> We hired a new grad last year [...] Now, I have no idea how this is possible, but he has deeper knowledge of Hg and Git than anyone I've ever met (If your exp

> We hired a new grad last year [...] Now, I have no idea how this is possible, but he has deeper knowledge of Hg and Git than anyone I've ever met (If your experience is limited to school and solo personal projects, how in the world do you develop advanced knowledge of version control? I learned Linux in the '90s, when it came on a stack of floppies, long before anyone else would have thought to use it in production. It was never more than a pet project, but I kept hammering it because it was so cool. Unlimited size matrices. Compile the kernel any way I want. A real multi-user OS? Holy smokes, this is a very cool hobby. Eventually I got a job at a startup that was running all their stuff on Linux. Lo and behold, I was the local "Linux expert", blowing everyone else out of the water with my knowledge of, well, everything needed to make that thing work. So that's how it happens. If you like something, and you're passionate about it, and you have an obsessive streak, you'll jump lightyears ahead in a very short time. The Git guy probably spent countless hours figuring out obscure aspects of the tool's workflow, just for the heck of it. Deep interest + focus + long practice = mastery. > On my personal projects, I rarely need anything more than git add/commit/push/pull and basic branching) Neither did he, strictly speaking, but the difference is that he kept hammering it. So you see, this is not about generational differences. This is good old fashion geeks doing what geeks do best.