There's some good general observations in here. I remember tutoring a student who was really good (I'm sure that by now he's a better programmer than me) but wh

There's some good general observations in here. I remember tutoring a student who was really good (I'm sure that by now he's a better programmer than me) but who felt inadequate (enough so to get a tutor) because other people in the class were bragging about how they did certain tasks in just a few minutes while in reality spent hours on it... or just turned in crap. And it was that same kind of macho sentiment that the author talks about... except it intimidates a lot of guys as well. Also, most of the people who are jerks about it, don't know just how much they don't know (because that one obscure Linux command is all they need to master to be CS gods, right) and they turn into that guy you fire because his code has no sense of industry best practices (seriously, why unit test like a mere mortal if you're a CS god who knows obscure Linux commands.... FIRED). So take heart. You're probably a better programmer than you give yourself credit for (whether you're a guy or a girl), because everybody else is a worse programmer than they tell others they are.