
These Warriors Use Stealth and War Skills to Write Computer Code - bluesmoon
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303410404575151843265692682.html
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mhd
Reclusive assassins aren't that much better than asketic mystics ("Zen
coders", "Perl monks").

Can't I just be a Code Casanova? A Procedural Pimp? A Googlin' Gigolo?

But I shall diminish, go into the office, and remain a programmer.

~~~
xiaoma
Digital Ditch Digger.

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og1
I cant stand this rockstar/ninja nomenclature. It makes me cringe.

~~~
jimfl
Yeah. These are definitely stopwords when reading job postings. Luckily,
they're generally applied at the top or even in the title.

If you advertise for Ninjas or Rockstars, you deserve every candidate you get.

~~~
pw0ncakes
<obvious>They should replace "rockstar", "hero", and "ninja" with "douchebag";
it's just as unprofessional, but more accurately describes the people who'd
describe themselves with any of those labels.</obvious>

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RyanMcGreal
Interviewer: How would you describe yourself?

Candidate: I'm a _code ninja_!

Interviewer: Thank you for your time. We'll, er, be in touch.

~~~
pw0ncakes
It's fine and good to be a bit quirky, but once you start referring to your
resume as a "character sheet", you need to step back for a second.

~~~
stcredzero
That sort of shenanigans almost got a friend of mine hired at a shop -- until
she revealed that she wasn't a coder and was applying for a clerical/support
position.

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bluesmoon
Well, after ninja coders, we now have ninja bakers:
<http://www.ninjabread.co.uk/b3ta/remove-sleeve-and-film.jpg>

Ok, this made me laugh, and coming so close to this story, it could hardly be
a co-incidence, so I had to share.

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balding_n_tired
I like Peter Drucker's theory.

As for Amazon, I have a "Ninja Coder" sticker in view as a type; as relating
to martial arts, the question I answered to get it was at about the induction
physical level.

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steamer25
More fuel for the fire from jQuery's lead developer: <http://jsninja.com/>

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edw519
Cute mainstream article that gives the ignorant masses a phony Hollywood view
of what it's like to be a programmer.

A real day in the life of a rockstar/ninja/whatever isn't so glamorous:

\- Review actual results of Run #27 and compare to expected results. Isolate 4
discrepencies.

\- Scour through 1200 lines of code, looking for obvious flaws that would have
produced 4 discrepencies.

\- Isolate functions and run new test.

\- Enter debugger and enable trace checkpoints.

\- Realize it's been 6 hours since you farted. Fart.

\- Revise test data and run again.

\- Modify checkpoints and build fresh logs.

\- Add 9 more outliers to test cases.

\- Put logs on another session. Find glasses.

\- Grab a soda and some chips. Read the source code again.

\- Call wife. Have dinner without me.

\- Run one more test. Still have discrepencies.

\- Realize the expected results were calculated wrong and your program was
right all along. You ninja. Log off.

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pw0ncakes
My interpretation: the submission of this article is a subtle protest of the
site's lack of support for downvoting submissions.

