Code Rant: Learn To Code, It's Harder Than You Think

[Cellmold]

WHY DO YOU TALK LIKE THAT

Ah b3came geeneeus r3centlee.

Nd dis iz onlee wah ah cun cummineecate wiv ovvers. Mebbe it w1l p4ss wiv t1me.

 

[EcK]

Ah b3came geeneeus r3centlee.

Nd dis iz onlee wah ah cun cummineecate wiv ovvers. Mebbe it w1l p4ss wiv t1me.

No but seriously, the lolcats want their language back

 

[erm]

I thought the push for coding experience was because it helps with general education, and finding that minority that doesn't know they love it yet, not so that you could get a dedicated job with it.

And there is some prevailing idea that coding is wizardry, which does need to be countered. Also the idea that you need to be mathematically minded, because you really don't.

 

[Cellmold]

No but seriously, the lolcats want their language back

N3va!

I thought the push for coding experience was because it helps with general education, and finding that minority that doesn't know they love it yet, not so that you could get a dedicated job with it.

And there is some prevailing idea that coding is wizardry, which does need to be countered. Also the idea that you need to be mathematically minded, because you really don't.

Whut duz it reqwre den? Logik? T1me? 3ffort? Ah c3ertauin abil1ite 2 sinthesize?

 

[erm]

Whut duz it reqwre den? Logik? T1me? 3ffort? Ah c3ertauin abil1ite 2 sinthesize?

You're drunk man, go home!

 

[EcK]

N3va!

 

[Cellmold]

You're drunk man, go home!

Drnk 4 lyfe.

 

[grey_beard]

I have an undergraduate degree in computer science. One thing that was good about the school I went to is that they specialized in training people to have skills that were directly translatable to the business world. You took classes specifically designed to educate you and train you to be a programmer. Then I got an internship and then a job as one which I did for several years.

What I learned is this:

1. You get a foundation in school but it is not the same as work because the projects in school lack the complexity of a real business system. It took me two to three full time years to start to get really good at it and a good deal of that was learning from others - things like how to test and how to write easily understood/elegant code, etc.

2. The very best programmers are way better than an average one. Some people truly have a gift. There were people who could run circles around me when it came to quickly developing code that worked with very few logic errors.

3. A lot of people do not have the aptitude. I was surprised at how many people were working as programmers who really were not very good at it at all. They wrote terrible code, their stuff would crap out because they didn't test it, they created stuff that was very un-user friendly, etc. There were some programs that I had inherited from others which were like spaghetti. I remember spending an entire Saturday once trying to understand what someone wrote and was unable to follow the mess. The program had the nickname of FUBAR I can see why.

4. I spent many many hours with self study in addition to normal work hours.

I don't think I was great but I was pretty good at it. It took me a while to write the code and I had to work through a lot of bugs every time. My logic always had mistakes. I was very thorough at testing though. I was pretty good a figuring things out when they went wrong and had a reputation as being the guy "who can fix anything". I was very good at developing an understanding of what the business user wanted and developing something that they liked.

The main problem with programming is the old rule of thumb : "Good, Fast, Cheap. Pick any two."
Business has overwhelmingly picked fast and cheap.

With the side effect being that if builders built buildings, the way programmers wrote programs, the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.

 

[grey_beard]

I read code better then I read diagrams so it's harder for me to actually wite the diagram as I think more like code. I basically start with shell code and no actual meat. Then I tie together the shell. Add large things in and then work my way down to the details. Shell for me is usually just a method and it's return type. Or a data object with no data defined in it. Sometime the parameters passed in, but not always.

I had the picture below as my screensaver for awhile:

http://cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/9689481.jpg

 

[highlander]

The main problem with programming is the old rule of thumb : "Good, Fast, Cheap. Pick any two."
Business has overwhelmingly picked fast and cheap.

With the side effect being that if builders built buildings, the way programmers wrote programs, the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.

I have a philosophical problem with this. Innovation and user friendliness is essential. Shit to those who say fast and cheap because in the long run it cost more.

Quality rules as does documentation.

 

[grey_beard]

I have a philosophical problem with this. Innovation and user friendliness is essential. Shit to those who say fast and cheap because in the long run it cost more.

Quality rules as does documentation.

I wasn't *endorsing* it...

 

[highlander]

I wasn't *endorsing* it...

I know.

It's a pet peeve of mine