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Hermit Programmers Are Dead

cesarsotovalero.net

61–70 of 133 posts

Re: Hermit Programmers Are Dead

#62
post #50
post #24

In summary, hermit programmers who only write code for themselves are dead because: As they don’t plan, you never know when (or if) they are going to finish a task. As they don’t document, their code is not reusable because nobody knows how it works. As they don’t test, chances are the code they write is full of bugs. As they don’t refactor, the software cannot evolve. As they don’t handle infrastructure, their code…

Indeed, the whole article is worthless and designed to elevate its author who presumably has all of these "communication skills" and a reasonably good looking picture. He might even get hired because managers love this kind of incoherent drivel. He is still wrong though.

And yet his communication skills are—not so much good.

Re: Hermit Programmers Are Dead

#63
post #60

This article focuses on 'hermit' programmers as employees, but I think ultimately that type of stereotyped character is now as likely to become a small business owner. With all of the benefits of efficiency and the cloud mentioned in the article, such lonesome characters can now put together their own SaaS or similar sorts of high margin services/products (such as infoproducts, data, or semi-automated consultancy) an…

what you said is true. i may start taking contracts again. i work alone, only thing i promise is it works as agreed on, and near zero quality issues. i have systems in place for decaded that have produced one or two bugs. how? i actually print out the sourCe code and go line by line while on the toilet. though i now use an ipad to do that.

Ironically, your comment has one or two "bugs".

Re: Hermit Programmers Are Dead

#64
post #50
post #24

In summary, hermit programmers who only write code for themselves are dead because: As they don’t plan, you never know when (or if) they are going to finish a task. As they don’t document, their code is not reusable because nobody knows how it works. As they don’t test, chances are the code they write is full of bugs. As they don’t refactor, the software cannot evolve. As they don’t handle infrastructure, their code…

Indeed, the whole article is worthless and designed to elevate its author who presumably has all of these "communication skills" and a reasonably good looking picture. He might even get hired because managers love this kind of incoherent drivel. He is still wrong though.

corroborated by his tagline:

"I'm a Ph.D. student doing excellent research in Software Technology"

Re: Hermit Programmers Are Dead

#66
I’m scared to read this. I’m interested in being able to do these things. I think my communication skills might be lacking and I haven’t figured out an approach that works for someone like me… but I definitely know that it’s something that needs improvement.

Re: Hermit Programmers Are Dead

#67
I'm a total hermit...

> As they don’t plan, you never know when (or if) they are going to finish a task.

I have the next year and change planned out.

> As they don’t document, their code is not reusable because nobody knows how it works.

I write lots of documentation.

> As they don’t test, chances are the code they write is full of bugs.

I do a healthy amount of testing (specifically on stuff that involves a lot of variability or uncertainty).

> As they don’t refactor, the software cannot evolve.

Refactoring is like church.

> As they don’t handle infrastructure, their code has only been executed on their machine, and only God knows what will happen when the code runs in production.

I built and maintain my own stack on a combination of setups involving bare-metal, Docker, and Kubernetes.

> As they don’t have good communication skills, they do not know how to sell what they do to the market, which is why they are always behind the competence.

I've been told I'm an excellent communicator. Maybe that's because I spend most of my time talking to myself.

> As they don’t diversify their skills, powerful AI will take over their workplaces.

I can design, develop, write, market, speak, and sell.

---

tl;dr; Don't apply lazy generalizations to yourself as they set an artificial ceiling on your potential that makes you easy to control. See: https://podcastnotes.org/kapil-guptas-solo-podcast/kapil-17/

Re: Hermit Programmers Are Dead

#68

I am a hermit programmer AND I do ML(AI). Last time I checked was still breathing, thanks for asking.

This also seems like something a self-aware AI would write to avoid arousing suspicion related to it's creator not being seen alive for some period of time.

Re: Hermit Programmers Are Dead

#69
This is such a strange thing to choose to write a derogatory article about. If you are a singular developer that is only writing code to satisfy your needs, then you can do whatever the hell you want. If you have to work in a collaborative environment, then you will likely need to play by the rules of that environment. There's not much else to say about it.

The stuff about automation doesn't even seem to fit in this article... that's a completely different conversation.

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