3 ms·

Some Ideas on how to become a great hacker

1 points by mnery 13y ago

allanmacgregor 13y ago
Mark, This is the second article from you that I find through HNews, and it also the second time I'm disappointed by the lack of depth and, the negative and aggressive tone of your writing. 1. Hacker seems to be the new trendy word like rockstar programmer once was, and I think is misused to be honest. 2. "I think I have learned the most about programming in non programming books" Really ? I find that statement ridiculous not by the fact that you can't benefit from non computer science book but for the fact that there are so many amazing books related to computer science; The art of computer programming by Donald E. Knuth comes to mind, have you at least read that one ? 3. Yeah some online schools are gimmicky but not all of them and they are often a good step for beginners. 4. Why not? Oh wait I forgot you are going for the whole hipster programmer vibe here. "No man, all the languages I know don't offer a certification. You probably have never heard of them" Yeah, some certifications can be a complete waste of time and useless but discard or reject a programming language just for the fact there are certifications available is just dumb. 5. Scenester, by your own definition; you are a scenester your article hasn't provide a tiny bit of depth so far, and you are building hate towards whoever doesn't think like you do. My intention is not to aggravate you and if I sound aggressive with my previous comments it's because I find articles with lack of depth and flashy titles infuriating . Great hackers are not about what languages you learn or what major/minor you took in college. Being a Great hacker is about passion, about curiosity, it's about the feeling of discovery finding something completely new. You can be a hacker eve if you don't know a single line of programming. Passion is what drive people into becoming great hackers and building amazing things, passion(and coffee) is what keep us going after hours and looking for answers to question that no one necessarily asked.
- mnery 13y ago
  First , thanks for taking the time to read and respond to my article. My intention is to start with an idea than have it evolve with dialog. Yes I do write in an aggressive and negative tone it is my style and I think it is quite effective. 1. Yes it is, point? 2. One of the main points in easier words is be WELL ROUNDED and not just read CS books , is it coincidence that a lot of great programmers (not using "hacker" don't want to be trendy ) are well read. Think Rich Hickey getting his ideas from Alfred Whitehead's books (you probably haven't read him , he's not a programmer). Yes I have read some of Knuth's work ( Concrete Mathematics ) and no I haven't read the Art of Programming Languages cover to cover and seriously doubt any one has (way to dry). Nice name drop by the way. 3. Getting your hands dirty on your own project trumps any other way of learning even for beginners. You will learn things on multiple domains (ie project management , debugging , and even the "hackers" most important skill that I forgot to mention "searching google") that online code schools could not even hope to replicate. Online code schools are like letting your kids watch baby Einstein to prep them for a career in physics. 4. Hipster hacker , really? I never said don't use mainstream languages , in fact I say the opposite you should select languages with the Lindy Effect. By definition these are languages that have been around for a while. I would never recommend to use languages no one has ever heard of or most likely will be a flop (eg elixer). I was taking a shot at C# and Java , which are pretty worthless ( I would know I developed in both for years) and are littered with shitty coders. 5. My definition of a scenester is someone who jumps on the newest technology and does everything he can to be marketable , I have not shown any other these traits. I think your definition of depth varies from mine I think you are looking for articles of how I solved coding problem and wrote about (very scenester) , my intention of this blog is not to "show off" my coding knowledge to get a job but to think outside the box. Yes great hackers are curious (see the top of the article) and yes there are hackers on many different domains other than programming. Maybe I should change the title from "IDEAS on how to be a great hacker" to "How not to be a fraudster" Anyway thanks for reading and I look forward to infuriating you more in the future.

1 points by mnery 13y ago

Mark, This is the second article from you that I find through HNews, and it also the second time I'm disappointed by the lack of depth and, the negative and aggressive tone of your writing. 1. Hacker seems to be the new trendy word like rockstar programmer once was, and I think is misused to be honest. 2. "I think I have learned the most about programming in non programming books" Really ? I find that statement ridiculous not by the fact that you can't benefit from non computer science book but for the fact that there are so many amazing books related to computer science; The art of computer programming by Donald E. Knuth comes to mind, have you at least read that one ? 3. Yeah some online schools are gimmicky but not all of them and they are often a good step for beginners. 4. Why not? Oh wait I forgot you are going for the whole hipster programmer vibe here. "No man, all the languages I know don't offer a certification. You probably have never heard of them" Yeah, some certifications can be a complete waste of time and useless but discard or reject a programming language just for the fact there are certifications available is just dumb. 5. Scenester, by your own definition; you are a scenester your article hasn't provide a tiny bit of depth so far, and you are building hate towards whoever doesn't think like you do. My intention is not to aggravate you and if I sound aggressive with my previous comments it's because I find articles with lack of depth and flashy titles infuriating . Great hackers are not about what languages you learn or what major/minor you took in college. Being a Great hacker is about passion, about curiosity, it's about the feeling of discovery finding something completely new. You can be a hacker eve if you don't know a single line of programming. Passion is what drive people into becoming great hackers and building amazing things, passion(and coffee) is what keep us going after hours and looking for answers to question that no one necessarily asked.

mnery 13y ago
First , thanks for taking the time to read and respond to my article. My intention is to start with an idea than have it evolve with dialog. Yes I do write in an aggressive and negative tone it is my style and I think it is quite effective. 1. Yes it is, point? 2. One of the main points in easier words is be WELL ROUNDED and not just read CS books , is it coincidence that a lot of great programmers (not using "hacker" don't want to be trendy ) are well read. Think Rich Hickey getting his ideas from Alfred Whitehead's books (you probably haven't read him , he's not a programmer). Yes I have read some of Knuth's work ( Concrete Mathematics ) and no I haven't read the Art of Programming Languages cover to cover and seriously doubt any one has (way to dry). Nice name drop by the way. 3. Getting your hands dirty on your own project trumps any other way of learning even for beginners. You will learn things on multiple domains (ie project management , debugging , and even the "hackers" most important skill that I forgot to mention "searching google") that online code schools could not even hope to replicate. Online code schools are like letting your kids watch baby Einstein to prep them for a career in physics. 4. Hipster hacker , really? I never said don't use mainstream languages , in fact I say the opposite you should select languages with the Lindy Effect. By definition these are languages that have been around for a while. I would never recommend to use languages no one has ever heard of or most likely will be a flop (eg elixer). I was taking a shot at C# and Java , which are pretty worthless ( I would know I developed in both for years) and are littered with shitty coders. 5. My definition of a scenester is someone who jumps on the newest technology and does everything he can to be marketable , I have not shown any other these traits. I think your definition of depth varies from mine I think you are looking for articles of how I solved coding problem and wrote about (very scenester) , my intention of this blog is not to "show off" my coding knowledge to get a job but to think outside the box. Yes great hackers are curious (see the top of the article) and yes there are hackers on many different domains other than programming. Maybe I should change the title from "IDEAS on how to be a great hacker" to "How not to be a fraudster" Anyway thanks for reading and I look forward to infuriating you more in the future.