

Some Ideas on how to become a great hacker - mnery
http://mark-nery.github.io/software/2013/08/18/some-ideas-on-how-to-be-a-great-hacker/

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allanmacgregor
Mark,

This is the second article from you that I find through HNews, and it also the
second time I'm disappointed by the lack of depth and, the negative and
aggressive tone of your writing.

1\. Hacker seems to be the new trendy word like rockstar programmer once was,
and I think is misused to be honest.

2\. "I think I have learned the most about programming in non programming
books" Really ? I find that statement ridiculous not by the fact that you
can't benefit from non computer science book but for the fact that there are
so many amazing books related to computer science; The art of computer
programming by Donald E. Knuth comes to mind, have you at least read that one
?

3\. Yeah some online schools are gimmicky but not all of them and they are
often a good step for beginners.

4\. Why not? Oh wait I forgot you are going for the whole hipster programmer
vibe here. "No man, all the languages I know don't offer a certification. You
probably have never heard of them" Yeah, some certifications can be a complete
waste of time and useless but discard or reject a programming language just
for the fact there are certifications available is just dumb.

5\. Scenester, by your own definition; you are a scenester your article hasn't
provide a tiny bit of depth so far, and you are building hate towards whoever
doesn't think like you do.

My intention is not to aggravate you and if I sound aggressive with my
previous comments it's because I find articles with lack of depth and flashy
titles infuriating .

Great hackers are not about what languages you learn or what major/minor you
took in college. Being a Great hacker is about passion, about curiosity, it's
about the feeling of discovery finding something completely new. You can be a
hacker eve if you don't know a single line of programming.

Passion is what drive people into becoming great hackers and building amazing
things, passion(and coffee) is what keep us going after hours and looking for
answers to question that no one necessarily asked.

~~~
mnery
First , thanks for taking the time to read and respond to my article. My
intention is to start with an idea than have it evolve with dialog. Yes I do
write in an aggressive and negative tone it is my style and I think it is
quite effective.

1\. Yes it is, point?

2\. One of the main points in easier words is be WELL ROUNDED and not just
read CS books , is it coincidence that a lot of great programmers (not using
"hacker" don't want to be trendy ) are well read. Think Rich Hickey getting
his ideas from Alfred Whitehead's books (you probably haven't read him , he's
not a programmer). Yes I have read some of Knuth's work ( Concrete Mathematics
) and no I haven't read the Art of Programming Languages cover to cover and
seriously doubt any one has (way to dry). Nice name drop by the way.

3\. Getting your hands dirty on your own project trumps any other way of
learning even for beginners. You will learn things on multiple domains (ie
project management , debugging , and even the "hackers" most important skill
that I forgot to mention "searching google") that online code schools could
not even hope to replicate. Online code schools are like letting your kids
watch baby Einstein to prep them for a career in physics.

4\. Hipster hacker , really? I never said don't use mainstream languages , in
fact I say the opposite you should select languages with the Lindy Effect. By
definition these are languages that have been around for a while. I would
never recommend to use languages no one has ever heard of or most likely will
be a flop (eg elixer). I was taking a shot at C# and Java , which are pretty
worthless ( I would know I developed in both for years) and are littered with
shitty coders.

5\. My definition of a scenester is someone who jumps on the newest technology
and does everything he can to be marketable , I have not shown any other these
traits. I think your definition of depth varies from mine I think you are
looking for articles of how I solved coding problem and wrote about (very
scenester) , my intention of this blog is not to "show off" my coding
knowledge to get a job but to think outside the box.

Yes great hackers are curious (see the top of the article) and yes there are
hackers on many different domains other than programming. Maybe I should
change the title from "IDEAS on how to be a great hacker" to "How not to be a
fraudster"

Anyway thanks for reading and I look forward to infuriating you more in the
future.

