Thread: Programming Experience

Originally Posted by indigo0086

Wouldn't a natural talent be knowing something without needing to look for it?

The ability to analyze a situation with no (or limited) prior knowledge is what I'm calling the natural talent.

In fact, I would have to say that I've found more "new wave" programmers being more inclined to attempt to figure things out on their own rather than being diligent and researching the correct solution. It's a great ability to be able to take a step back at a problem and work it out without any knowledge of what you're seeing... however, this is something I only find useful in situations that only require a solution and not necessarily the best solution.

I'd be a little careful about this "new wave/old wave" thing. I don't see many differences between old and new programmers. They are today as bad as they were 20 years ago. You can still only count the number of good programmers in your typical organization with the fingers of one hand.

Let's not forget the years of abuse languages like C or C++ seem to have endured. Or is buffer overrun a novelty? Sure it ain't. Speaking of my own experience languages like SQL or Visual Basic always experienced abuse and were always thrown in the hands of highly incompetent payed professionals.

If anything today there's less excuses with all the information available.

Originally Posted by indigo0086

I think most things people consider talents can be learned. I've heard people play with a natural talent in music but hardly sound as interesting as people who study hard and practice a lot.

No, no. You're just arguing semantics, here... the key word in my rant was "natural," not "talent." I could have just as easily said "natural skill" or "natural ability," but I didn't because I try to diversify my vocabulary when I speak. Perhaps that was not the best time...

Regardless, while you can use my wording to compare the ability to analyze a situation with the ability to play music, they're simply not the same thing. This is opinionative, I'm sure... but I do not think people can improve too much on their ability to make something from nothing. Either you can do it or you can't... and if you can, there are many degrees as to how well you do it.

My programming began with GW-BASIC way back in like 1981 or 1982. Since then I've learned assembly, VB, C/C++, and some Java. I took an interest in games which really got my feet wet and pretty much knee deep in huge piles of poo very early on. I find coding for work projects is actually much simpler than most everything I've done up to this point. I do not have a degree in CS but do have a 4 year degree in another field. The only class I've taken is BASIC in high school and the teacher had to give myself and another friend 'special' assignments just to keep us busy. We had a game like missile command on the third or fourth day of class while everyone one else was still learning to print their name on the screen a hundred times.

The internet has been a huge plus or I guess I should say was a huge plus. My list of 'trusted' sites is quickly dwindling as more and more of them become polluted with people who really just don't know what they are talking about. I usually answer questions in the game programming section which doesn't mean I know everything about games. In fact there is a lot that I don't know about it but most of the questions we get here are rather basic fundamental ones that I usually know the answers to. I do tend to stay away from the C and C++ boards because any answer you give is usually not worded just right and someone else will let everyone know that fact. That is just annoying so I avoid those boards as much as possible (and as much as a moderator can and still moderate.).

One thing I appreciate about this board is that most, if not all, of us at one time or another have admitted that we simply do not know the answer to a question. However we do know how and where to find the answer which, IMO, is as important if not more important than knowing the solution. Programmers who can find answers on their own are usually more productive. However, in the same token they should also give themselves a definite time limit. You wouldn't want to research a problem all day long when the answer was just down the hall. You also wouldn't want to ask every question in the world about an existing code base because you would then be monopolizing someone else's time and the answer could be found by a bit more code spelunking.

I have learned a lot and probably the most from this board. There are a large number of knowledgeable people that know vast amounts about their area of interest or their area of expertise. None of us know everything but all of us collectively represent a huge body of knowledge. With all of the API's and different areas that C/C++ can be applied in I don't think it is possible for any one person to have all the answers. It amazes me how much information I have stuffed into my own head that comes spilling out at times when someone asks the right question. When you think about the deluge of information we have to retain from day to day in programming it's amazing we remember anything at all.

"CBoard the book" isn't a bad idea by the sounds of it

> Why did I start? I wanted to play pirated games on my PSP because of an advertisement I saw. :|

Hmm, I started programming back in grade 5 (~1995-1996, that seems like a looong time ago now) with QBASIC, then moved on to VB6. I didn't pick up C/C++ until 2002, which is when I started hanging out here. I've got just over 2 years of paid C++ developer experience under my belt now, and I'm working on a CS/C&O double major at a damn good university.

Thanks for all of the replies. This thread has made me feel more confident for sure.

(I was OP, the name was too long and kept deforming the threads so I had to sit and remember a 6 year old password )