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I've met a few brilliant Indian engineers. I asked one of them why he was different to his peers. He explained that most of his peers don't enjoy or like what

I've met a few brilliant Indian engineers. I asked one of them why he was different to his peers. He explained that most of his peers don't enjoy or like what they are doing. They chose to become a developer, because it's a potential path to become a 'manager', which has a higher status in the eyes of their parents, friends and family. Edit: But we have to be careful not to stereo type. I think a comment made here is pretty good 'Shit code doesn't have nationality'. We just need to understand the motivators for people to become an engineer and if the joy of creating something with code isn't up there and it's mainly about money or a stepping stone to higher status, then code quality will suffer as it seems.

thewhitetulip 9y ago
True, I am an Indian engineer living in India and have written one of the most user friendly guides to writing webapps in Go, https://github.com/thewhitetulip/web-dev-golang-anti-textbook https://github.com/thewhitetulip/web-dev-golang-anti-textboo... Thus, we can't just generalize.
- cryodesign 9y ago
  Thanks for sharing that link. A developer friend wants to explore GO, so I'll be forwarding your work.
  - thewhitetulip 9y ago
    The pleasure is mine :) Thank you for forwarding!
usrusr 9y ago
Shit code does not have nationality, but different nations have different market and education dynamics. Those greatly influence the amount of shit code created. The same education boom that creates a glut of not so competent opportunists is also very likely to increase the absolute number of brilliant developers, just maybe at a lower rate. But those are completely invisible if you only ever buy man-hours from the lowest bidder, so the stereotype does not come from thin air. Instead of trying to completely dispose of the stereotype on the basis of racism I think that it would be far more meaningful to focus on diverting the stereotype from the incorrect base of ethnicity to the actual base of a very specific economical situation. In a gold rush you will meet many non-expert miners.
denzil_correa 9y ago
> He explained that most of his peers don't enjoy or like what they are doing. They chose to become a developer, because it's a potential path to become a 'manager', which has a higher status in the eyes of their parents, friends and family. Apart from social status, the career path is also a way to earn enough money for a decent lifestyle.

thewhitetulip 9y ago

True, I am an Indian engineer living in India and have written one of the most user friendly guides to writing webapps in Go, https://github.com/thewhitetulip/web-dev-golang-anti-textbook https://github.com/thewhitetulip/web-dev-golang-anti-textboo... Thus, we can't just generalize.

cryodesign 9y ago
Thanks for sharing that link. A developer friend wants to explore GO, so I'll be forwarding your work.
- thewhitetulip 9y ago
  The pleasure is mine :) Thank you for forwarding!

usrusr 9y ago

Shit code does not have nationality, but different nations have different market and education dynamics. Those greatly influence the amount of shit code created. The same education boom that creates a glut of not so competent opportunists is also very likely to increase the absolute number of brilliant developers, just maybe at a lower rate. But those are completely invisible if you only ever buy man-hours from the lowest bidder, so the stereotype does not come from thin air. Instead of trying to completely dispose of the stereotype on the basis of racism I think that it would be far more meaningful to focus on diverting the stereotype from the incorrect base of ethnicity to the actual base of a very specific economical situation. In a gold rush you will meet many non-expert miners.

denzil_correa 9y ago

> He explained that most of his peers don't enjoy or like what they are doing. They chose to become a developer, because it's a potential path to become a 'manager', which has a higher status in the eyes of their parents, friends and family. Apart from social status, the career path is also a way to earn enough money for a decent lifestyle.