

What makes a "good" programmer? - edw519
http://www.hasemanonmobile.com/2009/08/10/what-makes-a-good-programmer/

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angstrom
Most people, when posed with this question, look in a mirror and write 1000
subjective words to describe themselves.

~~~
haseman
Find me an article that isn't '1000 subjective words' :-)

I actually wrote the linked article in response to all the 'this is what makes
a good programmer' articles I've seen going by on Hacker News. It isn't the
end-all, it's just more perspective. I'd also add that it doesn't describe me
as well as I would like.

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olliesaunders
Either there's an egoistical interest in articles or this sort or all
programmers out there are desperate for self-development direction. If you can
answer the question "what should I do next to improve as a programmer?" you're
falling into the former category. If you can't, go on a forum/mailing list and
ask some programmers better than yourself to ask that question instead of
written one-size-fits-all articles on the topic.

There are good articles that fall into the "what is a good programmer"
category but generally these have now all already been written. What's left is
just opinion and should be taken with a large pinch of salt.

~~~
edw519
_There are good articles that fall into the "what is a good programmer"
category but generally these have now all already been written._

"Everything that can be invented has been invented." - US Patent Officer,
1899.

~~~
olliesaunders
Well, let me put it this way, this article isn't as good as some I've read in
the past. I'd love to provide links but I couldn't remember enough about them
after 5/10 minutes of searching about and decided it didn't matter that much
to me anyway.

~~~
haseman
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on what would make it better.

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volida
you want me το believe that someone who "blows up" a linked list is a
programmer? He may be able το serve other tasks but a programmer he/she is
not.

~~~
rosser
You've never once, under pressure and time constraints, made a stupid, simple,
oh-god-i'm-an-idiot mistake? You're a better man/woman than I.

~~~
volida
"under pressure and time constraints"

Isn't that the situation during a startup and some companies?

If someone is not able to use a linked list, how are you going to trust them
think of/implement something new and harder?

And I never said mistakes are unacceptable.

~~~
rosser
First, I never suggested giving every dummy off the street a pass if they blow
the technical portion of the interview. You're right: mistakes are acceptable.
Given that, you have to base your decision on whether the person is a match
for your needs on more than just a coding exercise during an interview.

Second, and more importantly, a coding exercise during an interview is long,
long way from working in a startup, or working of pretty much any kind --
unless you've somehow managed to find a way to get paid for solving toy
problems. I've done both, and both are hard, but in different ways. To use
running analogies, working in a startup (in my experience) is a relay: you
have a team, each of you is carrying your own respective bit of the endeavor,
but the success or failure proposition is net across the team. In an
interview, you're running a sprint, and all eyes are on you, and you alone.
One feels completely different from the other, because it is.

Also, half the times (for a sample size of two) I've been asked to do a code
exercise during an interview, the interviewer realized halfway through the
exercise that he'd misrepresented the specifications of the widget I was
supposed to make. The plural of "anecdote" may not be "data", but I've seen
and heard, and can conceive of enough problems with the practice of interview
coding exercises that I just can't trust them for anything more than exploring
how a candidate _approaches_ programming: the way they _think_.

~~~
volida
Obviously we agree. The "linked list" is the metaphor here. You always should
hire the best person that will respond to the needs of his/her role.

