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So this "non-engineer" learned a new programming language, understands Heroku and Flask, and created a REST API integration for Slack? Can anyone let me know w

• steveklabnik 7y ago
  Many people who are "self-taught coders" don't perceive themselves as "engineers", often because many other forms of engineering have certifications. They expect that "engineer" requires a certain level of knowledge that they do not have; it's an unknown unknown kind of thing. I know someone who, through using a lot of Goole Sheets, managed to re-invent SQL joins. She'd never identify as an engineer, but she did manage to get some software to accomplish her task.
  • eternalny1 7y ago
    A lot of people can do some magic stuff when it comes to spreadsheets (and as a self-taught software engineer, I am not one of them), but does that same logic really apply to API endpoints? Look at how many acronyms are in the intro video alone ... the narrator says "we'll just use REPL ...". Does someone playing around in Google Sheets say "yes, REPL, great choice!" or do their eyes glaze over? What about when you tell them they have to learn "Darklang"?
  • TazeTSchnitzel 7y ago
    I personally find “engineer”'s use in a software context as pretty pretentious, so I understand how they might feel like they're really something different. What they don't know is they're as much a programmer as any other.
    • deleted 7y ago
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