4 ms·

Damn, this paints a picture where only the shiniest candidates matter, and the rest of us mere mortals should apologize for breathing their air. How do you kno

Damn, this paints a picture where only the shiniest candidates matter, and the rest of us mere mortals should apologize for breathing their air. How do you know if you're "the best", and if not, how do you become "the best" (or at least employable), or is this industry a "ya got it or ya don't" kind of place like music or art, where only the top 10% deserve to make a living?

lolive 9y ago
Basically, you must understand that you are fighting against yourself. Each day, you fight your former self. You must WANT to become better. The best thing for that is to code a lot (:important) & reread your ancient code (:super important). You will fall in ALL the pitfalls, at first. And then, you will learn to circunvent them. And then you will learn to draw straight lines between the pitfalls, and things will start to become clean. At the end, like Neo in the Matix, you will no longer see the pitfalls. (And then, you will learn FP and you will have to relearn everything. And then Haskell... And then...)
jamesmp98 9y ago
This is how I see the future of the industry. Either that, or wages get driven down so low that it's not a career worth pursuing anymore
jakebasile 9y ago
This doesn't just paint the picture, it holds a mirror up to the reality of our industry. If you aren't in SV (or NYC maybe), don't have a degree from an expensive college (or worse, no degree at all!), or haven't worked for FB/Google/Apple, you're basically dog shit to any interviewer. All the clamoring for developers is because so many companies delude themselves into thinking they should only hire the shiniest candidates, as you put it, even though there are thousands of other people who could do the job almost or just as well if they would look at people living in another city, without degrees, and who haven't worked at a huge company and/or unicorn startup. As a bonus, people like that (like me!) are generally cheaper since they don't have to pay the ridiculous cost of living in the Valley, or realize that making enough salary for a comfortable living without going into multiple hundreds of thousands is perfectly fine.

lolive 9y ago

Basically, you must understand that you are fighting against yourself. Each day, you fight your former self. You must WANT to become better. The best thing for that is to code a lot (:important) & reread your ancient code (:super important). You will fall in ALL the pitfalls, at first. And then, you will learn to circunvent them. And then you will learn to draw straight lines between the pitfalls, and things will start to become clean. At the end, like Neo in the Matix, you will no longer see the pitfalls. (And then, you will learn FP and you will have to relearn everything. And then Haskell... And then...)

jamesmp98 9y ago

This is how I see the future of the industry. Either that, or wages get driven down so low that it's not a career worth pursuing anymore

jakebasile 9y ago

This doesn't just paint the picture, it holds a mirror up to the reality of our industry. If you aren't in SV (or NYC maybe), don't have a degree from an expensive college (or worse, no degree at all!), or haven't worked for FB/Google/Apple, you're basically dog shit to any interviewer. All the clamoring for developers is because so many companies delude themselves into thinking they should only hire the shiniest candidates, as you put it, even though there are thousands of other people who could do the job almost or just as well if they would look at people living in another city, without degrees, and who haven't worked at a huge company and/or unicorn startup. As a bonus, people like that (like me!) are generally cheaper since they don't have to pay the ridiculous cost of living in the Valley, or realize that making enough salary for a comfortable living without going into multiple hundreds of thousands is perfectly fine.