7 ms·

Thats nice. I wouldn't want to work with someone who did nothing but program, use computers, 24/7. There is this thing called life, I hear its pretty interestin

Thats nice. I wouldn't want to work with someone who did nothing but program, use computers, 24/7. There is this thing called life, I hear its pretty interesting.

lsc 16y ago
oh god, are you that guy who can't shut up about the football game last weekend? do you know how hard it is to keep smiling when you accost me every Monday morning with the news about your team? At least let me finish my coffee first. (I'm mostly joking... but there really is a pretty big cultural divide here between people for whom this is a job and people for whom this is their identity.)
- ganley 16y ago
  You nailed it with that last sentence, and the OP would seem to be looking for the latter class of people. What troubles me is the constant either-or mudslinging between the job people who think the identity people have no lives, and the identity people who think the job people are nothing but seat-warmers. As with all such false dichotomies, the truth is a long spectrum between the two, and using a single, simple measure such as whether the person programs for fun to measure passion is heuristic at best.
  - raganwald 16y ago
    Resolution: All measures of job fitness applied during the selection process are heuristics at best, and cargo cult practices at worst. Discuss.
- raghava 16y ago
  >>a pretty big cultural divide here between people for whom this is a job and people for whom this is their identity Precisely. :) Still, as ganley points out, "truth is a long spectrum between the two". Simply put, question is whether the candidate is passionate about programming and software systems (and if so, is he competent enough ;)) or not. For few it is their identity, and for many, it is just a job. Even those who loathe(or do not care a damn about) programming/software/computers/technology could be given fancy designations and be employed in IT, thanks to that thriving segment in the industry (yeah, the one that provides 'cost-effective means to get anything done based on a checklist'). Real fun (read 'misery') is when there is a misfit around; i.e. like when there's a guy totally passionate about programming/computers with a bunch of 'I-won't-even-touch-computer-outside-work' types who abhor programming. /* yeah, the latter ones are for real. :) */
raganwald 16y ago
O RLY? There are a lot of reasons to disagree with my post, but this isn't one of them. Your argument contains something called a straw man, namely the implication that I advocate hiring people who do nothing but program 24/7. Yes, there is this thing called life. I have two kids. I Scuba dive, rock climb, bike, and do a bunch of other things that are not programming. I also enjoy programming. Not instead of life, but as part of a rich experience.
cageface 16y ago
I find I get some of my most important technical insights when I'm doing totally non-technical things. I can't count how many times I've been grinding away on a tricky bit of code, making no progress, only to have a simple solution pop into my head ten minutes after I leave the apartment and go for a walk. It's true that to excel in programming requires more than a 9-5 commitment but part of that commitment is an interest and passion for things completely outside of programming, because it's the cross-fertilization of ideas that helps you grow. Life and the mind require balance.

Thats nice. I wouldn't want to work with someone who did nothing but program, use computers, 24/7. There is this thing called life, I hear its pretty interesting.

lsc 16y ago

oh god, are you that guy who can't shut up about the football game last weekend? do you know how hard it is to keep smiling when you accost me every Monday morning with the news about your team? At least let me finish my coffee first. (I'm mostly joking... but there really is a pretty big cultural divide here between people for whom this is a job and people for whom this is their identity.)

ganley 16y ago
You nailed it with that last sentence, and the OP would seem to be looking for the latter class of people. What troubles me is the constant either-or mudslinging between the job people who think the identity people have no lives, and the identity people who think the job people are nothing but seat-warmers. As with all such false dichotomies, the truth is a long spectrum between the two, and using a single, simple measure such as whether the person programs for fun to measure passion is heuristic at best.
- raganwald 16y ago
  Resolution: All measures of job fitness applied during the selection process are heuristics at best, and cargo cult practices at worst. Discuss.
raghava 16y ago
>>a pretty big cultural divide here between people for whom this is a job and people for whom this is their identity Precisely. :) Still, as ganley points out, "truth is a long spectrum between the two". Simply put, question is whether the candidate is passionate about programming and software systems (and if so, is he competent enough ;)) or not. For few it is their identity, and for many, it is just a job. Even those who loathe(or do not care a damn about) programming/software/computers/technology could be given fancy designations and be employed in IT, thanks to that thriving segment in the industry (yeah, the one that provides 'cost-effective means to get anything done based on a checklist'). Real fun (read 'misery') is when there is a misfit around; i.e. like when there's a guy totally passionate about programming/computers with a bunch of 'I-won't-even-touch-computer-outside-work' types who abhor programming. /* yeah, the latter ones are for real. :) */

raganwald 16y ago

O RLY? There are a lot of reasons to disagree with my post, but this isn't one of them. Your argument contains something called a straw man, namely the implication that I advocate hiring people who do nothing but program 24/7. Yes, there is this thing called life. I have two kids. I Scuba dive, rock climb, bike, and do a bunch of other things that are not programming. I also enjoy programming. Not instead of life, but as part of a rich experience.

cageface 16y ago

I find I get some of my most important technical insights when I'm doing totally non-technical things. I can't count how many times I've been grinding away on a tricky bit of code, making no progress, only to have a simple solution pop into my head ten minutes after I leave the apartment and go for a walk. It's true that to excel in programming requires more than a 9-5 commitment but part of that commitment is an interest and passion for things completely outside of programming, because it's the cross-fertilization of ideas that helps you grow. Life and the mind require balance.