3 ms·

I've been at this twenty years, and I have no doubt that most people can learn to do it, and some people are just radically better at it. I'm not sure why those

by markbnj 12y ago

I've been at this twenty years, and I have no doubt that most people can learn to do it, and some people are just radically better at it. I'm not sure why those should be either mutually exclusive or controversial points of view. Where the passion part comes in is that most people, the vast majority I would think, just don't want to do this for a living and never will. We're a little like medical doctors in that respect. A lot of people would like to have an MD's paycheck but very few would actually enjoy doing what an MD does for a living. Another analogy, and one of my favorites, is to watchmaking. Watchmakers take great pride in the incredibly close work they do, and again while it may be work many could learn to do, it is work that few would want to do. I think this is very true of programming. Most people find it horribly tedious and boring, and don't see the creative aspects of it at all. The last thing I'd note is that the focused act of programming is becoming a smaller and smaller part of the gig. To be a full-stack developer these days requires so much more than the ability to create a working program. The big picture is very big, it takes many years to get a really sound grasp of it, and you have to be motivated in the first place. Passion, again.

hasenj 12y ago
> To be a full-stack developer these days requires so much more than the ability to create a working program. The big picture is very big, it takes many years to get a really sound grasp of it This is a major point that tends to be overlooked by a lot of people. There's a big difference between just "coding" something to make a little feature work, and actually building an architecture that can support many kinds of behaviors now and in the future. Many people can't seem to make the jump to the "bigger picture" version of programming
- markbnj 12y ago
  > Many people can't seem to make the jump to the "bigger picture" version of programming TBH I am not sure there is even a viable "smaller picture" version of programming. Sure you can write some simple scripts and compile some C++ or Java or run some python. But I have to think 99.99% of what you could actually make a living doing would require knowing a stack at least from the database up to the browser or desktop.
  - hasenj 12y ago
    You can know the stack but then write raw code with nested if statements and for loops to just implement the current requirements to the letter. As soon as a small change is introduced to the requirements, you're screwed.
jobu 12y ago
> The last thing I'd note is that the focused act of programming is becoming a smaller and smaller part of the gig. Unfortunately it took over 5 years as an engineer to learn that being able to communicate effectively is the single most important task of any job. If you've ever struggled to explain yourself to people then take some writing or speaking classes from a local college, sign up for a Dale Carnegie course, join Toastmasters for a couple years. Your career will thank you for it.

by markbnj 12y ago

hasenj 12y ago

> To be a full-stack developer these days requires so much more than the ability to create a working program. The big picture is very big, it takes many years to get a really sound grasp of it This is a major point that tends to be overlooked by a lot of people. There's a big difference between just "coding" something to make a little feature work, and actually building an architecture that can support many kinds of behaviors now and in the future. Many people can't seem to make the jump to the "bigger picture" version of programming

markbnj 12y ago
> Many people can't seem to make the jump to the "bigger picture" version of programming TBH I am not sure there is even a viable "smaller picture" version of programming. Sure you can write some simple scripts and compile some C++ or Java or run some python. But I have to think 99.99% of what you could actually make a living doing would require knowing a stack at least from the database up to the browser or desktop.
- hasenj 12y ago
  You can know the stack but then write raw code with nested if statements and for loops to just implement the current requirements to the letter. As soon as a small change is introduced to the requirements, you're screwed.

jobu 12y ago

> The last thing I'd note is that the focused act of programming is becoming a smaller and smaller part of the gig. Unfortunately it took over 5 years as an engineer to learn that being able to communicate effectively is the single most important task of any job. If you've ever struggled to explain yourself to people then take some writing or speaking classes from a local college, sign up for a Dale Carnegie course, join Toastmasters for a couple years. Your career will thank you for it.