7 ms·

(It seems a lot of folks are getting nerd-sniped by the set-up and missing the moral of the story, eh?) I don't know the actual numbers, but it's been pointed

(It seems a lot of folks are getting nerd-sniped by the set-up and missing the moral of the story, eh?) I don't know the actual numbers, but it's been pointed out that at any given time something like half of all programmers have been doing it less than five years, for decades now. That, plus the strident ignorance of past art and practice, seem to me to bring on a lot of issues.

twic 5y ago
I don't think it's purely nerd-sniping. If your story is "at first you are bad, but then you get good", but your example is of a case where you did something fine but then replaced it with something worse, that rather undermines the story.
- emilsedgh 5y ago
  > but your example is of a case where you did something fine but then replaced it with something worse They way I see it is that it was a case of something that wasn't working, then replaced with something that was working. I don't know what your metrics about "good" or "bad" are but eventually they got a solution that covered their use cases and the solution was good enough for stakeholders and that is "good".
- adolph 5y ago
  Chronology alone only progresses; progress sometimes regresses.
- mwcampbell 5y ago
  If even someone with Rachel's level of experience still doesn't know all the minutiae of database optimization, I think that just amplifies her point about the importance of mentoring novices.
  - duxup 5y ago
    I recall reading a rant on another site about someone so upset they had to deal with clueless noobs at work. They then went on to list the errors that this brand new entry level employee had made when writing ... an authentication system ... I was more than a little shocked when I realized they were serious and hadn't realized the issue was sending the new entry level guy to do that job alone.
    - gonzo41 5y ago
      I would expect most seniors to want a set of eyes across their work doing any form of authk or z. If only to share blame :p
      - thaumasiotes 5y ago
        > authk I've always seen authn. Where'd you pick this usage up?
        ncmncm 5y ago
        You need to distinguish authentication from authorization. "auth9n" and "auth8n" might be a slight bit too obsure for the purpose.
        afrodc_ 5y ago
        Generally authentication is authn and authorization is authz
        thaumasiotes 5y ago
        What a completely nonresponsive "response". To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever even tried to use auth9n or auth8n. But that's not where the 'n' in authn comes from. authn and authk are both equally distinct from authz.
        deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
  - HahaReally 5y ago
    OR we could demand they get expensive irrelevant degrees and be geniuses at coding by the time they graduate with no relevant skills! Hey, in fact, let’s just do that instead. :)
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
beering 5y ago
> (It seems a lot of folks are getting nerd-sniped by the set-up and missing the moral of the story, eh?) The narrative should lead to the conclusion. If I told you the story of the tortoise and the hare in which the hare gets shot by a hunter, then said the moral is "perseverance wins", you'd be rightfully confused.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
lamontcg 5y ago
> It seems a lot of folks are getting nerd-sniped that is an excellent term.
- jacobolus 5y ago
  Origin: https://xkcd.com/356/ https://xkcd.com/356/
  - wwweston 5y ago
    Old enough some people under 35 may not have encountered it… ;)
    - egeozcan 5y ago
      I feel like that phrase has been there forever, and I'm exactly 35. Will this happen more often as I grow older? Ugh. Feels weird. Maybe also a bit depressing.
      - lamontcg 5y ago
        It was weird seeing all the spongebob squarepants memes take over the internet when I was too old to ever grow up with that. I turned 28 in 1999 when that first aired. That was my "holy shit I'm so old" moment when that finally trickled up into my awareness as someone nearly turning 40 or so.
        yesenadam 5y ago
        Same age as you. I have a lot of friends in the Philippines. I swear the Facebook employment info of half the people in the Philippines says they work at the Krusty Krab. (And for most filipinos, the internet = facebook.) For some reason I never asked what that meant, and for many years I thought that was just some odd joke, and was vaguely puzzled about how widespread it is. Eventually I happened on the Spongebob connection!
        _carbyau_ 5y ago
WorldMaker 5y ago
The math would resemble xkcd's Lucky Ten Thousand: https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/ With yes the added confounding factors of how often our industry seems to prefer to hire youth over experience, and subsequently how often experience "drains" to other fields/management roles/"dark matter".

twic 5y ago

I don't think it's purely nerd-sniping. If your story is "at first you are bad, but then you get good", but your example is of a case where you did something fine but then replaced it with something worse, that rather undermines the story.

emilsedgh 5y ago
> but your example is of a case where you did something fine but then replaced it with something worse They way I see it is that it was a case of something that wasn't working, then replaced with something that was working. I don't know what your metrics about "good" or "bad" are but eventually they got a solution that covered their use cases and the solution was good enough for stakeholders and that is "good".
adolph 5y ago
Chronology alone only progresses; progress sometimes regresses.
mwcampbell 5y ago
If even someone with Rachel's level of experience still doesn't know all the minutiae of database optimization, I think that just amplifies her point about the importance of mentoring novices.
- duxup 5y ago
  I recall reading a rant on another site about someone so upset they had to deal with clueless noobs at work. They then went on to list the errors that this brand new entry level employee had made when writing ... an authentication system ... I was more than a little shocked when I realized they were serious and hadn't realized the issue was sending the new entry level guy to do that job alone.
  - gonzo41 5y ago
    I would expect most seniors to want a set of eyes across their work doing any form of authk or z. If only to share blame :p
    - thaumasiotes 5y ago
      > authk I've always seen authn. Where'd you pick this usage up?
      - ncmncm 5y ago
        You need to distinguish authentication from authorization. "auth9n" and "auth8n" might be a slight bit too obsure for the purpose.
        afrodc_ 5y ago
        Generally authentication is authn and authorization is authz
        thaumasiotes 5y ago
        What a completely nonresponsive "response". To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever even tried to use auth9n or auth8n. But that's not where the 'n' in authn comes from. authn and authk are both equally distinct from authz.
        deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
- HahaReally 5y ago
  OR we could demand they get expensive irrelevant degrees and be geniuses at coding by the time they graduate with no relevant skills! Hey, in fact, let’s just do that instead. :)
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

beering 5y ago

> (It seems a lot of folks are getting nerd-sniped by the set-up and missing the moral of the story, eh?) The narrative should lead to the conclusion. If I told you the story of the tortoise and the hare in which the hare gets shot by a hunter, then said the moral is "perseverance wins", you'd be rightfully confused.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

lamontcg 5y ago

> It seems a lot of folks are getting nerd-sniped that is an excellent term.

jacobolus 5y ago
Origin: https://xkcd.com/356/ https://xkcd.com/356/
- wwweston 5y ago
  Old enough some people under 35 may not have encountered it… ;)
  - egeozcan 5y ago
    I feel like that phrase has been there forever, and I'm exactly 35. Will this happen more often as I grow older? Ugh. Feels weird. Maybe also a bit depressing.
    - lamontcg 5y ago
      It was weird seeing all the spongebob squarepants memes take over the internet when I was too old to ever grow up with that. I turned 28 in 1999 when that first aired. That was my "holy shit I'm so old" moment when that finally trickled up into my awareness as someone nearly turning 40 or so.
      - yesenadam 5y ago
        Same age as you. I have a lot of friends in the Philippines. I swear the Facebook employment info of half the people in the Philippines says they work at the Krusty Krab. (And for most filipinos, the internet = facebook.) For some reason I never asked what that meant, and for many years I thought that was just some odd joke, and was vaguely puzzled about how widespread it is. Eventually I happened on the Spongebob connection!
      - _carbyau_ 5y ago

WorldMaker 5y ago

The math would resemble xkcd's Lucky Ten Thousand: https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/ With yes the added confounding factors of how often our industry seems to prefer to hire youth over experience, and subsequently how often experience "drains" to other fields/management roles/"dark matter".