Programming Divide
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On Jeremy Miller's most recent blog [^]he discusses good programmers and bad programmers. I found this article and related links to be a fascinating topic for discussion. Any takers? Aaron
_____________________________________________________________________ Our developers never release code. Rather, it tends to escape, pillaging the countryside all around. The Enlightenment Project (paraphrased comment) Visit Me at GISDevCafe
I think it's like any job. A good programmer is one that's motivated to be a good programmer and to be learning and improving. A bad programmer is one that just views it as a job, and "motivated to learn" isn't part of the job description. Working with the second type is a major downer, because you're constantly telling them "PAY ATTENTION TO WARNING MESSAGES", etc. They take, take, take, but never give anything back of value. It sucks working with these kind of people. (oops, sorry to get rantish). This applies to everything about life. Do you take an interest in things and strive toward betterment, or do you just waddle through life without really giving a damn? It's all Attitude. Marc
People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
There's NO excuse for not commenting your code. -- John Simmons / outlaw programmer
People who say that they will refactor their code later to make it "good" don't understand refactoring, nor the art and craft of programming. -- Josh Smith -
On Jeremy Miller's most recent blog [^]he discusses good programmers and bad programmers. I found this article and related links to be a fascinating topic for discussion. Any takers? Aaron
_____________________________________________________________________ Our developers never release code. Rather, it tends to escape, pillaging the countryside all around. The Enlightenment Project (paraphrased comment) Visit Me at GISDevCafe
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On Jeremy Miller's most recent blog [^]he discusses good programmers and bad programmers. I found this article and related links to be a fascinating topic for discussion. Any takers? Aaron
_____________________________________________________________________ Our developers never release code. Rather, it tends to escape, pillaging the countryside all around. The Enlightenment Project (paraphrased comment) Visit Me at GISDevCafe
tangential observation: would a person who didn't consider himself/herself a "good programmer" write something like that ? i say no.
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tangential observation: would a person who didn't consider himself/herself a "good programmer" write something like that ? i say no.
image processing toolkits | batch image processing | blogging
Chris Losinger wrote:
would a person who didn't consider himself/herself a "good programmer" write something like that ?
A bad programmer will say "I'm a good programmer". A good programmer will say "I could be better". Marc
People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
There's NO excuse for not commenting your code. -- John Simmons / outlaw programmer
People who say that they will refactor their code later to make it "good" don't understand refactoring, nor the art and craft of programming. -- Josh Smith -
On Jeremy Miller's most recent blog [^]he discusses good programmers and bad programmers. I found this article and related links to be a fascinating topic for discussion. Any takers? Aaron
_____________________________________________________________________ Our developers never release code. Rather, it tends to escape, pillaging the countryside all around. The Enlightenment Project (paraphrased comment) Visit Me at GISDevCafe
One of the key things I have seen in all of the great programmers that it has been my privilege to work with is their fascination with all sorts of topics. They tend to be interested in all sorts of diverse topics, and bring this fascination in learning new things to the coding table (as it were). The great coders, may spend their 9 to 5 coding for some nameless corporation, but they spend the time outside broadening their horizons. They read about new technologies (and try them out), they seek new challenges and they are always passionate.
the last thing I want to see is some pasty-faced geek with skin so pale that it's almost translucent trying to bump parts with a partner - John Simmons / outlaw programmer
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before. -
On Jeremy Miller's most recent blog [^]he discusses good programmers and bad programmers. I found this article and related links to be a fascinating topic for discussion. Any takers? Aaron
_____________________________________________________________________ Our developers never release code. Rather, it tends to escape, pillaging the countryside all around. The Enlightenment Project (paraphrased comment) Visit Me at GISDevCafe
I disagree with his fixation about coding speed. Of course generally a good programmer is faster, but other qualities are even more important. He/She has to produce readable code, code that will live for a long time, code that anybody can read, a long time after the original author has quit. And also: Fast coding is not the same thing as solid coding. A phenomenally fast programmer will be able to do really nifty tricks with pointers and whatnots, that is an admirable skill, but is such stuff solid enough to control the Space Shuttle? Methinks not!
_____________________________________ Action without thought is not action Action without emotion is not life
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Chris Losinger wrote:
would a person who didn't consider himself/herself a "good programmer" write something like that ?
A bad programmer will say "I'm a good programmer". A good programmer will say "I could be better". Marc
People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
There's NO excuse for not commenting your code. -- John Simmons / outlaw programmer
People who say that they will refactor their code later to make it "good" don't understand refactoring, nor the art and craft of programming. -- Josh Smith -
On Jeremy Miller's most recent blog [^]he discusses good programmers and bad programmers. I found this article and related links to be a fascinating topic for discussion. Any takers? Aaron
_____________________________________________________________________ Our developers never release code. Rather, it tends to escape, pillaging the countryside all around. The Enlightenment Project (paraphrased comment) Visit Me at GISDevCafe
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On Jeremy Miller's most recent blog [^]he discusses good programmers and bad programmers. I found this article and related links to be a fascinating topic for discussion. Any takers? Aaron
_____________________________________________________________________ Our developers never release code. Rather, it tends to escape, pillaging the countryside all around. The Enlightenment Project (paraphrased comment) Visit Me at GISDevCafe
"[Mozart] around the time when he was five or six years old, he could play the piano blindfolded and with his hands crossed over one another." Wiki[^] Other people can learn to play as well, but it takes time, effort, blood sweat and tears. I think programming is similar. Some people just get it. When they sit down to develop in a new technology, it is as if they wrote the environment and language. It comes naturally. Others can develop the same ability, it just takes more time. That's my 2¢.
--EricDV Sig--------- Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them. - Laurence J. Peters
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Chris Losinger wrote:
would a person who didn't consider himself/herself a "good programmer" write something like that ?
A bad programmer will say "I'm a good programmer". A good programmer will say "I could be better". Marc
People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
There's NO excuse for not commenting your code. -- John Simmons / outlaw programmer
People who say that they will refactor their code later to make it "good" don't understand refactoring, nor the art and craft of programming. -- Josh Smithin a perfect world, sure. but i bet there are plenty of good programmers who think they're 10x better than they actually are. in other words, i don't think ego or self-awareness is inversely related to programming ability.
image processing toolkits | batch image processing | blogging
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Chris Losinger wrote:
would a person who didn't consider himself/herself a "good programmer" write something like that ?
A bad programmer will say "I'm a good programmer". A good programmer will say "I could be better". Marc
People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
There's NO excuse for not commenting your code. -- John Simmons / outlaw programmer
People who say that they will refactor their code later to make it "good" don't understand refactoring, nor the art and craft of programming. -- Josh SmithI think you hit the nail on the head. The best programmers I have met always realize that there is more to learn and room to grow. I think there should also be a distinction with good programmers and great programmers. The good programmers have the skill and ability, but its a job to them. Great programmers read, discuss and live code (wifes hate this). If they are not at work programming then they are at home programming. Also great programmers read everything possible and are willing to admit when some one else has found better ways to do things. I know for myself, if I was not programming at work then I would program at home. I wake up in the morning and spend my first hour reading forums, blogs and articles just out of interest. When I commute I catch up on development podcasts and magazines. There is a definite level of interest and determination compared to good programmers. The big difference is that I want to know more than what I know and continue to learn new things. My 2 cents. Aaron
_____________________________________________________________________ Our developers never release code. Rather, it tends to escape, pillaging the countryside all around. The Enlightenment Project (paraphrased comment) Visit Me at GISDevCafe
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One of the key things I have seen in all of the great programmers that it has been my privilege to work with is their fascination with all sorts of topics. They tend to be interested in all sorts of diverse topics, and bring this fascination in learning new things to the coding table (as it were). The great coders, may spend their 9 to 5 coding for some nameless corporation, but they spend the time outside broadening their horizons. They read about new technologies (and try them out), they seek new challenges and they are always passionate.
the last thing I want to see is some pasty-faced geek with skin so pale that it's almost translucent trying to bump parts with a partner - John Simmons / outlaw programmer
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.Pete O`Hanlon wrote:
they seek new challenges and they are always passionate
I think this is a big difference, the level of passion a person has for programming.
_____________________________________________________________________ Our developers never release code. Rather, it tends to escape, pillaging the countryside all around. The Enlightenment Project (paraphrased comment) Visit Me at GISDevCafe
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"[Mozart] around the time when he was five or six years old, he could play the piano blindfolded and with his hands crossed over one another." Wiki[^] Other people can learn to play as well, but it takes time, effort, blood sweat and tears. I think programming is similar. Some people just get it. When they sit down to develop in a new technology, it is as if they wrote the environment and language. It comes naturally. Others can develop the same ability, it just takes more time. That's my 2¢.
--EricDV Sig--------- Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them. - Laurence J. Peters
I think the ability to learn quickly and to be highly adaptable is a definite must for great programmers.
_____________________________________________________________________ Our developers never release code. Rather, it tends to escape, pillaging the countryside all around. The Enlightenment Project (paraphrased comment) Visit Me at GISDevCafe
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Chris Losinger wrote:
would a person who didn't consider himself/herself a "good programmer" write something like that ?
A bad programmer will say "I'm a good programmer". A good programmer will say "I could be better". Marc
People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
There's NO excuse for not commenting your code. -- John Simmons / outlaw programmer
People who say that they will refactor their code later to make it "good" don't understand refactoring, nor the art and craft of programming. -- Josh SmithMarc Clifton wrote:
A bad programmer will say "I'm a good programmer". A good programmer will say "I could be better".
You just called me a good programmer. Thanks man! :P
The StartPage Randomizer | The Timelapse Project | A Random Web Page
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I think you hit the nail on the head. The best programmers I have met always realize that there is more to learn and room to grow. I think there should also be a distinction with good programmers and great programmers. The good programmers have the skill and ability, but its a job to them. Great programmers read, discuss and live code (wifes hate this). If they are not at work programming then they are at home programming. Also great programmers read everything possible and are willing to admit when some one else has found better ways to do things. I know for myself, if I was not programming at work then I would program at home. I wake up in the morning and spend my first hour reading forums, blogs and articles just out of interest. When I commute I catch up on development podcasts and magazines. There is a definite level of interest and determination compared to good programmers. The big difference is that I want to know more than what I know and continue to learn new things. My 2 cents. Aaron
_____________________________________________________________________ Our developers never release code. Rather, it tends to escape, pillaging the countryside all around. The Enlightenment Project (paraphrased comment) Visit Me at GISDevCafe
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Aaron VanWieren wrote:
Great programmers read, discuss and live code (wifes hate this).
Even greater programmers learn to do this in moderation. ;)
:laugh:
_____________________________________________________________________ Our developers never release code. Rather, it tends to escape, pillaging the countryside all around. The Enlightenment Project (paraphrased comment) Visit Me at GISDevCafe
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in a perfect world, sure. but i bet there are plenty of good programmers who think they're 10x better than they actually are. in other words, i don't think ego or self-awareness is inversely related to programming ability.
image processing toolkits | batch image processing | blogging