I am a beginning Perl programmer and really enjoy the Perl mail lists. While I don't understand everything that is written about here, I've saved notes that I'll understand down the road.
My two cents.... sometimes getting the answer is more important that learning it right away. There are many times in the various languages that I've worked with that I've gotten the answer and later on remembered the solution and incorporated it into something new once I understood it. To the more experienced, please keep it coming.... I know that there isn't an easy path to learning Perl. Regards, Tom Wilson -----Original Message----- From: Scott Thompson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 2:07 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: On Beginners' Mindsets, Part II > -----Original Message----- > From: Jeff Pinyan [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Subject: Re: On Beginners' Mindsets, Part II > > On May 30, Peter Scott said: > > >*Curiosity* is an essential trait for the programmer. In all > seriousness, > >if you don't have a deep desire to find out how things work - in > >particular, software - this may not be the field for you. Principally > >because our tools are rarely so perfect at encapsulation that they > >completely hide the underlying mechanism, therefore, it is necessary to > >understand the underlying mechanism and to want to get at it. > > Curiosity without motivation is a bane, as I am sure those of us who have > been sitting in IRC channels and on mailing lists, for the purposes of > ANSWERING questions, are well aware. People that ask questions because > they need the answer, not because they want to learn the answer, are not > helpful programmers in the long run -- they know only what they've been > spoonfed, and have trouble formulating code or applying algorithms > themselves. They also have trouble explaining the code they cut and paste > from Joe Coder's program. > While I couldn't agree more with both statements, I think it is the unfortunate reality that, with the recent (last 2 years... ) boom and subsequent bust of the Internet economy at large, there is a growing majority of beginning programmers who will fall into the "grab and go" mindset. Now, let me assure recent posters to this list that I am in no way targeting anyone in particular with that statement. Rather, I am speaking from my own experience in the local job market. I certainly do not -- and never WILL -- claim to be any kind of "expert" in Perl or any other language. As Peter pointed out, I am always learning so, in that regard, I don't think there ARE any Perl "experts" -- just someone who has learned more about something you have not. :) And that brings me back around to my point. With the recent need for Perl hackers (among other related disciplines... ), a budding programmer didn't need to be an "expert" to land a high-paying, high-profile web development job. The demand far exceeded the supply. So, suddenly, you have relatively inexperienced beginners needing to produce results within a start-up's time frame. So instead of seeking knowledge for the sake of knowledge, you have an inordinate number of "greenhorns" looking for just enough information to get the job done. I even saw evidence of this attitude in the sudden addition of Internet-related IT degrees at local colleges. Here was this sudden demand for "trained IT professionals," so schools started putting together curricula willy-nilly to fill that demand. I knew of one student, a junior in high school, who became Cisco Certified as part of an Advanced Placement IT curriculum a year ago. That's great for her -- but based on what she told me about the "class" she was taking, they were studying from material designed to pass the exam, not material covering the core technologies involved. I personally worked 1.5 years for a local consulting firm whose clients are now having to go back and hire other consultants to come in and fix the mess left behind by the previous consultants. Again, because those original consultants lacked enough in depth knowledge to fully realize the entirety of the project and all the development nuances necessary. Other than to vent my own frustrations :), my point is this. Because of the influx of "new blood" there are quite a few beginning programmers who have not had the opportunity to REALLY learn the language they were hired to code in. And, because of the subsequent economic curve ball thrown to the IT industry at large, many of those budding JAPH's have a decision -- stay in the game or leave. Rather than complain about those who just "ask questions because they need the answer, not because they want to learn the answer," we as seasoned Perl programmers have the opportunity to pass on our love and enthusiasm for Perl and programming in general to those willing to embrace it. I've given my share of one-liner answers, but based on this particular thread, I personally am going to endeavor to inform others, as much as I am able, rather than just "answer questions". As Peter said... FWIW... :) ++========================================================================++ || UNIREZ, Inc. Scott Thompson || ++-------------------------------------------+----------------------------++ || Address: 2555 Southwest Grapevine Parkway | Title: Programmer || || Suite 200 | Phone: (817) 416-5800 || || Grapevine, Texas 76051 | Extension: 104 || || Fax: (817) 251-9199 | Cell: (972) 342-5660 || || Web: http://www.unirez.com/ | Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]|| ++===========================================+============================++
