4 ms·

What's missing from this rant is evidence. The author comes accross one incompetent programmer from Argentina and then goes off to state that Asians and Argenti

by mtts 19y ago

What's missing from this rant is evidence. The author comes accross one incompetent programmer from Argentina and then goes off to state that Asians and Argentin[i?]ans have the wrong mindset to be a developer? It may be true that $20 an hour programmers from Argentina can afford to be sloppy since they are, after all, dirt cheap, but I would've liked to see some more examples.

jcromartie 19y ago
In my personal experience, I haven't come across a non-US trained programmer who lives up to my expectations. One thing that I see frequently and deeply disturbs me is a trait I've seen among nearly all of the SE Asian and Indian developers I've met: they won't think for themselves. I don't mean that they can't solve problems. No, they can eventually produce something that fits the bill most of the time. Rather, there is a deep-rooted cultural mindset that is dead-set against exploratory learning. It's a respect thing. Knowledge is considered something that is passed down to you from someone who is elder/wiser. Americans, on the other hand, are very much geared towards asking questions and exploring them on their own. For example: an American student might not think twice about questioning what a teacher in school is saying. For an Indian student that is absolutely out of the question. Maybe? Dunno? Just a thought. P.S. This also explains "plz send me the codes" syndrome, where people flood a message board or blog with a similar plea and their email address.
- comatose_kid 18y ago
  What sample size of non-US trained programmers have you worked with? I've worked with many from all parts of the world, including many SE Asian/Indian devs. And I can't think of one who I would qualify as 'not thinking for themselves'. Of course, I wouldn't generalize this to all s/w devs from these countries, but I'd be willing to bet that the proportions are similar to devs from other countries. Disclosure: I'm a 'non-US trained' programmer, having graduated from a Canadian university.
ken 18y ago
FYI, a person from Argentina is called an Argentine.

by mtts 19y ago

jcromartie 19y ago

In my personal experience, I haven't come across a non-US trained programmer who lives up to my expectations. One thing that I see frequently and deeply disturbs me is a trait I've seen among nearly all of the SE Asian and Indian developers I've met: they won't think for themselves. I don't mean that they can't solve problems. No, they can eventually produce something that fits the bill most of the time. Rather, there is a deep-rooted cultural mindset that is dead-set against exploratory learning. It's a respect thing. Knowledge is considered something that is passed down to you from someone who is elder/wiser. Americans, on the other hand, are very much geared towards asking questions and exploring them on their own. For example: an American student might not think twice about questioning what a teacher in school is saying. For an Indian student that is absolutely out of the question. Maybe? Dunno? Just a thought. P.S. This also explains "plz send me the codes" syndrome, where people flood a message board or blog with a similar plea and their email address.

comatose_kid 18y ago
What sample size of non-US trained programmers have you worked with? I've worked with many from all parts of the world, including many SE Asian/Indian devs. And I can't think of one who I would qualify as 'not thinking for themselves'. Of course, I wouldn't generalize this to all s/w devs from these countries, but I'd be willing to bet that the proportions are similar to devs from other countries. Disclosure: I'm a 'non-US trained' programmer, having graduated from a Canadian university.

ken 18y ago

FYI, a person from Argentina is called an Argentine.