4 ms·

None of the top programmers I know code outside of work. Ironically I've had the exact opposite experience. In professional life, the best I could say about a

• timr 17y ago
  "Ironically I've had the exact opposite experience. In professional life, the best I could say about any programmer who doesn't code in their spare time is that they're "ok." And more often than not, I'd call them pretty mediocre....No offense to anyone here." Saying that you didn't intend to offend doesn't give you carte blanche to say offensive things. I'm one of those guys who doesn't code outside of work. I have a limited capacity for that kind of intense thinking, and since I'm using that capacity at work, I have to take time away to stay sharp. It's stupid and shortsighted to conclude that this makes me mediocre, even if everyone else in your limited life sample has been mediocre. Also, for the record? Nothing you wrote was ironic.
  • staunch 17y ago
    I think your hostility is a bit overboard... The idea that doing intense work could sap your energy totally matches my experience. I would find it hard to believe that you love solving problems with code, but never find the opportunity and necessity to do that outside of work. For periods of months perhaps? Sure, but over years? Never doing anything other than what's expected at your job? I'd find that hard to believe.
    • timr 17y ago
      I didn't say that I never "found the opportunity" to solve problems with code outside of work. I said I didn't have the energy to code outside of work. Your incredulity concerning that fact is irrelevant to my ability.
  • csallen 17y ago
    Mmmm, what he said wasn't offensive. He didn't say that anyone who doens't program as a hobby is mediocre. He simply pointed out that in his experience that has been the case. Read his post again...
    • timr 17y ago
      Yes, he carefully caged his words to avoid explicitly making the generalization, while still communicating that's what he believes. Fortunately, the English language is not strictly literal, and I am allowed to respond to the intent and implication of his comment.
      • _pius 17y ago
        Ironically, if I were as defensive as you, I could have misread the parent I responded to as saying that I must not be a top coder because I do code outside of work. Thankfully, I was able to simply respond respectfully with my different experience instead. Since I default to respecting the experience and ability of everyone who posts here, I indeed found it ironic that my experience would differ so sharply from Retric's.
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        • timr 17y ago
          "Since I default to respecting the experience and ability of everyone who posts here..." Oh, come on. I wasn't going to bring this up, but since you're playing the role of the civilized martyr, why don't you tell everyone how your first reaction was to send me an email calling me a "dickhead" for what I wrote? You have a funny way of "respecting" people. No, I don't agree with you, but I had enough respect not to call you names, and I had the guts to say what I said in public.
  • _pius 17y ago
    edited for tone and temper: I'm sorry you're offended, but I think you're being way too defensive. I certainly didn't make the stronger case that you seem to think I did; all I did was state my experience. If that's too much for you to hear, well, that says more about you than it does me. There are probably tons of genius coders who never, ever code in their spare time. I just don't know any personally.
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  • donaq 17y ago
    Way to take it personally. The person you're replying to did qualify all his observations by stating just that. That they're from his personal experiences. Unless you're included in, as you've already put it, his "limited life sample", I can't for the life of me fathom why on earth you should think that he thinks you're mediocre.
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• sown 17y ago
  If we have a set of people who do program at home and a set of people who don't and both sets are awesome programmers, is it a worthwhile indicator?