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Programmer Personality Test

alexkreuz

New member
Joined
Sep 4, 2007
Messages
35
MBTI Type
INTP
A revision control system seems overkill for a one-person project

If I may I'd like to disagree with this. I find that even on my "one-person" projects, a good SVN or CVS setup goes a long way. Not only does it provide for a way to leave a project for months on end without losing the structure and logs, but it makes management of it simpler.

I think any "serious" project needs to start with a revision control system.

I hope we can continue this discussion without resorting to personal put-downs.

my hacks are better than your hacks
 

ygolo

My termites win
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
5,988
If I may I'd like to disagree with this. I find that even on my "one-person" projects, a good SVN or CVS setup goes a long way. Not only does it provide for a way to leave a project for months on end without losing the structure and logs, but it makes management of it simpler.

I think any "serious" project needs to start with a revision control system.

I was going to mention that. But I was already rather long-winded, and I don;t do solo-work.

my hacks are better than your hacks

I'm sure they are.

What is the attraction of some people for to the word "hack" (or hacker, or hacking)? I know back in the stone age, it was meant to denote optimizing code (but now it seems, like it means the opposite, almost).
 

Mercurial

New member
Joined
Jul 31, 2007
Messages
93
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
9w6
I was going to mention that. But I was already rather long-winded, and I don;t do solo-work.



I'm sure they are.

What is the attraction of some people for to the word "hack" (or hacker, or hacking)? I know back in the stone age, it was meant to denote optimizing code (but now it seems, like it means the opposite, almost).

The mainstream is under the impression that "hack" denotes a rogue programmer, and that "hacking" is anything that gets past a security program.

Thanks, Hollywood. Meh.
 

alexkreuz

New member
Joined
Sep 4, 2007
Messages
35
MBTI Type
INTP
The mainstream is under the impression that "hack" denotes a rogue programmer, and that "hacking" is anything that gets past a security program.

_TOONHAK.JPG
 

Hoth

New member
Joined
Jun 26, 2007
Messages
9
MBTI Type
ISTP
Still, I think you are vastly underestimating "the artist-who-dabbles-in-code".

I'm sure you can find a few in the world who can do a lot. And a lot more who can't. There's no point in discussing an undefined person.

Also, don't under-estimate the power of aesthetics in logical situations, it does wonders for solving problems you haven't thought of. It is a means of problem avoidance.

I love to make things more elegant, but not at all costs, and if I can't find an elegant way to add the functionality in a timely manner I'll go the less elegant route. Better hacky than not there at all.

Have thousands of people work on something for free. Give it away for free, and see if does not have any sort of disruptive effect on a market where competitive products are expensive. Although Torvalds is well of, Gates is much better off.

Torvalds doesn't own the product, so IBM's or Red Hat's bank account would be a better measure. And Microsoft is a bit absurd of an example for you to be using of the elegant way of doing things -- MS is infamous for its hacky approach and bugs, it's probably better used as an illustration of how what looks like a mess (see OOXML specs) can succeed in the market.

Anyhow, linux being free of charge is irrelivant to the matter -- especially since businesses pay many hundreds of dollars for RHEL and SLED, and as Microsoft likes to point out the TCO for linux is higher since the techies cost more. Most of the time it's used instead of Windows or OS X because it's judged better for the purpose, not because of price. Windows has come pre-installed on my computers, thus free, but that never stops me from deleting it in favor of a more stable, robust and flexible OS.


My point about unhealthy obsession with clean code is best illustrated as Theo De Raadt syndrome. Says Theo on why Linux sucks and OpenBSD rules: "It's terrible. Everyone is using it, and they don't realize how bad it is. And the Linux people will just stick with it and add to it rather than stepping back and saying, 'This is garbage and we should fix it.' [...] Linux has never been about quality. There are so many parts of the system that are just these cheap little hacks, and it happens to run."

I'm sure Theo's kernel is prettier, but that doesn't make it better when it comes at the cost of the robustness of the product. Hence you see the market largely ignoring OpenBSD (since you have this notion that being $0 is linux's trick, keep in mind that OpenBSD is also free). I can respect Theo's approach, or at least I could if he weren't always a jerk about it, but no matter how much he talks about how linux is a heap of junk the plain and simple reality of the matter is that linux has proven itself in practice and held up to continued development, which is what really matters.

In the same vein, from this article:
"You know what I found? Right in the kernel, in the heart of the operating system, I found a developer's comment that said, 'Does this belong here?' What kind of confidence does that inspire? Right then I knew it was time to switch."

Developer code comments are not the sanest way to judge a product.

If I may I'd like to disagree with this. I find that even on my "one-person" projects, a good SVN or CVS setup goes a long way. Not only does it provide for a way to leave a project for months on end without losing the structure and logs, but it makes management of it simpler.

I think any "serious" project needs to start with a revision control system.

I've looked into CVS and subversion and they don't seem to offer me much. I have my own release management scripts which serve my needs -- automating the creation and upload of a final release, parking a copy of the version in an archive where my comparison tools make use of the history in various automated ways, automatically updating my websites to reflect the new releases and so on.

Maybe I'll give them another look sometime if I run into a problem with my system, but I judge my needs by what's working for me. Of course my situation is rather unique since I've spent my entire professional life working on what's essentially one project (outside of a few little one-offs on the side). My point is simply that there are unique circumstances out there.
 

ygolo

My termites win
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
5,988

I think, at this point, we are in agreement about elegance and timeliness.

As far as Linux goes. It'd main competitors are the UNIX's not Windows, I was just using hyperbole when referring to Gates.

There are many more stable configurations on UNIX, and some of the BSDs are gaining popularity as Linux did in its early years. IBM and HP state Linux being "open" as their main driving reason to adopt it. Linux has also gone through years of testing and evaluation in corporate environments that OpenBSD didn't. Since Linux became popular first, and supported by the likes of IBM, there needs to be quite an evaluation for any BSDs to be adopted for being "more elegant" (some peoples opinions) instead of fixing issues with Linux.

Quite frankly, I would be happy if either Linux or OpenBSD came to replace the commercial UNIXes. Linux has a strong lead.

Sometimes the personalities of top proponents can have as much effect on the popularity of ideas or products as much as the effectiveness of those ideas and products themselves. (I'm sure you know that product and price are just two of the p's in the marketing mix, Linux has OPenBSD beat in Place/Distribution, as well as Promotion).

Torvalds seems to be (I haven't interacted with him or de Raadt) more soft-spoken and unassuming than de Raadt. That can go a long ways towards promotion of ideas in some circles.
 

alexkreuz

New member
Joined
Sep 4, 2007
Messages
35
MBTI Type
INTP
I have my own release management scripts which serve my needs -- automating the creation and upload of a final release, parking a copy of the version in an archive where my comparison tools make use of the history in various automated ways, automatically updating my websites to reflect the new releases and so on.


You're misunderstanding the point. You said that a revision control system is overkill for one person projects. However now you're telling me that you have your own custom method of keeping tracks of revisions, automation, archiving, diffing, etc. It makes no difference to me whether you're using VSS, CVS, SVN, or your own custom RCS. My point still stands.
 

Hoth

New member
Joined
Jun 26, 2007
Messages
9
MBTI Type
ISTP
Quite frankly, I would be happy if either Linux or OpenBSD came to replace the commercial UNIXes. Linux has a strong lead.

Seems like the old UNIXes are as good as dead based on market share trends, they still exist only due to momentum and ancient installations. Solaris may have a future, but of course it's open source now, even if quite commercial.

Torvalds seems to be (I haven't interacted with him or de Raadt) more soft-spoken and unassuming than de Raadt. That can go a long ways towards promotion of ideas in some circles.

Linus has a reputation for being blunt and annoying a lot of people. Theo has a reputation for being outright intolerable. Throw in Ballmer's reputation for chair-throwing and there aren't many appealing personalities. Frankly I find it inspiring, as an antisocial jerk, that I know I still have a chance to go far.

Interesting bit from an article on KDE 4:
To complement these extensions, the KDE administration has elected to take measures forcing developers to focus on "the hard nuts to crack,": features and stability, rather than "the low hanging fruit," code maintenance and cleanup. Longtime KDE developer Adriaan de Groot explains, "In the fullness of time we can start worrying about the cleanliness of our code again; right now we just need to get a bunch of functionality into the code base."
 

Moiety

New member
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
5,996
MBTI Type
ISFJ
Thread revival. Fun test.

I got DLTC

You're a Doer.
You are very quick at getting tasks done. You believe the outcome is the most important part of a task and the faster you can reach that outcome the better. After all, time is money.


You like coding at a Low level.
You're from the old school of programming and believe that you should have an intimate relationship with the computer. You don't mind juggling registers around and spending hours getting a 5% performance increase in an algorithm.


You work best in a Team.
A good group is better than the sum of it's parts. The only thing better than a genius programmer is a cohesive group of genius programmers.


You are a Conservative programmer.
The less code you write, the less chance there is of it containing a bug. You write short and to the point code that gets the job done efficiently.

Pretty accurate.

I'd say I'm only a T because I'm never 100% confident in my programming capabilities (although I tend to surprise myself). It can be a pain to share the workload because nothing sucks more than conflicting paradigms trying to solve the same problem.
 

ygolo

My termites win
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
5,988
What happened to Hoth?

I was enjoying the interaction. It would have been fun to meet him IRL.
 

bluebell

New member
Joined
Apr 30, 2007
Messages
1,485
MBTI Type
INTP
I'm not a programmer but I did the test anyway having spent enough time around programmers to grok most of it. The D, S and C seems accurate in terms of how I run my projects at work. The L is somewhat arbitrary having never programmed, and the programmers I know IRL tend to use more obscure languages, not the ones listed in the test. I picked the uncommented program given I could grok it without the comments. The commented one seemed way too annoying to read and explained stuff that didn't need explaining. I prefer lots of white space though as it's easier to read quickly.


DLSC

Doer.
You are very quick at getting tasks done. You believe the outcome is the most important part of a task and the faster you can reach that outcome the better. After all, time is money.

Low level.
You're from the old school of programming and believe that you should have an intimate relationship with the computer. You don't mind juggling registers around and spending hours getting a 5% performance increase in an algorithm.

Solo situation.
The best way to program is by yourself. There's no communication problems, you know every part of the code allowing you to write the best programs possible.

Conservative programmer.
The less code you write, the less chance there is of it containing a bug. You write short and to the point code that gets the job done efficiently.
 

entropie

Permabanned
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
Messages
16,767
MBTI Type
entp
Enneagram
783
:D. "Can you code us a simple IMAP client and what do you need for it ?" - "Yes of course, I just need notepad +gcc-compiler !" (3 years later) "I am ALL DONE !" v:D

Your programmer personality type is:

DLSC


You're a Doer.
You are very quick at getting tasks done. You believe the outcome is the most important part of a task and the faster you can reach that outcome the better. After all, time is money.


You like coding at a Low level.
You're from the old school of programming and believe that you should have an intimate relationship with the computer. You don't mind juggling registers around and spending hours getting a 5% performance increase in an algorithm.


You work best in a Solo situation.
The best way to program is by yourself. There's no communication problems, you know every part of the code allowing you to write the best programs possible.


You are a Conservative programmer.
The less code you write, the less chance there is of it containing a bug. You write short and to the point code that gets the job done efficiently
 

Just another ISTJ

New member
Joined
Jan 22, 2009
Messages
117
MBTI Type
IsTj
Enneagram
1w9
I was typed as a PHSB. I've been programming for about 13 years now, but with one year of professional experience. The solo designation is something I'd be inclined to disagree with, especially with some experience in a paired programming environment. Heck, up until a few years ago, I was more of a DLSC.
 

NewEra

New member
Joined
Dec 21, 2008
Messages
3,104
MBTI Type
I
I got DLSC.

DLSC

You're a Doer.
You are very quick at getting tasks done. You believe the outcome is the most important part of a task and the faster you can reach that outcome the better. After all, time is money.


You like coding at a Low level.
You're from the old school of programming and believe that you should have an intimate relationship with the computer. You don't mind juggling registers around and spending hours getting a 5% performance increase in an algorithm.


You work best in a Solo situation.
The best way to program is by yourself. There's no communication problems, you know every part of the code allowing you to write the best programs possible.


You are a Conservative programmer.
The less code you write, the less chance there is of it containing a bug. You write short and to the point code that gets the job done efficiently.
 

Shaula

Te > Fi > Ni
Joined
Nov 27, 2008
Messages
608
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
4w5
DLSC

You're a Doer.
You are very quick at getting tasks done. You believe the outcome is the most important part of a task and the faster you can reach that outcome the better. After all, time is money.

You like coding at a Low level.
You're from the old school of programming and believe that you should have an intimate relationship with the computer. You don't mind juggling registers around and spending hours getting a 5% performance increase in an algorithm.

You work best in a Solo situation.
The best way to program is by yourself. There's no communication problems, you know every part of the code allowing you to write the best programs possible.

You are a Conservative programmer.
The less code you write, the less chance there is of it containing a bug. You write short and to the point code that gets the job done efficiently.
 

Cenomite

Systematic chaos
Joined
Nov 30, 2008
Messages
623
MBTI Type
ENTP
It matches me pretty well, but it was a horrible test.

Also, I don't think anyone can say they always prefer working solo or always prefer working in teams, both styles are useful in certain situations.


Your programmer personality type is:

DHSB

You're a Doer.
You are very quick at getting tasks done. You believe the outcome is the most important part of a task and the faster you can reach that outcome the better. After all, time is money.


You like coding at a High level.
The world is made up of objects and components, you should create your programs in the same way.


You work best in a Solo situation.

The best way to program is by yourself. There's no communication problems, you know every part of the code allowing you to write the best programs possible.


You are a liBeral programmer.
Programming is a complex task and you should use white space and comments as freely as possible to help simplify the task. We're not writing on paper anymore so we can take up as much room as we need.
 
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