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I thought about this, I thought about this a lot and I still do. Thing is, this attitude can quickly get you tumbling down the rabbit hole. So say I'm a Java d

I thought about this, I thought about this a lot and I still do. Thing is, this attitude can quickly get you tumbling down the rabbit hole. So say I'm a Java developer. But surely in order to be a good Java developer I should know the innards of the JVM, right? To do that I now have to also have to know C++ because that's what JVM is implemented in or whatever. But surely I can't know C++ well if I don't know C, right? But then I can't really grasp C well enough if I don't understand how assembly works, right? What about CPU instructions, different architectures, etc? My opinion is that nobody should even try to drink what seems to be an ever expanding ocean of knowledge in IT. Let the people (in academia or wherever) who work on algorithms work on algorithms, let the people who write frameworks continue writing frameworks and let the rest of us code monkeys to use all those digested tools and technologies to do what we have to do on daily basis. You don't ask a common plumber to describe Bernoulli's principle during an interview, do you?

pc86 9y ago
Scott Hanselman has said a few times that two layers of abstractions is generally sufficient. I'm not sure if he stole it from someone but using your example, that means to be a great Java developer, you should have a good understanding of the JVM, and an adequate understanding of C++. Do you need C++ to be a good Java developer? No. If you've got a decade of experience in both, are you a better Java developer than the guy who learned it in school and that's all he knows? Probably, but not necessarily. In addition I think the argument falls apart the closer down you get. Granted I am no C expert but I don't think you need to know any assembly to be a very good C developer.
- slededit 9y ago
  When your writing C you are usually thinking about how the compiler will translate it to assembly. A lot of C's features don't really make sense without understanding the underlying machine. You can get away without knowing assembly, but you might as well just use a higher level language at that point.

pc86 9y ago

Scott Hanselman has said a few times that two layers of abstractions is generally sufficient. I'm not sure if he stole it from someone but using your example, that means to be a great Java developer, you should have a good understanding of the JVM, and an adequate understanding of C++. Do you need C++ to be a good Java developer? No. If you've got a decade of experience in both, are you a better Java developer than the guy who learned it in school and that's all he knows? Probably, but not necessarily. In addition I think the argument falls apart the closer down you get. Granted I am no C expert but I don't think you need to know any assembly to be a very good C developer.

slededit 9y ago
When your writing C you are usually thinking about how the compiler will translate it to assembly. A lot of C's features don't really make sense without understanding the underlying machine. You can get away without knowing assembly, but you might as well just use a higher level language at that point.