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Maybe I'm misinterpreting but it seems like he considers himself a part of the "practitioners who haven't put in the reps to build their own C libraries in a ca

Maybe I'm misinterpreting but it seems like he considers himself a part of the "practitioners who haven't put in the reps to build their own C libraries in a cave with scraps, but can read textbooks and use libraries written by elite institutions" not above them

lolinder 2y ago
Except for that in the sentence right before that he says that he did write his own C libraries from scratch, which I think means that the only reasonable interpretation of the "practitioners..." clause is that those are the people people that he describes as his "competition" who he is "clearly better than". I'd really like to read it that way, but I'm afraid he actually did come across that arrogant.
- smoothbenny 2y ago
  I'm not seeing where he says he wrote libraries in C in a cave with scraps. That sounds like a few steps beyond writing libraries from scratch (non-specified language). One's competition is their equals, no? It's not a competition otherwise.
  - lolinder 2y ago
    "I am clearly better than most of my competition"?
    - smoothbenny 2y ago
      Still not seeing where he said he himself wrote C in a cave with scraps. Not suggesting he's humble, but I still think he sees himself as one of them (he doesn't say he's "better than everyone [at that level]")
      - hluska 2y ago
        The entire sentence is: “I'm not God's gift to the field, but I am clearly better than most of my competition - that is, practitioners like myself who haven't put in the reps to build their own C libraries in a cave with scraps, but can read textbooks and use libraries written by elite institutions.“ It’s quite poorly written, but they note they’re clearly better than most of their competition.
        smoothbenny 2y ago
        > they note they’re clearly better than most of their competition. Yup, I've noted that three times. Are we still claiming he wrote libraries in C in a cave with scraps? Or just moving on? Poorly written? Maybe. Poorly read? Equally likely. Maybe we should just ask the guy, he'll know. Did the downvoter see me as their "competition"? "Clearly better"? Both? I don't have enough karma yet to respond in kind, so they're right about something at least. lol they did it again. mods!
        jsnell 2y ago
        The section starts with him bragging about having written libraries from scratch. Given that, I really don't understand how you can arrive at them considering themselves one of the people who hasn't written libraries.
        smoothbenny 2y ago
        > I really don't understand how you can arrive at them considering themselves one of the people who hasn't written libraries. There seems to be a comprehension issue on one side or the other. Can someone point me to where he says his competition has never written a single library? I only see that he says they haven't written a library "in C in a cave with scraps". Where does he say he's written libraries in C? I don't see that either. Maybe the words "scraps" and "scratch" are too close together? If a subset of readers are inclined to dismiss him out of hand for this perceived slight, nothing I write will convince them otherwise, but that doesn't make their uncharitable interpretation of his words the correct one.
  - eichin 2y ago
    It's just an Iron Man(2008) movie reference. (Though it was the Big Bad saying that a problem wasn't that hard if Our Hero didn't need any resources - which doesn't exactly fit what the author seems to be saying here - I read it mostly as lightening the mood a bit regardless.)

lolinder 2y ago

Except for that in the sentence right before that he says that he did write his own C libraries from scratch, which I think means that the only reasonable interpretation of the "practitioners..." clause is that those are the people people that he describes as his "competition" who he is "clearly better than". I'd really like to read it that way, but I'm afraid he actually did come across that arrogant.

smoothbenny 2y ago
I'm not seeing where he says he wrote libraries in C in a cave with scraps. That sounds like a few steps beyond writing libraries from scratch (non-specified language). One's competition is their equals, no? It's not a competition otherwise.
- lolinder 2y ago
  "I am clearly better than most of my competition"?
  - smoothbenny 2y ago
    Still not seeing where he said he himself wrote C in a cave with scraps. Not suggesting he's humble, but I still think he sees himself as one of them (he doesn't say he's "better than everyone [at that level]")
    - hluska 2y ago
      The entire sentence is: “I'm not God's gift to the field, but I am clearly better than most of my competition - that is, practitioners like myself who haven't put in the reps to build their own C libraries in a cave with scraps, but can read textbooks and use libraries written by elite institutions.“ It’s quite poorly written, but they note they’re clearly better than most of their competition.
      - smoothbenny 2y ago
        > they note they’re clearly better than most of their competition. Yup, I've noted that three times. Are we still claiming he wrote libraries in C in a cave with scraps? Or just moving on? Poorly written? Maybe. Poorly read? Equally likely. Maybe we should just ask the guy, he'll know. Did the downvoter see me as their "competition"? "Clearly better"? Both? I don't have enough karma yet to respond in kind, so they're right about something at least. lol they did it again. mods!
        jsnell 2y ago
        The section starts with him bragging about having written libraries from scratch. Given that, I really don't understand how you can arrive at them considering themselves one of the people who hasn't written libraries.
        smoothbenny 2y ago
        > I really don't understand how you can arrive at them considering themselves one of the people who hasn't written libraries. There seems to be a comprehension issue on one side or the other. Can someone point me to where he says his competition has never written a single library? I only see that he says they haven't written a library "in C in a cave with scraps". Where does he say he's written libraries in C? I don't see that either. Maybe the words "scraps" and "scratch" are too close together? If a subset of readers are inclined to dismiss him out of hand for this perceived slight, nothing I write will convince them otherwise, but that doesn't make their uncharitable interpretation of his words the correct one.
- eichin 2y ago
  It's just an Iron Man(2008) movie reference. (Though it was the Big Bad saying that a problem wasn't that hard if Our Hero didn't need any resources - which doesn't exactly fit what the author seems to be saying here - I read it mostly as lightening the mood a bit regardless.)