June 2010 Archives
The programming equivalent happens around us all the time too. Junior programmers with five to ten years of experience under their belts (still n00bs in their own way) attempt to build giant systems and eventually find themselves stuck on the cliff waiting for a helicopter bailout, telling themselves "my next system rewrite will be better!" Or they fall off the cliff - i.e., the project gets canceled, people get laid off, maybe the company goes under.
Yes, I've gone through that phase too. And let's face it: even seasoned programmers need a little optimism and a little bravery in order tackle real challenges. Even as an experienced programmer, you should expect to fail at projects occasionally or you're probably not trying hard enough. Once again, this is all perfectly normal.
That being said, as a hiring manager or company owner you should keep in mind that "5 to 10 years of experience" on a resume does not translate to "experienced"; it means "crazy invincible-feeling teenager with a 50/50 shot at writing a pile of crap that he or she and his or her team can't handle, and they'll eventually, possibly repeatedly, try to rewrite it all." It's just how things are: programmers can't escape being teenagers at some point.
--Steve Yegge
Yes, I've gone through that phase too. And let's face it: even seasoned programmers need a little optimism and a little bravery in order tackle real challenges. Even as an experienced programmer, you should expect to fail at projects occasionally or you're probably not trying hard enough. Once again, this is all perfectly normal.
That being said, as a hiring manager or company owner you should keep in mind that "5 to 10 years of experience" on a resume does not translate to "experienced"; it means "crazy invincible-feeling teenager with a 50/50 shot at writing a pile of crap that he or she and his or her team can't handle, and they'll eventually, possibly repeatedly, try to rewrite it all." It's just how things are: programmers can't escape being teenagers at some point.
--Steve Yegge
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