4 ms·

Computer Science is a wide field. You are not an impostor for not understanding all components of the field. For example, an oncologist is not expected to have

by alickz 5y ago

Computer Science is a wide field. You are not an impostor for not understanding all components of the field. For example, an oncologist is not expected to have the same understanding of bacteria as a microbiologist and they aren't an impostor for not knowing. But I feel you, whenever I read the more technical posts on HN I feel the same way.

saagarjha 5y ago
In this case it's computer science paired with a bit of hardware engineering ;)
tomxor 5y ago
I agree with both of you, but still kinda feel like this is wizardry in action... Because it comes from that special perspective of being able to xray through the entire stack, all the way down the physics of the electronics driving the thing while keeping the context of all the other layers in mind to see how different parts can be manipulated to get the results you want. I get the most enjoyment out of my work when doing this with higher level layers, but being able to do it at the hardware end must feel exhilarating, because that's really how it all works.
- marcan_42 5y ago
  Drilling down into the stack is a skill, and a skill that is very useful for things like debugging low level issues (sometimes what's causing your app to crash is a kernel bug or even a CPU bug). It's something you have to learn, but it's not wizardry. It all comes down to moving electrons at the end of the day. I find that it helps if you start with things like 8-bit microcontrollers where you're writing C code or even assembly language, yet it's simple enough to wrap your head around easily (make sure you hit the metal; a lot of people doing this start off with Arduino and get stuck with the high level libraries, but then you're not really learning anything about how it works). Then if you know a bit about digital logic, it's not hard to learn how such an 8-bit CPU might be designed. At that point you can shift to larger and larger systems while still being able to "connect the dots" from a GUI app down to NAND gates. Of course you won't know the details of the whole stack (nobody does), but you'll have enough of a big picture overview to be able to dig your way through it when it becomes necessary.

by alickz 5y ago

saagarjha 5y ago

In this case it's computer science paired with a bit of hardware engineering ;)

tomxor 5y ago

I agree with both of you, but still kinda feel like this is wizardry in action... Because it comes from that special perspective of being able to xray through the entire stack, all the way down the physics of the electronics driving the thing while keeping the context of all the other layers in mind to see how different parts can be manipulated to get the results you want. I get the most enjoyment out of my work when doing this with higher level layers, but being able to do it at the hardware end must feel exhilarating, because that's really how it all works.

marcan_42 5y ago
Drilling down into the stack is a skill, and a skill that is very useful for things like debugging low level issues (sometimes what's causing your app to crash is a kernel bug or even a CPU bug). It's something you have to learn, but it's not wizardry. It all comes down to moving electrons at the end of the day. I find that it helps if you start with things like 8-bit microcontrollers where you're writing C code or even assembly language, yet it's simple enough to wrap your head around easily (make sure you hit the metal; a lot of people doing this start off with Arduino and get stuck with the high level libraries, but then you're not really learning anything about how it works). Then if you know a bit about digital logic, it's not hard to learn how such an 8-bit CPU might be designed. At that point you can shift to larger and larger systems while still being able to "connect the dots" from a GUI app down to NAND gates. Of course you won't know the details of the whole stack (nobody does), but you'll have enough of a big picture overview to be able to dig your way through it when it becomes necessary.