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Ok, so I'm going to ask a controversial question. It's not for lack of respect for Mr Skeet, but is he really one of the greats? When I think of great programm
by chooseaname 7y ago
Ok, so I'm going to ask a controversial question. It's not for lack of respect for Mr Skeet, but is he really one of the greats? When I think of great programmers I think Ken Thompson, John Carmack, etc. Mr Skeet is, no doubt, a fount of knowledge, but does that make you a great programmer?
- bryanrasmussen 7y agoI'm supposing one of those is the Bruce Lee of programming.
- human20190310 7y agoBeing a fountain of knowledge, with practical application, is sufficient to make someone a great programmer. Carmack, Thompson, et al weren't simply great programmers; they were researchers and inventors.
- mellosouls 7y agoI think his importance as a "pillar of the community", in addition to his great expertise and breakout fame entitles him to being considered one of the greats, and inspirational to us little guys. Perhaps a longer timeframe will change that, but at the moment it seems ok to me. It helps that he seems like a good egg.
- weinzierl 7y agoWhen StackOverflow was just getting started I was doing Java professionally. Jon Skeet contributed a ton of very helpful Java answers back then which helped me a lot. I only later learned hat he has written a book about C# and that he really was a C# expert - still he knew more about Java than most Java experts. Add to that that he is really good at writing detailed and to the point answers and you know where his reputation comes from. I only met him once briefly at CodeKen in London but judging from that he is a nice guy too.
- lawn 7y agoChuck Norris isn't really one of the greats either. But the mythology of him makes him out to be.
- zelly 7y agoCarmack is a genius engineer and businessman. This guy is a genius programmer. There is a difference.