[j45]

"Never listen to people who try to make beginners feel like losers"

Zing. A great litmus test that's simple and has results too.

Too many programming communities, including the most popular web frameworks that are the be all and end all to everything have elements of this.

It's not something to be proud of to feel better about yourself by putting others down, telling others what they do, or how they do it, or who they ultimately are isn't as capable.

[zedshaw]

It's not just programming. I run into this with guitarists too. I mostly play for my own enjoyment, but I constantly run into guitarists who get off on treating beginners like crap. Even in music schools they do this, and for some weird reason they think that this is how you make students awesome.

Ultimately, these kinds of behaviors in teachers don't make better students, they just kill off the more fragile ones who might have been awesome with some help.

[wilmoore]

Correct. It isn't just programming. You actually summarized it well when you wrote that people need to do other things (besides programming or besides whatever it is they identify so closely with) so that they don't resent others for "sliding" into their world.

People with more than one passion will generally find less time to resent and more time to educate :)

[j45]

Really true Zed. Was trying to keep it relevant to hnews as the programming framework/language fanatics are everywhere, including here from time to time :)

[neokya]

Exactly. I know some programming by now. I am planning to buy a guitar to play with 'Hotel California'