Quote Originally Posted by Thinias
Being good at something is as much about having confidence in it as it is about experience. If you walk into a room knowing you can solve whatever problem gets thrown at you, other people will pick up on it... even if you actually can't.
As practical interview advice, I would say that this is sound advice: you want to project confidence as it inspires confidence in you. But when we talk about it objectively, it is rubbish: if you actually can't, then you are not confident; you are over-confident, and you are not actually as good as you think you are. If you do not pull up your socks fast, you will end up like the fellow that EVOEx talked about in post #5.

Quote Originally Posted by Thinias
Programming isn't about languages or styles or syntax or experience. Programming is about solving problems - if you can solve a problem, you can program.
I can agree with the idea that programming is really about solving problems, but to call languages, styles and experience irrelevant sounds naive. Learning the syntax of a programming language is one thing, but one also needs to learn the associated idioms and conventions. This comes with experience in using it. A consistent failure to use appropriate idioms, and poor style, ultimately stifles problem solving in the given programming language; even if you manage to cope, you may adversely affect the problem solving efficiency of a maintainer of the code that you write.