> I put it down to the fact that a lot of programmers take exception at being given advice on how to do things and hence they learn the hard way. Agreed, but o

> I put it down to the fact that a lot of programmers take exception at being given advice on how to do things and hence they learn the hard way. Agreed, but on the other hand, I've noticed that from time to time the initial reaction is being annoyed, and then, after a while, they start to adopt what you told them. The initial reaction probably is an ego-thing, but after some private contemplation, they see things more rationally. I'm no exception to this, BTW. I too have found things that I've done for years that in hindsight seemed stupid after somebody pointed them out. And yes, I got defensive and annoyed about it. Human nature, I suppose.