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How Developers Stop Learning: Rise of the Expert Beginner (2012)
In this post, I describe the phenomenon of the so-called expert beginner -- someone with mediocre skill who thinks he's an expert.
Erik Dietrich
DaedTech LLC: programming, architecture, IT management consulting, and blogging.
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Visit daedtech.com → RSS feedOn Hacker News Dec 2013 – Sep 2023
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Things I’ve learned in 20 years of programming
This year, I’ve become increasingly acquainted with the DEV platform. It’s a refreshingly positive oasis in the large sea of angry Reddit commenters and “well actually” connoisseurs that is the broader software world. One interesting facet of this community is that it seems pretty beginner-heavy. I regularly see posts…
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The 7 Habits of Highly Overrated People
I remember having a discussion with a more tenured coworker, with the subject being the impending departure of another coworker. I said, “man, it’s going to be rough when he leaves, considering how much he’s done for us over the last several years.” The person I was talking to replied in a way that perplexed...
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Learning to code vs. learning to automate
Does anyone remember a few years ago, when the mayor of New York decided to learn to program? It was a heady time, because it wasn’t just him. I remember these surreal commercials where Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh was encouraging children to learn to code for the good of humanity or something. There was...
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To become a software consultant, avoid letting clients pay you for code (2017)
I get a lot of questions from software developers about consulting and being a consultant. In this post, I talk about the key to being a software consultant
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Programmers, teach non-geeks the true cost of interruptions (2014)
Interruptions are one of the biggest sources of inefficiency for programmers. Now, to be fair, they’re probably a big source of inefficiency for everyone, but relatively speaking, they’re worse for programmers. To understand what I mean, let’s take someone whose job is in sales. A lot of the day is probably spent on…
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The Human Cost of Tech Debt
Editorial Note: I originally wrote this post for the Infragistics blog. Head over to their site and check out the original. While you’re there, have a look at the other blog authors and their product offering. If you’re not already familiar with the concept of technical debt, it’s worth becoming familiar with it. I…
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Transmuting Low-Value Programmer Cred into High-Value Status Illegibility
Not long ago, I wrote a post about that one, “top” software engineer role that companies don’t hire directly into. I’m going to pick up where I left off there. For a quick recap, recall the diagram I made (and my wife kindly GIF-ified for me). In red, you have the positions that a company...
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What’s wrong with billable hours
I know a bunch of you already have your pitchforks out, so let me start out by establishing some goalposts for my premise. When I’m done, you may still want to skewer me, but at least it’ll be for the right reasons, if you do. Through the rest of the post, I’m going to draw...