Yeah, the author is showing some age-ism. :-) He wrote, "in my experience most average or poor programmers start programming at university, for their Computer Science course. Most good programmers started programming long before, and the degree was just a natural continuation of their hobby."
Like Angeli, some of us were already in (or out of) college when personal computers came out. His assertions reflect the natural tendency for us to assume most are "in our boat". :-) One might assert that he should have referred instead to years of experience, but even that's not as useful as it may seem. Someone who did learn 10-20 years ago but who has not kept up is likely to be stuck in procedural programming, and like an old dog having a hard time learning new tricks, they may well struggle mightily in the new world of OO, frameworks, ORMs, etc. It's not that they can't make the leap, but it's harder. Still, and thankfully, the author didn't really discuss OO as significant to being a "good programmer". Some commenters did. I realize that some would think it's vital and an absolute, but the truth is that there are plenty of apps out there still in need of tender loving care from someone who won't be compelled to rewrite it (many orgs or bosses just won't be ready for that yet). For them, the folks who haven't yet made the leap to OO have a role to fill. Heck, there are still people making a living as Cobol programmers. Not something everyone would aspire to, but the bottom line is that a good programmer is a good programmer, regardless of language, and I think those are the points he was trying to convey. /charlie From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Angeli Wahlstedt Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 2:56 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [houcfug] Re: Are you a good programmer? This is gonna date me, but computer camps didn't exist when I was 9. Neither did personal computers, come to think of it. J n Angeli --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the "Houston ColdFusion Users' Group" discussion list. To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit http://groups.google.com/group/houcfug?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
