5 ms·

I'm getting tired of this suck-up ego parade about "how everyone sucks (except 'us')."

by motoko 19y ago

amichail 19y ago
What I find most frustrating is that people don't talk about the importance of application-level creativity. It's all about implementation. The secret is that implementation is not interesting nor rewarding -- whether it's done in Java or C or whatever. It only becomes interesting when you are innovating at the application level. And so, CS as a whole is a depressing field. Most jobs are unrewarding since you are told what to implement. It's sort of like being asked to translate a novel from one language to another or to improve its grammar. I would rather write my own novel.
- shawndrost 19y ago
  "implementation is not interesting nor rewarding" I disagree, and I don't think I could write code for a living otherwise, 9-5 or startup.
  - hello_moto 19y ago
    your own startup or working for "a startup own by someone else"? I've been through the 2nd one and it's just the same as working 9-5 believe it or not.
nihilocrat 19y ago
I think they're barking up the wrong tree. Knowing a vast amount of theoretical CS knowledge might make you good at implementing the fastest possible algorithm, but more and more that sort of programming is only seen in applications where those sorts of optimizations pay off the most (video games, embedded programming, and core systems software come to mind). I think their use of the term "Software Engineer" is therefore inaccurate, they should really be saying "Computer Scientist" because I'm sure there are plenty of good programmers who have gotten good through hands-on experience writing code vs. reading books and attending lectures about theory. I'm not trying to say theory is useless in the real world, I am trying to say that theory is not a prerequisite in the real world. But yes, I'm also completely tired of elitism. I think it's brought about by the perception that programmers have to constantly compete to be #1, and by extension, to be really worthwhile at all, and while this mentality helps motivate some people, I only see it leading to feelings of inadequacy and complaining about newbies to make oneself feel competent.

I'm getting tired of this suck-up ego parade about "how everyone sucks (except 'us')."

by motoko 19y ago

I'm getting tired of this suck-up ego parade about "how everyone sucks (except 'us')."

What I find most frustrating is that people don't talk about the importance of application-level creativity. It's all about implementation. The secret is that implementation is not interesting nor rewarding -- whether it's done in Java or C or whatever. It only becomes interesting when you are innovating at the application level. And so, CS as a whole is a depressing field. Most jobs are unrewarding since you are told what to implement. It's sort of like being asked to translate a novel from one language to another or to improve its grammar. I would rather write my own novel.

shawndrost 19y ago
"implementation is not interesting nor rewarding" I disagree, and I don't think I could write code for a living otherwise, 9-5 or startup.
- hello_moto 19y ago
  your own startup or working for "a startup own by someone else"? I've been through the 2nd one and it's just the same as working 9-5 believe it or not.

nihilocrat 19y ago

I think they're barking up the wrong tree. Knowing a vast amount of theoretical CS knowledge might make you good at implementing the fastest possible algorithm, but more and more that sort of programming is only seen in applications where those sorts of optimizations pay off the most (video games, embedded programming, and core systems software come to mind). I think their use of the term "Software Engineer" is therefore inaccurate, they should really be saying "Computer Scientist" because I'm sure there are plenty of good programmers who have gotten good through hands-on experience writing code vs. reading books and attending lectures about theory. I'm not trying to say theory is useless in the real world, I am trying to say that theory is not a prerequisite in the real world. But yes, I'm also completely tired of elitism. I think it's brought about by the perception that programmers have to constantly compete to be #1, and by extension, to be really worthwhile at all, and while this mentality helps motivate some people, I only see it leading to feelings of inadequacy and complaining about newbies to make oneself feel competent.