September 26, 2007
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Programmer
“Are you a programmer?”
“Well, I can program a computer, and I’ve written programs.”
“Then you’re a programmer.”
“I wouldn’t call myself one.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not.”
“But you just said you could.”
“Yeah, but the ability to play scales is not the same as being a virtuoso.”
“Please. Not all programmers are virtuosos. So what’s the difference.”
“I’m not a programmer. I don’t program for a living, and if I did, I’d suck at it, I’d hate it, and I’d burn out in a month. I don’t like to program computers, I like to understand how to program computers.”
“That doesn’t help me.”
“I didn’t think it would.”
Comments (9)
good answer
are you “unhelpful”?
recovering code monkey?
Sounds like this poor soul just needed to hear a “No.”
Both souls are me. This is a standard dialogue I go through whenever I’m excited about a new project, be it programming or otherwise.
So pick a project that takes less than a month
Damn, you already know what it took me 25 years to learn (6502 forever!). This is what my posts would look like if I were ten points smarter; but how’d I know that?
Why is this so hard to understand?
I have had this conversation before.
I, too, have had this conversation before. I’m the one who can program, but suck at it, and hate it, and don’t like to do it. I only did it because I had to to create what I wanted.
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