5 ms·

'Brogrammers' challenge coders' nerdy image

23 points by gibsonf1 15y ago

corin_ 15y ago
> "We got invited to a party in Malibu where there were naked women in the hot tub," said Stern-Sapad, 25. "We're the cool programmers." To me at least, that just sounds like an insanely geeky thing to say - if you have to talk about how not-geeky you are, you are probably geekier than you think.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
smacktoward 15y ago
Oh, for the days when this industry was run by grown-ups.
benihana 15y ago
>This brogramming thing would definitely turn off a lot of women from working" at startups, said Chipps. How about, change women to everyone - no one wants to work with an egotistical douche who thinks he's special. Especially if he thinks he's special because he thinks he's cool.
- jensnockert 15y ago
  Yeah, I think most people would rather work with a geek or nerd than a 'brogrammer', even just socializing with the 'brogrammers' seems awkward based on the article. This whole 'brogrammer' thing must stop, please think of the children^Wrest of the world.
maxklein 15y ago
Such fluff stories were also very common in 1998 and 1999. You never read such stories about car designers, do you?
k-mcgrady 15y ago
This is one of the saddest things I have ever read. It sounds like something out of the Onion or a cheesy sitcom about geeks. Why do these people feel the need to prove they are 'cool'?
- motoford 15y ago
  Why do these people feel the need to prove they are 'cool'? Because they aren't.
corford 15y ago
God I hate the term "brogrammer". It just conjures up an image of that narcissistic wanker on the train who talks loudly so everyone can here what "cool" things he's been doing. Grrr.
FuzzyDunlop 15y ago
While I appreciate anything that attempts to suppress the 'anti-social nerd' stereotype associated with programming and other specialist computing fields; I don't think it's entirely appropriate to do so by becoming the polar opposite of that. Especially by using stupid terms like 'brogamming' or making portmanteaux of words starting with 'bro'. The aspirational tone of the article is dreadful, too. So one guy listens to Swedish dubstep? That doesn't make him a role mode. Just someone who has his own routine. In fact, I'd hate to be defined by that... I've done all this amazing work, and people remember me only because I listened to Swedish dubstep.
- mindcrime 15y ago
  So one guy listens to Swedish dubstep? That doesn't make him a role mode. Just someone who has his own routine. No doubt. I mean, plenty of us listen to Swedish death metal and/or black metal, and we don't go around patting ourselves on that back for that. Not sure what any of that has to do with programming in the first place...
heydenberk 15y ago
BREAKING NEWS: stereotypes aren't universally true and sometimes you can even find an extreme counter-example. Thank god for this brave journalist for breaking this story and not being afraid to use a portmanteau.
Metapony 15y ago
Another stupid label invented by a reporter desperate for someone to read his story. All sorts of dumb. I guess 'brogrammer' sounds better than 'douchegrammer'? People are just people. There's all sorts of people and all sorts of programmers.
- cpeterso 15y ago
  "douchegrammer" made my day. :)
holdenc 15y ago
There are probably plenty of bros who can write code and be well-liked with the sales dept. But how many bros are willing to spend 16 hours straight to debug the latest broken distro of some open source project because only that has the feature they need to run some obscure component of their website? Truth is, nearly every great programmer I know is a masochist when it comes to figuring out difficult problems. And they're willing to sacrifice a lot to make it work. I know some great programmers, but none of them happen to be brogrammers.
ryanbrunner 15y ago
Maybe I'm confused - I've always seen the brogrammer thing as firmly tongue-in-cheek, dripping in irony, and primarily poking fun at "bro" culture. Have I got it completely wrong, or is this one of those things where a meme peaks in popularity, and people start to take it at face value rather than ironically?
- RobSpectre 15y ago
  Agreed. I can't believe anyone is taking this seriously.
moocow01 15y ago
Makes me think it may be time for a career change if this is what the industry is coming to.
kellyreid 15y ago
tongue in cheek or not, I see no problem with it. I'm a guy in my 20s who likes to code, runs his own business, and enjoys games like 'beer pong'. it's a welcome 180 change from the typical "all computer programmers are autistic virgins" stereotype that's persisted for a while. and nerd or no nerd, there's nothing wrong with a hot tub full of pretty girls.
- briancurtin 15y ago
  You see no problem with it because you're a guy in your 20s. Shit like this makes it painfully obvious why people, especially women, are not entering software-related fields. Fuck everything about this.

23 points by gibsonf1 15y ago

> "We got invited to a party in Malibu where there were naked women in the hot tub," said Stern-Sapad, 25. "We're the cool programmers." To me at least, that just sounds like an insanely geeky thing to say - if you have to talk about how not-geeky you are, you are probably geekier than you think.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

smacktoward 15y ago

Oh, for the days when this industry was run by grown-ups.

benihana 15y ago

>This brogramming thing would definitely turn off a lot of women from working" at startups, said Chipps. How about, change women to everyone - no one wants to work with an egotistical douche who thinks he's special. Especially if he thinks he's special because he thinks he's cool.

jensnockert 15y ago
Yeah, I think most people would rather work with a geek or nerd than a 'brogrammer', even just socializing with the 'brogrammers' seems awkward based on the article. This whole 'brogrammer' thing must stop, please think of the children^Wrest of the world.

maxklein 15y ago

Such fluff stories were also very common in 1998 and 1999. You never read such stories about car designers, do you?

k-mcgrady 15y ago

This is one of the saddest things I have ever read. It sounds like something out of the Onion or a cheesy sitcom about geeks. Why do these people feel the need to prove they are 'cool'?

motoford 15y ago
Why do these people feel the need to prove they are 'cool'? Because they aren't.

corford 15y ago

God I hate the term "brogrammer". It just conjures up an image of that narcissistic wanker on the train who talks loudly so everyone can here what "cool" things he's been doing. Grrr.

FuzzyDunlop 15y ago

While I appreciate anything that attempts to suppress the 'anti-social nerd' stereotype associated with programming and other specialist computing fields; I don't think it's entirely appropriate to do so by becoming the polar opposite of that. Especially by using stupid terms like 'brogamming' or making portmanteaux of words starting with 'bro'. The aspirational tone of the article is dreadful, too. So one guy listens to Swedish dubstep? That doesn't make him a role mode. Just someone who has his own routine. In fact, I'd hate to be defined by that... I've done all this amazing work, and people remember me only because I listened to Swedish dubstep.

mindcrime 15y ago
So one guy listens to Swedish dubstep? That doesn't make him a role mode. Just someone who has his own routine. No doubt. I mean, plenty of us listen to Swedish death metal and/or black metal, and we don't go around patting ourselves on that back for that. Not sure what any of that has to do with programming in the first place...

heydenberk 15y ago

BREAKING NEWS: stereotypes aren't universally true and sometimes you can even find an extreme counter-example. Thank god for this brave journalist for breaking this story and not being afraid to use a portmanteau.

Metapony 15y ago

Another stupid label invented by a reporter desperate for someone to read his story. All sorts of dumb. I guess 'brogrammer' sounds better than 'douchegrammer'? People are just people. There's all sorts of people and all sorts of programmers.

cpeterso 15y ago
"douchegrammer" made my day. :)

holdenc 15y ago

There are probably plenty of bros who can write code and be well-liked with the sales dept. But how many bros are willing to spend 16 hours straight to debug the latest broken distro of some open source project because only that has the feature they need to run some obscure component of their website? Truth is, nearly every great programmer I know is a masochist when it comes to figuring out difficult problems. And they're willing to sacrifice a lot to make it work. I know some great programmers, but none of them happen to be brogrammers.

ryanbrunner 15y ago

Maybe I'm confused - I've always seen the brogrammer thing as firmly tongue-in-cheek, dripping in irony, and primarily poking fun at "bro" culture. Have I got it completely wrong, or is this one of those things where a meme peaks in popularity, and people start to take it at face value rather than ironically?

RobSpectre 15y ago
Agreed. I can't believe anyone is taking this seriously.

moocow01 15y ago

Makes me think it may be time for a career change if this is what the industry is coming to.

kellyreid 15y ago

tongue in cheek or not, I see no problem with it. I'm a guy in my 20s who likes to code, runs his own business, and enjoys games like 'beer pong'. it's a welcome 180 change from the typical "all computer programmers are autistic virgins" stereotype that's persisted for a while. and nerd or no nerd, there's nothing wrong with a hot tub full of pretty girls.

briancurtin 15y ago
You see no problem with it because you're a guy in your 20s. Shit like this makes it painfully obvious why people, especially women, are not entering software-related fields. Fuck everything about this.