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The user has a large number of GitHub commits and the technical knowledge needed to create a pull request probably exceeds the knowledge needed to know why this

by throwaway2016a 9y ago

The user has a large number of GitHub commits and the technical knowledge needed to create a pull request probably exceeds the knowledge needed to know why this doesn't work... I feel comfortable assuming the original PR is a joke.

reificator 9y ago
> the technical knowledge needed to create a pull request probably exceeds the knowledge needed to know why this doesn't work... The plural of anecdote is not data, but I have first hand experience with someone who can make a pull request but doesn't understand password best practices at all. Granted it might be because I taught them to make pull requests, but still... I know people who wrote code for their thesis in Python but can't grasp why indentation matters. You'd be surprised by what people do and don't know.
- ci5er 9y ago
  > I know people who wrote code for their thesis in Python but can't grasp why indentation matters. How can one write code (that runs!) for one's thesis without paying attention to Python's semantically significant whitespace?
  - felbane 9y ago
    Perhaps an IDE/editor that autoformats python code?
    - ci5er 9y ago
      I am now more than a little embarrassed that this didn't even occur to me...
      - arthulia 9y ago
        It doesn't make a whole ton of sense because you'd still need to know when to un-indent in order to get out of a conditional block. IDEs can't read your mind.
        reificator 9y ago
        I've never asked the details, I just know that they used Python before but couldn't cope with indentation when I worked with them on code.
        AlexCoventry 9y ago
        How did they fail to cope with it?
        reificator 9y ago
        I had an answer typed up, but it felt like picking on them rather than explaining the issue. Text is hard. After submitting changes that started 10 indents past the previous line, and had little to no rhyme or reason for subsequent indentation, we asked them to reformat and resubmit. When it became clear that they could not, we reviewed the code itself separately from the indentation and reformatted it ourselves. Multiple co-workers sat next to them to try to explain how to line things up vertically, but they were unable to do so without said help. This was over the course of about two weeks in which we were instructed to try to bring them onboard some of our projects. Both our and their projects at the time were frontend web projects. I have not looked at any of their code outside what was submitted to our side, but I do know they are praised for the quality of their work by management.
        AlexCoventry 9y ago
        Thanks. Interesting.
        pferde 9y ago
        That's what they want you to think.
    - wprintf 9y ago
      Actually, I used VIM on Windows while editing the files. My VIM is set with fixendofline or something. The files with the extra line ending change did not have \r\n at the end, so my VIM added it. I usually prefer to the have the extra line ending at the end of every file, so I kept the change in the PR.
  - reificator 9y ago
    That's exactly my point. I expect it was, as the other commenter said, probably via an IDE like PyCharm. I never asked because there's no good way to ask a question like that. But that's my point, people's knowledge is all over the place. It's probably a joke, but it could easily not be.
  - gerbilly 9y ago
    > How can one write code (that runs!) for one's thesis without paying attention to Python's semantically significant whitespace? By fiddling around with different indentations levels till the code works. So much code out there is written this way. Kind of gives a new meaning to 'iterating' on one's code doesn't it?
- rrix2 9y ago
  > Granted it might be because I taught them to make pull requests, but still... You can make these sorts of trivial changes just by clicking around the GitHub web UI, I could probably tell a 12 year old how to make a trivial change like this, regardless of their coding expertise https://help.github.com/articles/editing-files-in-your-repository/ https://help.github.com/articles/editing-files-in-your-repos...
- pandler 9y ago
  I've worked with a programmer on a project who could not do basic algebra (4x + 1 = 5, solve for x), and would outsource any math to stackoverflow to get answers in his specific language. Those answers were usually incorrect because he didn't know how to phrase his questions correctly. That was horrifying to realize that the person writing the front end for an ecommerce application not only could not calculate tax, but would brag about how he doesn't need to know basic math.
icc97 9y ago
As further evidence that the assafnativ probably understands trolling, it's worth mentioning that he wrote the article The Making of the Kosher Phone [0]. So he knows how to troll Orthodox Jews if nothing else. [0]: http://blog.assafnativ.com/2014/03/the-making-of-kosher-phone.html http://blog.assafnativ.com/2014/03/the-making-of-kosher-phon...

reificator 9y ago

> the technical knowledge needed to create a pull request probably exceeds the knowledge needed to know why this doesn't work... The plural of anecdote is not data, but I have first hand experience with someone who can make a pull request but doesn't understand password best practices at all. Granted it might be because I taught them to make pull requests, but still... I know people who wrote code for their thesis in Python but can't grasp why indentation matters. You'd be surprised by what people do and don't know.

ci5er 9y ago
> I know people who wrote code for their thesis in Python but can't grasp why indentation matters. How can one write code (that runs!) for one's thesis without paying attention to Python's semantically significant whitespace?
- felbane 9y ago
  Perhaps an IDE/editor that autoformats python code?
  - ci5er 9y ago
    I am now more than a little embarrassed that this didn't even occur to me...
    - arthulia 9y ago
      It doesn't make a whole ton of sense because you'd still need to know when to un-indent in order to get out of a conditional block. IDEs can't read your mind.
      - reificator 9y ago
        I've never asked the details, I just know that they used Python before but couldn't cope with indentation when I worked with them on code.
        AlexCoventry 9y ago
        How did they fail to cope with it?
        reificator 9y ago
        I had an answer typed up, but it felt like picking on them rather than explaining the issue. Text is hard. After submitting changes that started 10 indents past the previous line, and had little to no rhyme or reason for subsequent indentation, we asked them to reformat and resubmit. When it became clear that they could not, we reviewed the code itself separately from the indentation and reformatted it ourselves. Multiple co-workers sat next to them to try to explain how to line things up vertically, but they were unable to do so without said help. This was over the course of about two weeks in which we were instructed to try to bring them onboard some of our projects. Both our and their projects at the time were frontend web projects. I have not looked at any of their code outside what was submitted to our side, but I do know they are praised for the quality of their work by management.
        AlexCoventry 9y ago
        Thanks. Interesting.
      - pferde 9y ago
        That's what they want you to think.
  - wprintf 9y ago
    Actually, I used VIM on Windows while editing the files. My VIM is set with fixendofline or something. The files with the extra line ending change did not have \r\n at the end, so my VIM added it. I usually prefer to the have the extra line ending at the end of every file, so I kept the change in the PR.
- reificator 9y ago
  That's exactly my point. I expect it was, as the other commenter said, probably via an IDE like PyCharm. I never asked because there's no good way to ask a question like that. But that's my point, people's knowledge is all over the place. It's probably a joke, but it could easily not be.
- gerbilly 9y ago
  > How can one write code (that runs!) for one's thesis without paying attention to Python's semantically significant whitespace? By fiddling around with different indentations levels till the code works. So much code out there is written this way. Kind of gives a new meaning to 'iterating' on one's code doesn't it?
rrix2 9y ago
> Granted it might be because I taught them to make pull requests, but still... You can make these sorts of trivial changes just by clicking around the GitHub web UI, I could probably tell a 12 year old how to make a trivial change like this, regardless of their coding expertise https://help.github.com/articles/editing-files-in-your-repository/ https://help.github.com/articles/editing-files-in-your-repos...
pandler 9y ago
I've worked with a programmer on a project who could not do basic algebra (4x + 1 = 5, solve for x), and would outsource any math to stackoverflow to get answers in his specific language. Those answers were usually incorrect because he didn't know how to phrase his questions correctly. That was horrifying to realize that the person writing the front end for an ecommerce application not only could not calculate tax, but would brag about how he doesn't need to know basic math.

icc97 9y ago

As further evidence that the assafnativ probably understands trolling, it's worth mentioning that he wrote the article The Making of the Kosher Phone [0]. So he knows how to troll Orthodox Jews if nothing else. [0]: http://blog.assafnativ.com/2014/03/the-making-of-kosher-phone.html http://blog.assafnativ.com/2014/03/the-making-of-kosher-phon...