

You know nothing about code - joewalnes
http://alexparker.me/you-know-nothing-about-code/

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Xcelerate
For some reason, it seems taboo to say "I don't know how to do that". Even if
I add "but I'm really good at figuring things out quickly", it doesn't seem to
have much of an impact. All the person heard was "don't know how".

I would MUCH rather hire someone who is a quick learner and can adapt and
figure things out (which in my opinion, is the sign of true intelligence --
"problem solving") rather than someone who is knowledgable in a niche area.
Granted, there are exceptions, and if someone is designing a nuclear reactor,
you can bet you want someone who is an expert at that one thing. But generally
speaking, I think polymath abilities are much more useful.

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hcarvalhoalves
It is taboo because most software projects tend to be short-lived, led by non-
engineers, burnout common and hires seeing as resources (as opposed to
individuals).

For a manager, running a project is about combining resources and getting a
product in the end. So they get X developers with N years experience in `foo`
and `baz`, allocate M months of salary and collect the product in the end. If
you "don't know, but can learn", you don't even get hired, they cannot justify
paying you a salary to learn.

I'm sure this is different in certain circles (SV, other startup hubs), where
you have companies led by engineers or with an engineering mindset, but that's
how the song goes for probably 90% of the world's IT industry.

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mkremer90
Great article, I feel like way more people need to be saying "I don't know."
People appreciate honesty. I learn something new everyday. A lot of people
call it "impostor syndrome" which has such a bad connotation, I prefer to call
it the "Google / Stack Overflow Developer." You have a great concept of where
to start, but theres a lot of stuff you don't know. And for that, there is
Google & SO.

My coding beginning was actually when I started a business picking up dog poop
(no joke) when I was 9 years old to buy an N64. I convinced my dad that I
needed a website if I was going to be a "real" business, and he taught me my
first HTML.

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ultimatedelman
This post is spot on. When I was a kid, I got my start when my dad wanted me
to sell some stuff in the garage on this new site his buddy's son was using
called eBay. I remember looking at all the other posts and wondering how they
made the text different colors and put borders on things and found this world
called HTML. I still have the notebook I used to write down all the cool
things you could do with the various tags. Those were the days of not knowing
what I didn't know. Now I definitely know what I don't know, and it's pretty
terrifying and exhilarating.

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misterparker
Definitely terrifying and exhilarating. Thanks for commenting - always fun to
hear how other devs start out, sometimes similar, sometimes way different.

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thegreenroom
blah blah blah

