Leon Seremelis wrote:
<rant> ... </rant>
Leon.
Whoah there :-) Perhaps there's a better way to frame this debate. Part one is the set of languages a developer knows well enough to use. Part two is the amount of computer science/software engineering (cs/se) stuff a developer knows well enough to use.
I think Gary wants to hire developers with backgrounds in languages other than CF because he thinks there's a greater chance of picking up someone with some workable computer science/ software engineering skills. I think Leon is ranting because he thinks Gary just wants developers who've used other languages regardless of their cs/se skills.
In support of Gary, I think cs/se engineering skills are real, take time and experience to learn and make a big difference to the result (declaration: I am a computer science graduate and worked for four years at Andersen Consulting in their technical architecture stream). As someone who's met a lot of the ColdFusion programmers in Australia, I would also say that there is a higher chance of getting someone with workable cs/se skills if they know a language other than ColdFusion, but the increased possibility is a matter of degrees, not an order of magnitude. This difference is not because they currently use ColdFusion, but more about the career path people take into CF vs other technologies.
In support of Leon, there are a lot of Java and C++ people out there who are just plain awful programmers, let alone software engineers. The mystique of the technology masks their weaknesses. The superiority complex some of them have over scripters is also pretty galling when you consider how productive most scripters are.
At the end of the day, Gary's hiring policy is up to him. I'm sure he'll be hiring with his eyes open to the possibility of dud Java programmers. On the other hand, the ColdFusion community has remain open to the possibility that there may be dimensions to development skills (other than programming), and be prepared to learn them, or at least acknowledge their value.
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