Path: csiph.com!x330-a1.tempe.blueboxinc.net!newsfeed.hal-mli.net!feeder3.hal-mli.net!newsfeed.hal-mli.net!feeder1.hal-mli.net!nx02.iad01.newshosting.com!newshosting.com!69.16.185.11.MISMATCH!npeer01.iad.highwinds-media.com!news.highwinds-media.com!feed-me.highwinds-media.com!post01.iad.highwinds-media.com!newsfe07.iad.POSTED!00000000!not-for-mail From: clvrmnky Subject: Re: The Lisp Curse Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth References: <4e490dce$0$27156$a8266bb1@newsreader.readnews.com> <7b6a303d2e382688f064b2120a9dfc1c@dizum.com> <3b5a75d8-9b0c-4a45-a2b3-0f34d10a62ec@glegroupsg2000goo.googlegroups.com> <2efd03fc-13e5-4b48-a901-0bcbdab4c0cc@a27g2000yqc.googlegroups.com> User-Agent: Pan/0.133 (House of Butterflies) Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Lines: 26 X-Complaints-To: abuse@UsenetServer.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2011 02:08:39 UTC Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2011 02:08:39 GMT Xref: x330-a1.tempe.blueboxinc.net comp.lang.forth:6682 On Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:45:45 -0700, John Passaniti wrote: > > The point is, of course, that coding is only one part of programming, > and it's not the most important part. Being able to think like a > programmer is far more important. Because when you have that skill,then > you can usually translate that skill to whatever language you happen to > be using. And that is what makes you valuable, not that you know > syntax. Obviously at some point, the goal is that you can write > efficient, elegant, and correct code. But that is just mechanical > mapping of the concepts in your head down to the language you're using. Indeed. I like to say that one of my best skills is simply reading source code. I've noted over the years that some people are simply better at reviewing a code-base (with all the weirdo stuff that a code-base collects over time) and grokking what the code does and what it is intended to do (as these are not always the same. But it is a key skill for the sort of work I do, and not something that was obvious to me when I first started, and certainly not something anyone ever suggested to me was important for a job in my field. But, in a way, each of us is slightly tuned for the particular shop we work in. -- c