent programmer; specifically, in terms of particular skillsets.

Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#102

Post by davedx »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #81

The thing that struck me is "anyone who is fascinated by computers and spends all their free time playing with them can be a developer." Back before developers were perceived as 'rich' and 'pampered' there were people who were fascinated by computers and spent all their time playing with them and were called 'nerds.' Then it became "cool" to be a developer or "you can get rich as a developer at a startup!" and then y…

Ha I am both, it is situational for me and depends on the project impact, engineering challenge, deadlines, how tired I am... if I have to build yet another landing page in Angular then I just want to get it done. Sometimes knocking the less interesting stuff on the head in the most boring and productive way means you leave on time, have a nice night with your family, and are rested and ready for that cool or interesting bit of work you've been looking forward to working on.

I also think having worked as a freelancer made me appreciate the business side a lot more, which made me consider when to be pragmatic and when innovation or more creative thinking might be worth it.

My inner nerd is as strong as ever but I don't like to waste time.

Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#103

Post by ScottBurson »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #92
ScottBurson wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it really doesn't. Secretaries have been mostly replaced by computers already -- a trend likely to continue.

I as replying to why some parents attempt to curb aspirations in favor of practicality.

I see. Well, if one is going to do that as a parent, one should at least be sure to understand what the practical considerations actually are. In this case the parents got it exactly wrong.

Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#104

Post by jedmeyers »

denisenepraunig wrote: post #41
lacampbell wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's basically a glorified trade job and everyone already has the tools in front of them. That attitude certainly explains a fair few 'legacy' systems I've seen.

I heard about 10.000 lines of code in one function at a job interview. I did not accept that job offer and I am quite happy that I don't have to maintain this... This is a serious lack of craftsmanship! A little bit of Clean Code for every programmer please... But I am drifting a bit off topic now.

Have you looked into any of SAP ABAP legacy repos, by any chance? What is your take on that?

Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#105

Post by ptaipale »

henrikschroder wrote: post #45
Apocryphon wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like along with Germans, Austrians have the right idea of pushing alternatives to four-year colleges.

When I went to "high school" in Sweden in the 90's, you could choose between a few theoretical, three-year, "college-prep" programmes, or a multitude of vocational programmes that would pretty much land you a job straight out. But in the 2000's sometime, our glorious politicians decided that it was "unfair" that students who chose the vocational programmes couldn't go straight to university, so they were all changed,…

I see the same across the pond in Finland. I was myself fitting very well to a theoretical elementary school but I could see how other people were totally frustrated by being fed with theoretical subjects (including that mandatory Swedish :) and not having practical training for things wehere they were really good at.

Not everyone can go to college, and not everyone needs to. Having a well-educated population is different from having a lot of college degrees. Alas, many politicians see it as "equality" that everyone's pushed with college-type qualifications. The only possible result is that it just lowers the bar and gives us more drop-outs and frustrated people.

Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#106

Post by joatmon-snoo »

kirse wrote: post #88
ChuckMcM wrote: post #81

The thing that struck me is "anyone who is fascinated by computers and spends all their free time playing with them can be a developer." Back before developers were perceived as 'rich' and 'pampered' there were people who were fascinated by computers and spent all their time playing with them and were called 'nerds.' Then it became "cool" to be a developer or "you can get rich as a developer at a startup!" and then y…

they are often just working a day job. I used to be snooty about this too until I had a member join one of my teams who is exactly this type of person... Treats it like a day job, and absolutely rips through well-defined coding tasks as long as I do the general solution-finding and lay the architectural groundwork ahead of time. They don't burn out either, because it's just work to them and they take regular vacation…

Out of curiosity, how did you get this person on your team, since it doesn't sound like you were open to the idea until after the fact.

Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#107

Post by LyndsySimon »

dimino wrote: post #65
relics443 wrote: post #63

TL;DR there are a lot of incompetent developers out there. This isn't a comment about the author, as much as it's about something she said. "Today you can take a lot of programming and Computer Sciences courses online. Everyone can be developer! There are also a lot of developer bootcamps: within 8–12 weeks you can become a developer." This is a very dangerous line of thinking. Some people have convinced themselves t…

I've said this before, but Python is dangerous in this way. You can learn how to write an executable Python script in a few hours, which if you do this for a few years, you might be convinced you're "fluent" in Python, when in reality you know nothing about how to build and deliver quality software.

I see where you're coming from, but in practice I've been a Python developer for a decade and have never encountered this.

Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#110

Post by pelasaco »

last ruby conference that i attended in Berlin was like that: 50% of the presentations was about people which was travellers, language teachers, and then learned ruby/javascript and got full stack developer job in some hipster startup.. The Denise however was always passionate and took the right path. nice!
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