{"id":2159,"date":"2008-03-22T13:04:31","date_gmt":"2008-03-22T13:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sunpig.com\/mt-entry-2159.html"},"modified":"2008-03-22T13:37:06","modified_gmt":"2008-03-22T13:37:06","slug":"humble-coder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sunpig.com\/martin\/2008\/03\/22\/humble-coder\/","title":{"rendered":"Humble coder"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the reasons I often dislike Joel Spolsky’s<\/a> essays is because he makes me feel inferior for not having a Computer Science degree. He doesn’t inspire me to become a better coder; he makes me feel bad that I’m not a better coder in the first place.<\/p>\n

Likewise, Paul Graham’s<\/a> writings often concentrate on startups and the entrepreneurial spirit. Sometimes they’re good; sometimes they have the exact same effect as Spolsky\u2014to make me feel worthless because I haven’t started my own company, and have no intention of doing so.<\/p>\n

Rands<\/a>, on the other hand, writes about management in an interesting and entertaining way, without making me feeling like a failure because I don’t have a team of people working for me. Likewise, I find Jeff Atwood<\/a> an inspirational writer: in his dedication to coding as a craft<\/em>, he understands that one of the keys to being a good<\/em> developer is a fundamental desire to become a better<\/em> developer<\/a>. In his latest article<\/a>, he takes Paul Graham to task for his “you suck” attitude. Thanks, Jeff\u2014I needed that.<\/p>\n

I still use this quote from Lois McMaster Bujold as my personal motto<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

“There is this, about being the sparring partner of the best swordsman in Caribastos. I always lost. But if I ever meet the third best swordsman in Caribastos, he’s going to be in very deep trouble.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I don’t know for certain, but I suspect that this attitude would give Paul Graham fits, but it would make Jeff Atwood smile. There’s the difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the reasons I often dislike Joel Spolsky’s essays is because he makes me feel inferior for not having a Computer Science degree. He doesn’t inspire me to become a better coder; he makes me feel bad that I’m not a better coder in the first place. Likewise, Paul Graham’s writings often concentrate on … <\/p>\n

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