Announcement

Monday, February 02, 2015

Introspection : am I really a good programmer ?

Sometime back Prateek Jain posted a link to an article title 'Signs that you're a good programmer' on Geometric's internal portal. It has list of 'signs' that you are a good programmer. It made me introspect and see how many signs actually apply to me. Turns out that by this checklist, I am a reasonably good programmer. :-)

I realized I have done following from the list.
  1. side projects.
  2. Dabbling in other programming languages, especially ones from a different "family".
  3. A tendency to suggest wacky and unrealistic solutions in meetings.
  4. Willingly throws away weeks or months of work in order to adopt another programmer's superior code.
  5. Refers to it as "the code" rather than "my code", unless accepting blame 
  6. Doesn't take the spec by its word and tries to find out who wrote it and what they were thinking
  7. Owns a book written by a guy called Martin Fowler. (Actually I own multiple books by Martin Fowler)
  8. At least 10% or more of their commits reduce the line-count of the project without adding new functionality
  9.  Shoves through a crowd at a party to get near someone who just used the word "Bayesian"
  10. Envies but doesn't resent people with degrees in something they don't know 
  11. Blogs about their work 
  12. Not hesitant to pick up a marker and approach a whiteboard 
  13. Commits changes to the repository that consist only of comments (but not commented code)
  14. Is oblivious to how many times their cubicle-mate has gone for coffee, the bathroom, or the hospital (I don't even hear any sound if I am concentrating on the code).
  15.  Not bothered by office politics 
  16.  Can predict a bug before the code is ever run  (Done that a few times)
  17.  Assumes their own code is the source of a bug before blaming the compiler, library or operating system
  18. Disinterested by the outcome of elections 
  19. Stock options and bonuses are ineffective 'retain'-ment techniques 
I have done all the signs/symptoms in section "Thinks In Code"
  1. In casual conversation their readiest metaphors come from programming constructs (some time back I gave an example of classes/instantiation while explaining 'business offerings')
  2. Spends the majority of their time "goofing off", but commits more bug-free code each day than their colleagues
  3. Glances over your shoulder and points at a bug in your code with their finger
  4. Correctly diagnoses bugs over the phone while drunk or in bed
  5. Comes up with their best code while taking a shower*
  6. When confronted with an obstinate bug, their instinct is to get up and go for a walk
  7. They suddenly pause and stare into space in the middle of a conversation, then abandon you to hurry back to their terminal with no explanation (AKA "A Columbo Moment" or "Gregory House behavior")
Also few signs/symptoms in "Indifferent to Hierarchy"
  1. Getting into arguments with the CEO (done that, probably multiple times, still in Geometric because I like working with Geometric CEO, Manu Parpia)
  2. Quitting on principle 
  3. Organizing teams without permission (I believe its easier to say 'sorry' than get permission)

Overall not a bad score.