The Language/Coding proposition
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I stumbled upon this thread in the Suggestions forum : http://www.codeproject.com/Messages/4387427/Insults-are-not-welcome.aspx[^] And that got me thinking about how language ability and coding skills are the 2 major factors that affect how people get treated online. Well, there’s no score/ranking here really but I’ve formulated this theory on what makes someone popular in a technical/geek forum (like CodeProject, StackOverflow, or say Reddit). In my observations, it seems to be directly related to a combination of your language ability (not just grammar, but the ability to use humor and sarcasm to good effect) and your technological competency. Here’s a venn-diagram of sorts that tries to explain this better: http://i.imgur.com/fHExJ.png[^] 2 : represents people who have great language/humor/verbosity. 3: represents technology gurus with extreme coding skills. 4: represents the intersection of 2 and 3. 1: represents those with neither language skills or technical ability. Now, people in 2 and 3 (but not in 4) usually get along okay. Here on CP we have a fair number of category-2 people who can write well, express complex ideas succinctly, and possess incredible senses of humor, but who are very ordinary programmers. They are popular. We also have a number of category-3 people, mostly from non-native (English) countries who are very good at coding/technology and who answer a lot of Q-A threads. They are fairly popular too despite the fact that many of them write with the verbosity/grammar of a 6 year old. Then we have the rock-stars like Christian and Pete who are category-4, that most elite of forum classifications. These folks are revered and held in the absolute highest esteem. So, what does this leave us with? Well folks who can’t code, and whose English expressing abilities are severely lacking. While it sounds unfair, it’s best if these people try and work on at least one of these skills before venturing out to these sites, unless they possess really thick skins and are prepared to learn and improve amidst a showering of insults and abuses. Opinions welcome...
Regards, Nish
My technology blog:
You forgot category 5, idiots.
Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. I also do Android Programming as I find it a refreshing break from the MS. "And they, since they Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs" -- Robert Frost
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I stumbled upon this thread in the Suggestions forum : http://www.codeproject.com/Messages/4387427/Insults-are-not-welcome.aspx[^] And that got me thinking about how language ability and coding skills are the 2 major factors that affect how people get treated online. Well, there’s no score/ranking here really but I’ve formulated this theory on what makes someone popular in a technical/geek forum (like CodeProject, StackOverflow, or say Reddit). In my observations, it seems to be directly related to a combination of your language ability (not just grammar, but the ability to use humor and sarcasm to good effect) and your technological competency. Here’s a venn-diagram of sorts that tries to explain this better: http://i.imgur.com/fHExJ.png[^] 2 : represents people who have great language/humor/verbosity. 3: represents technology gurus with extreme coding skills. 4: represents the intersection of 2 and 3. 1: represents those with neither language skills or technical ability. Now, people in 2 and 3 (but not in 4) usually get along okay. Here on CP we have a fair number of category-2 people who can write well, express complex ideas succinctly, and possess incredible senses of humor, but who are very ordinary programmers. They are popular. We also have a number of category-3 people, mostly from non-native (English) countries who are very good at coding/technology and who answer a lot of Q-A threads. They are fairly popular too despite the fact that many of them write with the verbosity/grammar of a 6 year old. Then we have the rock-stars like Christian and Pete who are category-4, that most elite of forum classifications. These folks are revered and held in the absolute highest esteem. So, what does this leave us with? Well folks who can’t code, and whose English expressing abilities are severely lacking. While it sounds unfair, it’s best if these people try and work on at least one of these skills before venturing out to these sites, unless they possess really thick skins and are prepared to learn and improve amidst a showering of insults and abuses. Opinions welcome...
Regards, Nish
My technology blog:
What about sex? That's not an offer! ;) Just pointing out that my sex is probably the most memorable thing about me here and it colours how everyone treats me. I suppose the question of how people are treated is very complex. In general I think we should try not to pick on people who are trying, whatever their skills, and those who aren't trying will soon leave anyway. :)
"State acheived after eating too many chocolate-covered coconut bars - bountiful" Chris C-B
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Very analytic way to show things, I guess you have chosen the right career :-d I also think you are right, at leat in most cases. Im assuming the nearer the center you are the more points you'll get?
Thank you and yeah, those nearer the center usually get the most points/karma/rep as well.
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
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What about sex? That's not an offer! ;) Just pointing out that my sex is probably the most memorable thing about me here and it colours how everyone treats me. I suppose the question of how people are treated is very complex. In general I think we should try not to pick on people who are trying, whatever their skills, and those who aren't trying will soon leave anyway. :)
"State acheived after eating too many chocolate-covered coconut bars - bountiful" Chris C-B
DeathByChocolate wrote:
Just pointing out that my sex is probably the most memorable thing about me here and it colours how everyone treats me. I suppose the question of how people are treated is very complex.
Well honestly, from your username I can't guess your gender, so unless you go around telling people what gender you are, you should be okay :-)
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
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What about sex? That's not an offer! ;) Just pointing out that my sex is probably the most memorable thing about me here and it colours how everyone treats me. I suppose the question of how people are treated is very complex. In general I think we should try not to pick on people who are trying, whatever their skills, and those who aren't trying will soon leave anyway. :)
"State acheived after eating too many chocolate-covered coconut bars - bountiful" Chris C-B
DeathByChocolate wrote:
What about sex?
That's not an offer! ;)Damnit!
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
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Now for a more appropriate answer. It is always good advice to read a site and get accustomed to its peculiarities before you post on it. Unfortunately the vast majority of people (I would imagine) end up here because they have an immediate problem. I don't think poor coding skills really matter, it is the ability to express yourself properly (and by that I do not mean just English not being your first or second language, many native English speakers cannot communicate well, especially using the written form of the language) that does, because straight away it gets people's backs up. I am sure that many asking succinct questions have attempted to find out the information, but simply lack the skills, or are not confident in their skills, to express what they have done so just put the question and no background.
Every man can tell how many goats or sheep he possesses, but not how many friends. Shed Petition[^]
ChrisElston wrote:
I am sure that many asking succinct questions have attempted to find out the information, but simply lack the skills, or are not confident in their skills, to express what they have done so just put the question and no background.
I agree, sometimes it's a matter of nerves.
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
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What about sex? That's not an offer! ;) Just pointing out that my sex is probably the most memorable thing about me here and it colours how everyone treats me. I suppose the question of how people are treated is very complex. In general I think we should try not to pick on people who are trying, whatever their skills, and those who aren't trying will soon leave anyway. :)
"State acheived after eating too many chocolate-covered coconut bars - bountiful" Chris C-B
I wouldn't have thought that gender would make much of a difference when asking for help as a newcomer to the site. Obviously it's different in the social areas where you are mostly hanging about with a load of geeks with borderline autism and a pr0n fetish.
Every man can tell how many goats or sheep he possesses, but not how many friends. Shed Petition[^]
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DeathByChocolate wrote:
Just pointing out that my sex is probably the most memorable thing about me here and it colours how everyone treats me. I suppose the question of how people are treated is very complex.
Well honestly, from your username I can't guess your gender, so unless you go around telling people what gender you are, you should be okay :-)
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
Yeah well, I have given the game away once or twice ... :)
"State acheived after eating too many chocolate-covered coconut bars - bountiful" Chris C-B
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What about sex? That's not an offer! ;) Just pointing out that my sex is probably the most memorable thing about me here and it colours how everyone treats me. I suppose the question of how people are treated is very complex. In general I think we should try not to pick on people who are trying, whatever their skills, and those who aren't trying will soon leave anyway. :)
"State acheived after eating too many chocolate-covered coconut bars - bountiful" Chris C-B
DeathByChocolate wrote:
Just pointing out that my sex is probably the most memorable thing about me
The power of quoting without context :-\
~RaGE();
I think words like 'destiny' are a way of trying to find order where none exists. - Christian Graus Do not feed the troll ! - Common proverb
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I wouldn't have thought that gender would make much of a difference when asking for help as a newcomer to the site. Obviously it's different in the social areas where you are mostly hanging about with a load of geeks with borderline autism and a pr0n fetish.
Every man can tell how many goats or sheep he possesses, but not how many friends. Shed Petition[^]
ChrisElston wrote:
Obviously it's different in the social areas where you are mostly hanging about with a load of geeks with borderline autism and a pr0n fetish.
LOL. A touch brutal, but quite true :-)
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
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I stumbled upon this thread in the Suggestions forum : http://www.codeproject.com/Messages/4387427/Insults-are-not-welcome.aspx[^] And that got me thinking about how language ability and coding skills are the 2 major factors that affect how people get treated online. Well, there’s no score/ranking here really but I’ve formulated this theory on what makes someone popular in a technical/geek forum (like CodeProject, StackOverflow, or say Reddit). In my observations, it seems to be directly related to a combination of your language ability (not just grammar, but the ability to use humor and sarcasm to good effect) and your technological competency. Here’s a venn-diagram of sorts that tries to explain this better: http://i.imgur.com/fHExJ.png[^] 2 : represents people who have great language/humor/verbosity. 3: represents technology gurus with extreme coding skills. 4: represents the intersection of 2 and 3. 1: represents those with neither language skills or technical ability. Now, people in 2 and 3 (but not in 4) usually get along okay. Here on CP we have a fair number of category-2 people who can write well, express complex ideas succinctly, and possess incredible senses of humor, but who are very ordinary programmers. They are popular. We also have a number of category-3 people, mostly from non-native (English) countries who are very good at coding/technology and who answer a lot of Q-A threads. They are fairly popular too despite the fact that many of them write with the verbosity/grammar of a 6 year old. Then we have the rock-stars like Christian and Pete who are category-4, that most elite of forum classifications. These folks are revered and held in the absolute highest esteem. So, what does this leave us with? Well folks who can’t code, and whose English expressing abilities are severely lacking. While it sounds unfair, it’s best if these people try and work on at least one of these skills before venturing out to these sites, unless they possess really thick skins and are prepared to learn and improve amidst a showering of insults and abuses. Opinions welcome...
Regards, Nish
My technology blog:
Ok, but attributes like "extreme coding skill" and "great language skill" aren't really binary. How great is great, and how extreme is extreme? And what about the huge sea of unnoticed people of mediocre skill, who aren't really in 1 but can't be found anywhere else in your Venn diagram either?
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I wouldn't have thought that gender would make much of a difference when asking for help as a newcomer to the site. Obviously it's different in the social areas where you are mostly hanging about with a load of geeks with borderline autism and a pr0n fetish.
Every man can tell how many goats or sheep he possesses, but not how many friends. Shed Petition[^]
True, I was just making a point that it is very complex, obviously the more times you post the factors come into play. :~ Oh damn I'm being serious ... I better post a joke asap! :-D
"State acheived after eating too many chocolate-covered coconut bars - bountiful" Chris C-B
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DeathByChocolate wrote:
Just pointing out that my sex is probably the most memorable thing about me
The power of quoting without context :-\
~RaGE();
I think words like 'destiny' are a way of trying to find order where none exists. - Christian Graus Do not feed the troll ! - Common proverb
Rage wrote:
DeathByChocolate wrote:
Just pointing out that my sex is probably the most memorable thing about me
Well what can I say ... :-\
"State acheived after eating too many chocolate-covered coconut bars - bountiful" Chris C-B
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Ok, but attributes like "extreme coding skill" and "great language skill" aren't really binary. How great is great, and how extreme is extreme? And what about the huge sea of unnoticed people of mediocre skill, who aren't really in 1 but can't be found anywhere else in your Venn diagram either?
Yes, my diagram was a bit of a simplification. There are 50 shades of gray in there as well that I chose not to consider. But eventually everyone tends towards one of those 4 categories.
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
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What about sex? That's not an offer! ;) Just pointing out that my sex is probably the most memorable thing about me here and it colours how everyone treats me. I suppose the question of how people are treated is very complex. In general I think we should try not to pick on people who are trying, whatever their skills, and those who aren't trying will soon leave anyway. :)
"State acheived after eating too many chocolate-covered coconut bars - bountiful" Chris C-B
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I wouldn't have thought that gender would make much of a difference when asking for help as a newcomer to the site. Obviously it's different in the social areas where you are mostly hanging about with a load of geeks with borderline autism and a pr0n fetish.
Every man can tell how many goats or sheep he possesses, but not how many friends. Shed Petition[^]
ChrisElston wrote:
with borderline autism and a pr0n fetish men
FTFY!
Sort of a cross between Lawrence of Arabia and Dilbert.[^]
-Or-
A Dead ringer for Kate Winslett[^] -
I stumbled upon this thread in the Suggestions forum : http://www.codeproject.com/Messages/4387427/Insults-are-not-welcome.aspx[^] And that got me thinking about how language ability and coding skills are the 2 major factors that affect how people get treated online. Well, there’s no score/ranking here really but I’ve formulated this theory on what makes someone popular in a technical/geek forum (like CodeProject, StackOverflow, or say Reddit). In my observations, it seems to be directly related to a combination of your language ability (not just grammar, but the ability to use humor and sarcasm to good effect) and your technological competency. Here’s a venn-diagram of sorts that tries to explain this better: http://i.imgur.com/fHExJ.png[^] 2 : represents people who have great language/humor/verbosity. 3: represents technology gurus with extreme coding skills. 4: represents the intersection of 2 and 3. 1: represents those with neither language skills or technical ability. Now, people in 2 and 3 (but not in 4) usually get along okay. Here on CP we have a fair number of category-2 people who can write well, express complex ideas succinctly, and possess incredible senses of humor, but who are very ordinary programmers. They are popular. We also have a number of category-3 people, mostly from non-native (English) countries who are very good at coding/technology and who answer a lot of Q-A threads. They are fairly popular too despite the fact that many of them write with the verbosity/grammar of a 6 year old. Then we have the rock-stars like Christian and Pete who are category-4, that most elite of forum classifications. These folks are revered and held in the absolute highest esteem. So, what does this leave us with? Well folks who can’t code, and whose English expressing abilities are severely lacking. While it sounds unfair, it’s best if these people try and work on at least one of these skills before venturing out to these sites, unless they possess really thick skins and are prepared to learn and improve amidst a showering of insults and abuses. Opinions welcome...
Regards, Nish
My technology blog:
Nish Sivakumar wrote:
Then we have the rock-stars like Christian and Pete
There is also a guy from Trivandrum who wrote 135 CP articles and is believed to be one of the two people worldwide to know C++/CLI.
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Nish Sivakumar wrote:
Then we have the rock-stars like Christian and Pete
There is also a guy from Trivandrum who wrote 135 CP articles and is believed to be one of the two people worldwide to know C++/CLI.
Nemanja Trifunovic wrote:
and is believed to be one of the two people worldwide to know C++/CLI.
Oh come on, it's been 7 years now since I wrote that book! :rolleyes:
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
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Nish Sivakumar wrote:
Then we have the rock-stars like Christian and Pete
There is also a guy from Trivandrum who wrote 135 CP articles and is believed to be one of the two people worldwide to know C++/CLI.
Off-topic. You work for SAP now, huh? Nice!
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
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I never realized your gender, nor care. I doubt most (normal) people keep track of it. However, CP is full of abnormals.
wizardzz wrote:
I never realized your gender, nor care
Well there you go, what do I know? :rolleyes:
wizardzz wrote:
However, CP is full of abnormals
:laugh:
"State acheived after eating too many chocolate-covered coconut bars - bountiful" Chris C-B
