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good programmer

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  • D devvvy

    wait... perhaps a simpler example: how do you explain britney, she's (well *was*) in demand.

    dev

    J Offline
    J Offline
    JimmyRopes
    wrote on last edited by
    #38

    devvvy wrote:

    wait... perhaps a simpler example: how do you explain britney, she's (well *was*) in demand.

    In some circles she still is. :~

    Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
    Think inside the box! ProActive Secure Systems
    I'm on-line therefore I am. JimmyRopes

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    • D devvvy

      software engineer, programmer, developer, anal-yst, just title.

      dev

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      Mustafa Ismail Mustafa
      wrote on last edited by
      #39

      Absolutely not. Sure, others might consider them to be acronyms, but they're not. I'm specifically pointing at the misnomer Software Engineer. An Engineer, plans, designs, architects and builds things in a disciplined manner. An Engineer takes care that what he does will stand up to the test and more, an Engineer will "do things right" as opposed to "just get it done". "It just Works" is not a part of the Engineer's lexicon "this is how it works" is. Most of all, an Engineer will take responsibility for his/her code, especially when it fails. My $0.02

      If the post was helpful, please vote! Current activities: Book: The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett Project: Hospital Automation, final stage Learning: Image analysis, LINQ Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]?

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      • D devvvy

        it's called "Multi-tasking" [a.k.a. "Many-tasking]

        dev

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        R Offline
        Ray Cassick
        wrote on last edited by
        #40

        Yeah, I get that. What I was referring to is that the hierarchy of responsibilities between an engineer, developer, programmer, analyst, etc... require a different overall mind set of a solution, and having one person to fill those spots ends up causing delays\issues due to the ability to make that mental context switch. Ones view at a higher level can get muddied because they spend so much time concentrating on the nitty gritty low level details.


        LinkedIn[^] | Blog[^] | Twitter[^]

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        • M Mustafa Ismail Mustafa

          Absolutely not. Sure, others might consider them to be acronyms, but they're not. I'm specifically pointing at the misnomer Software Engineer. An Engineer, plans, designs, architects and builds things in a disciplined manner. An Engineer takes care that what he does will stand up to the test and more, an Engineer will "do things right" as opposed to "just get it done". "It just Works" is not a part of the Engineer's lexicon "this is how it works" is. Most of all, an Engineer will take responsibility for his/her code, especially when it fails. My $0.02

          If the post was helpful, please vote! Current activities: Book: The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett Project: Hospital Automation, final stage Learning: Image analysis, LINQ Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]?

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          R Offline
          Ray Cassick
          wrote on last edited by
          #41

          I agree... http://www.enterprocity.com/blogs/2009/04/30/ArchitectsDevelopersAndProgrammersOhMy.aspx[^]


          LinkedIn[^] | Blog[^] | Twitter[^]

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          • D devvvy

            sometimes i thought to myself, for one to be really good programmer, you need to be unemployed. To get away from daily fire fighting, the long hours, the politics. Is it true, best programmers are generally unemployed? (I know one thing they can't be behind bars)

            dev

            B Offline
            B Offline
            Brady Kelly
            wrote on last edited by
            #42

            devvvy wrote:

            To get away from daily fire fighting, the long hours

            You can't get away from long hours.

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            • R Ray Cassick

              I agree... http://www.enterprocity.com/blogs/2009/04/30/ArchitectsDevelopersAndProgrammersOhMy.aspx[^]


              LinkedIn[^] | Blog[^] | Twitter[^]

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              Mustafa Ismail Mustafa
              wrote on last edited by
              #43

              Completely, its a sad day when we can't tell what separates this from that.

              If the post was helpful, please vote! Current activities: Book: The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett Project: Hospital Automation, final stage Learning: Image analysis, LINQ Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]?

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              • M Mustafa Ismail Mustafa

                Completely, its a sad day when we can't tell what separates this from that.

                If the post was helpful, please vote! Current activities: Book: The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett Project: Hospital Automation, final stage Learning: Image analysis, LINQ Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]?

                H Offline
                H Offline
                Henry Minute
                wrote on last edited by
                #44

                Mustafa Ismail Mustafa wrote:

                its a sad day when we can't tell what separates this from that.

                er... from? There you can have a happy day now. :-D

                Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.”

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                • A Anna Jayne Metcalfe

                  And you think I wasn't working when I was learning? I run my own company, and believe me it's easily a 60 hour a week job keeping on top of everything... Prior to that I was working full time and learning. No different other than shorter hours, really. If you are tired, you may want to take a step back and look at how your day runs. I've found a decent diet, regular exercise (I run for at least half an hour most days) and better time management makes up for a lot. Even with 2 hrs of commuting a day (which I don't have to do now, thankfully) I was still able to keep learning at quite a rate. If I can do that while coping with a (very regular, unfortunately) 3 day migraine once a month, I'm sure you can find a way somehow. :)

                  Anna :rose: Having a bad bug day? Tech Blog | Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"

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                  G Offline
                  Gary R Wheeler
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #45

                  Anna-Jayne Metcalfe wrote:

                  If I can do that while coping with a (very regular, unfortunately) 3 day migraine once a month

                  Oh wow, does that sound awful X|. I sympathize, as my migraines have only come under control in the last five years or so. Given that it's so regular, do you have a recognizable trigger for it?

                  Software Zen: delete this;
                  Fold With Us![^]

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                  • M Mustafa Ismail Mustafa

                    Absolutely not. Sure, others might consider them to be acronyms, but they're not. I'm specifically pointing at the misnomer Software Engineer. An Engineer, plans, designs, architects and builds things in a disciplined manner. An Engineer takes care that what he does will stand up to the test and more, an Engineer will "do things right" as opposed to "just get it done". "It just Works" is not a part of the Engineer's lexicon "this is how it works" is. Most of all, an Engineer will take responsibility for his/her code, especially when it fails. My $0.02

                    If the post was helpful, please vote! Current activities: Book: The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett Project: Hospital Automation, final stage Learning: Image analysis, LINQ Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]?

                    G Offline
                    G Offline
                    Gary R Wheeler
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #46

                    Which is why my job title is listed as 'computer engineer', not 'programmer', not 'software engineer', or any of the fluffy bunny titles like 'technology evangelist' or that sort of crap. I spent five long hard years earning a degree in computer engineering (Wright State University, class of '84, go Raiders!). I've spent the 25 years learning my trade from some of the best (and some of the worst) people in the business. I believe these two factors give me the right to call myself an engineer, as opposed to the self-assumed term that most people use.

                    Software Zen: delete this;
                    Fold With Us![^]

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                    • M MidwestLimey

                      Nemanja Trifunovic wrote:

                      You are right. It is a twisted logic

                      You should see my code, it would blow your mind ;)

                      10110011001111101010101000001000001101001010001010100000100000101000001000111100010110001011001011

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                      martin_hughes
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #47

                      A sample of MidwestLimey's production code:

                      10 PRINT "MIDWEST LIMEY IS GREAT!" 20 GOTO 10

                      Not mind blowing, per se, but I like what you did with the GOTO.

                      print "http://www.codeproject.com".toURL().text Ain't that Groovy?

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                      • D devvvy

                        sometimes i thought to myself, for one to be really good programmer, you need to be unemployed. To get away from daily fire fighting, the long hours, the politics. Is it true, best programmers are generally unemployed? (I know one thing they can't be behind bars)

                        dev

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                        PIEBALDconsult
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #48

                        Whoo hoo! I'm a good programmer! Ah well, too bad your theory is wrong. You can never become a good programmer without working in a variety of environments with a variety of programmers who are better than you. Plus, although I certainly have time to develop whatever I like, I'm not motivated to do so. And even if I did, without any sort of peer review, I'd never have anyone to point out any shortcomings in it.

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                        • D devvvy

                          sometimes i thought to myself, for one to be really good programmer, you need to be unemployed. To get away from daily fire fighting, the long hours, the politics. Is it true, best programmers are generally unemployed? (I know one thing they can't be behind bars)

                          dev

                          P Offline
                          P Offline
                          peterchen
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #49

                          If you don't enjoy the fire fighting, don't find a quantum of solace in the long hours, and can't deal with the politics, you are not much of a programmer, just a code monkey. (No doubt, you might be a good code monkey, but still..)

                          Don't attribute to stupidity what can be equally well explained by buerocracy.
                          My latest article | Linkify!| FoldWithUs! | sighist

                          modified on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 10:01 PM

                          1 Reply Last reply
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                          • P PIEBALDconsult

                            Whoo hoo! I'm a good programmer! Ah well, too bad your theory is wrong. You can never become a good programmer without working in a variety of environments with a variety of programmers who are better than you. Plus, although I certainly have time to develop whatever I like, I'm not motivated to do so. And even if I did, without any sort of peer review, I'd never have anyone to point out any shortcomings in it.

                            D Offline
                            D Offline
                            devvvy
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #50

                            PIEBALDconsult wrote:

                            h well, too bad your theory is wrong. > What did you just prove that? You can never become a good programmer without working in a variety of environments with a variety of programmers who are better than you. > I agree. but at some point you will lack behind in latest development unless you don't work for a sweatshop (don't get me wrong they can be reputable firms). Plus, although I certainly have time to develop whatever I like, I'm not motivated to do so. And even if I did, without any sort of peer review, I'd never have anyone to point out any shortcomings in it.

                            > You haven't seen firefight and long hours mate, if you do, you'd have trouble finding time to actually have a date.

                            dev

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                            • D devvvy

                              sometimes i thought to myself, for one to be really good programmer, you need to be unemployed. To get away from daily fire fighting, the long hours, the politics. Is it true, best programmers are generally unemployed? (I know one thing they can't be behind bars)

                              dev

                              W Offline
                              W Offline
                              wes21
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #51

                              I usually write good code, but this drives me to drink.....

                              Wes A picture is worth a thousand words but it takes 3,000 times the disk space. ~Author Unknown My Site

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                              • D devvvy

                                PIEBALDconsult wrote:

                                h well, too bad your theory is wrong. > What did you just prove that? You can never become a good programmer without working in a variety of environments with a variety of programmers who are better than you. > I agree. but at some point you will lack behind in latest development unless you don't work for a sweatshop (don't get me wrong they can be reputable firms). Plus, although I certainly have time to develop whatever I like, I'm not motivated to do so. And even if I did, without any sort of peer review, I'd never have anyone to point out any shortcomings in it.

                                > You haven't seen firefight and long hours mate, if you do, you'd have trouble finding time to actually have a date.

                                dev

                                P Offline
                                P Offline
                                PIEBALDconsult
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #52

                                devvvy wrote:

                                You haven't seen firefight and long hours

                                Sure I have, when I was employed. Such are learning experiences any good programmer (or whatever) needs; anyone who hasn't been tested by adversity can't truly claim to have mastered his craft. It would be like a pool (billiards) player who practices at home constantly, but never enters a tournament.

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                                • G Gary R Wheeler

                                  Which is why my job title is listed as 'computer engineer', not 'programmer', not 'software engineer', or any of the fluffy bunny titles like 'technology evangelist' or that sort of crap. I spent five long hard years earning a degree in computer engineering (Wright State University, class of '84, go Raiders!). I've spent the 25 years learning my trade from some of the best (and some of the worst) people in the business. I believe these two factors give me the right to call myself an engineer, as opposed to the self-assumed term that most people use.

                                  Software Zen: delete this;
                                  Fold With Us![^]

                                  M Offline
                                  M Offline
                                  Mustafa Ismail Mustafa
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #53

                                  I'm an ECE myself so I know exactly what you mean. I don't have the same wealth of experience that you have Gary, but like you I'm learning from both the good and the bad and thankfully, because of this here thingy called CP, that learning has accelerated. I take pride in being an Engineer. Its a mindset. You strive to learn and always be better, you create, you build you develop and improve and I mean both as a person and the work. Most importantly, when the midden heap hits the windmill, when things don't go as they were meant to, when I make a mistake, I own up to it.

                                  If the post was helpful, please vote! Current activities: Book: The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett Project: Hospital Automation, final stage Learning: Image analysis, LINQ Now and forever, defiant to the end. What is Multiple Sclerosis[^]?

                                  G 1 Reply Last reply
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                                  • G Gary R Wheeler

                                    Anna-Jayne Metcalfe wrote:

                                    If I can do that while coping with a (very regular, unfortunately) 3 day migraine once a month

                                    Oh wow, does that sound awful X|. I sympathize, as my migraines have only come under control in the last five years or so. Given that it's so regular, do you have a recognizable trigger for it?

                                    Software Zen: delete this;
                                    Fold With Us![^]

                                    A Offline
                                    A Offline
                                    Anna Jayne Metcalfe
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #54

                                    There's no specific trigger - form what I can tell they are hormonal in origin. A couple of days before an attack I get extremely tired ("Yawning for England", quite literally!) which I've learnt to recognise as a warning sign and throttle back a bit - which helps to mitigate the attack a little and prevent it turning from 3 days of discomfort (during which I can function on some level, provided I rest enough) to 3 days of sheer hell (during which I will be in bed doing nothing). I'm kinda used to the routine nowe, fortunately.

                                    Anna :rose: Having a bad bug day? Tech Blog | Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"

                                    G 1 Reply Last reply
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                                    • D devvvy

                                      sometimes i thought to myself, for one to be really good programmer, you need to be unemployed. To get away from daily fire fighting, the long hours, the politics. Is it true, best programmers are generally unemployed? (I know one thing they can't be behind bars)

                                      dev

                                      C Offline
                                      C Offline
                                      Charl
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #55

                                      I am a really good fighter pilot - top dog. Holding down a lousy programmer job because I communicate well - one day I WILL FLY!

                                      D 1 Reply Last reply
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                                      • D devvvy

                                        sometimes i thought to myself, for one to be really good programmer, you need to be unemployed. To get away from daily fire fighting, the long hours, the politics. Is it true, best programmers are generally unemployed? (I know one thing they can't be behind bars)

                                        dev

                                        M Offline
                                        M Offline
                                        micmanos
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #56

                                        There is literally tons of misconception regarding the 'Programmer' as a JOB and the 'Programmer' as something OTHER THAN A JOB. The JOB of being a programmer has to do primarily with Results (which translates to Money) and secondarily with skills & knowledge (if you're fortunate to have that kind of boss). The programmer as a hobbyist is primarily about personal development, achievement and self esteem for the sole purpose of either becoming a professional one day or simply to have fun. Nobody says you can't have both but in real life, Work you do in the office (that means, making money for your boss) and Training you do at home and on your own free time (either to get better at your job or if you don't have any social life). The conclusion is that IT in general can be either a tool or a toy. Skills and knowledge by themselves is like having the ability to joggle with shovels. It's very impressive but no matter how many different moves and tricks you can do with them, that just won't cut it if your job is to DIG holes !!! PS: Excellent programmers are out of the job because they try to market their theoretic potential (venture) rather than hard facts (results).

                                        N 1 Reply Last reply
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                                        • N Nemanja Trifunovic

                                          You are right. It is a twisted logic :)

                                          Programming Blog utf8-cpp

                                          S Offline
                                          S Offline
                                          Sean Botha 0
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #57

                                          I disagree. I have long hair and a beard. Customers tend to dislike that(and they say people don't discriminate). The company therefore have a not so good programmer but very good with comunication dealing with the customers. All interviews are recorded via dictaphone so I know what happened and Customers can email me directly. I am not saying I am a great programer I am just saying that a great programmer do not need to interact with clients. I believe without the limitaions that general employment give you you should be able to experiment more and hense be able to further yourself more making you a better programmer. When I get home after a particularly bad day I do not want to see a computer let alone learn a new thing about it.

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