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by felipemnoa 5273 days ago
I read your link and nowhere does he refute that. In the context of his essay I believe he means it takes 10 years or 10,000 hours (more or less) to be a really good, experienced programmer. You can start playing the piano in a couple of weeks but it will take several years before you get really good. That is the spirit of his essay.
2 comments
dagw 5273 days ago
Somewhere between 2 weeks and 10 years you hit a point where you're good enough to entertain people/write useful code and perhaps even make some money doing so. The point being argued against I think is that you shouldn't tell people who are writing useful code that solves real problems that they shouldn't call themselves programmers because they haven't hit the 10 year/10000 hour mark.
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felipemnoa 5273 days ago
>>The point being argued against I think is that you shouldn't tell people who are writing useful code that solves real problems that they shouldn't call themselves programmers because they haven't hit the 10 year/10000 hour mark.

I understand your point. That is not what the essay is doing. It is telling you that to be a true master of your craft it takes years.

Anybody can call themselves an artist if they are practicing art, but only very few get to showcase their work in art galleries. That is how the essay is using programmer in this essay. In the broader sense I agree with you, if you can code then you are a programmer.

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stfu 5272 days ago
Not quite sure if this analogy works. Art galleries are gate keepers just like record labels and calling only musicians with record contracts true masters is at the least "controversial".
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mattdeboard 5273 days ago
The context of his response was that there is this belief on HN that "programmer" is a title reserved for certain people, and that belief is often predicated on an erroneous/incomplete understanding of his writing.
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frou_dh 5273 days ago
I think this kind of quibbling has more merit around the title Engineer. A lot of people casually call themselves Engineers, including programmers and the guy who replaces your smoke alarm. It is actually a protected title in some regions.
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