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While I do think there's a spectrum, I think it's been misidentified as fundamentals-vs-superficials. That's still a thing for sure, but the real distinction i

While I do think there's a spectrum, I think it's been misidentified as fundamentals-vs-superficials. That's still a thing for sure, but the real distinction is between people who can learn anything and people who prefer not to. We've all met people who don't care how their phone works, they just want to know what to press. And a bit more rare is that friend who takes the phone apart, writes apps, and knows about the supply chain. That last guy is also the guy who bothers to learn the "fundamentals". So this is the real spectrum, person who checks a few things vs person who has followed all the rabbit holes. You'll find similar spectra in other walks of life. There's traders who know how options work, and there's guys you can throw a new instrument, and they'll tell you how it works. There's chefs who can make a perfectly decent omelette, and chefs who can make you anything from any cuisine.

wussboy 6y ago
I agree with you that the ends of the spectrum have been mis-identified. I sort-of agree with you that the spectrum should be "learn why v. just want to use it". I'm would never consider myself a software developer, but I write code all day long and make a very good living doing it. I don't know b-trees. I don't know the algos. I DO know how to think outside the box, to make a creative solution that meets multiple needs, that often exceeds expectations in surprising ways, and blends together the best thinking from several different domains. I have worked with what I would consider "real" developers, but while I would consider many friends, I don't like how they think, I don't like how they react to new information, I would hate to do their jobs. So where am I on this spectrum? I don't know. I see absolutely zero need to study the things TFA talks about. I would rather study entirely different domains to bring that information in than learn the minutiae of a linked list I'm never going to implement from scratch anyway. Just my two cents.

wussboy 6y ago

I agree with you that the ends of the spectrum have been mis-identified. I sort-of agree with you that the spectrum should be "learn why v. just want to use it". I'm would never consider myself a software developer, but I write code all day long and make a very good living doing it. I don't know b-trees. I don't know the algos. I DO know how to think outside the box, to make a creative solution that meets multiple needs, that often exceeds expectations in surprising ways, and blends together the best thinking from several different domains. I have worked with what I would consider "real" developers, but while I would consider many friends, I don't like how they think, I don't like how they react to new information, I would hate to do their jobs. So where am I on this spectrum? I don't know. I see absolutely zero need to study the things TFA talks about. I would rather study entirely different domains to bring that information in than learn the minutiae of a linked list I'm never going to implement from scratch anyway. Just my two cents.