[mikekchar]

Probably just because it doesn't add to the discussion. Though, from a certain standpoint it shows one of the problems with our education system pretty clearly. This is truly a fundamental technique. I don't know how one gets out of school without knowing it. It doesn't say anything about you, but it says a lot about what we are teaching people. Embarrassingly, for a long time I thought I had invented this technique ;-)

[doktrin]

I didn't attend college or graduate school (yeah ik ik I'm a pos), so that may well go a ways towards explaining my dumbassery

[mikekchar]

Don't worry. Programming and computer science is one of those things that anyone can learn on their own. If you don't mind some advice, though, try not to be embarrassed by things that you don't know. I can imagine that it is difficult, especially if you don't feel confident about your previous education. Even if most other people already know it, it just means that you have the pleasure of discovering it (as a certain XKCD comic pointed out).

One thing I've said to many people starting out (especially those without an academic background in the area) is that there is a lot to learn. Sometimes at the beginning, you improve so quickly that it is easy to think, "I must be getting close to knowing it all". After several decades in the industry, though, I'm still learning brand new (to me!) , important things every single day. In many ways, the best programmers are the ones who can see how much they don't know, not how much they do know.

[doktrin]

I want you to know I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to write that. It's both helpful and uplifting. I've been going through a rough patch professionally and in life, and your comment lifted my spirits and brought me to tears (as absurd as I'm sure that must sound).

From one stranger on the internet to another : thank you.