Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by dagamer34 3744 days ago
It takes a really special person who hasn't gone through a CS education to be aware that when faced with a problem that have an obvious solution, they realize that there are things they don't know and either seek out resources to learn them or identify people that can ask for help beyond a simple "I'm stuck, solve this for me!" response.

And that's why of you're a good software engineer, your job is secure. Because most people definitely aren't that and just end up making a real mess of things.
3 comments
BWStearns 3744 days ago
I think after a certain amount of time writing code you get a feel for that though, even without a CS degree. Anyone who's opened a terminal knows they don't know everything, but it takes a few iterations of shittily reinventing the wheel before you internalize it. After that things start to smell(?) like someone solved them and then it's a matter of finding the right chapter in a book or set of google search terms.
link
yomly 3744 days ago
Do you think that level of independence and self awareness is restricted to special people or CS grads?

Is it so unlikely that someone who has earned a decent degree (which involved self study) and gone through a bootcamp to foster that behaviour in a software context may also have it?

link
loco5niner 3744 days ago
... did you mean "faced with a problem that DOESN'T have an obvious solution" ?
link