Comments for totes profesh http://www.garann.com/dev web development, UI issues, HTML, CSS, Javascript, and shit talking Fri, 18 May 2012 06:35:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Comment on authority and paying your dues by Julia http://www.garann.com/dev/2012/authority-and-paying-your-dues/#comment-3377 Julia Fri, 18 May 2012 06:35:13 +0000 http://www.garann.com/dev/?p=286#comment-3377 Ooops, just wanted to mention Dunning-Kruger... I like this article http://successfulsoftware.net/tag/dunning-kruger/. According to the chart in it, the worst and the best in some skill are going to rate themselves quite the same, with the worst ones rating themselves higher then the second best. Talk about the standard employer's question "rate your skills on the scale of 10". It totally defeats the purpose. Ooops, just wanted to mention Dunning-Kruger…

I like this article http://successfulsoftware.net/tag/dunning-kruger/. According to the chart in it, the worst and the best in some skill are going to rate themselves quite the same, with the worst ones rating themselves higher then the second best. Talk about the standard employer’s question “rate your skills on the scale of 10″. It totally defeats the purpose.

]]> Comment on javascript hotline by Rachel Nabors http://www.garann.com/dev/2012/javascript-hotline/#comment-3355 Rachel Nabors Thu, 17 May 2012 22:09:15 +0000 http://www.garann.com/dev/?p=289#comment-3355 Thanks so much for doing this. I usually try to muddle through things and figure them out myself, but there have been times when I really wished I had a Sassy JavaScript Friend to help me puzzle out a problem. I'll be sure to keep this in mind. And one day, I might be able to volunteer! Thanks so much for doing this. I usually try to muddle through things and figure them out myself, but there have been times when I really wished I had a Sassy JavaScript Friend to help me puzzle out a problem. I’ll be sure to keep this in mind. And one day, I might be able to volunteer!

]]> Comment on authority and paying your dues by Justin Winslow http://www.garann.com/dev/2012/authority-and-paying-your-dues/#comment-3266 Justin Winslow Tue, 15 May 2012 04:45:49 +0000 http://www.garann.com/dev/?p=286#comment-3266 A large part of this is well described by the Dunning-Kruger effect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect Basically, confidence in one's abilities is inversely proportional to actual understanding of the content. A large part of this is well described by the Dunning-Kruger effect:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

Basically, confidence in one’s abilities is inversely proportional to actual understanding of the content.

]]> Comment on authority and paying your dues by Rafe http://www.garann.com/dev/2012/authority-and-paying-your-dues/#comment-3235 Rafe Mon, 14 May 2012 00:51:14 +0000 http://www.garann.com/dev/?p=286#comment-3235 In many ways I blame the phenomenon you describe on the unwillingness of experienced people to migrate to new toolsets over the course of their careers. You see new companies and projects built using the newest tools (which may or may not be a good choice), and they wind up hiring inexperienced people to work on them because most of the experienced people are working on projects where they use the same tools they used back when they were young Turks. I'd love to see a breakdown of developers 10 or 15 years into their careers. What percentage are still developers? How many of them are using the same platform that they started out with? I think what we'll find is that the number of developers who have been around a good while and are still staying on the cutting edge of the field is very small, and very much in demand. So there are a huge number of projects out there that don't have any real senior leadership. The senior people are either off hacking on mature projects or they're working at places like Google or Amazon. What's left is in Lord of the Flies territory. In many ways I blame the phenomenon you describe on the unwillingness of experienced people to migrate to new toolsets over the course of their careers. You see new companies and projects built using the newest tools (which may or may not be a good choice), and they wind up hiring inexperienced people to work on them because most of the experienced people are working on projects where they use the same tools they used back when they were young Turks.

I’d love to see a breakdown of developers 10 or 15 years into their careers. What percentage are still developers? How many of them are using the same platform that they started out with? I think what we’ll find is that the number of developers who have been around a good while and are still staying on the cutting edge of the field is very small, and very much in demand. So there are a huge number of projects out there that don’t have any real senior leadership. The senior people are either off hacking on mature projects or they’re working at places like Google or Amazon.

What’s left is in Lord of the Flies territory.

]]> Comment on authority and paying your dues by Jesse Beach http://www.garann.com/dev/2012/authority-and-paying-your-dues/#comment-3203 Jesse Beach Sat, 12 May 2012 17:56:45 +0000 http://www.garann.com/dev/?p=286#comment-3203 Having worked exclusively with Drupal now for 2 years, what I've learned about frameworks is they get staid, boring and stable as they age folks put time into them. Contrast that with any of the front end single page app frameworks vying for attention in the interwebs right now. Of course, a decade ago, we had a bit of a kerfuffle with CMS competition and the winners are the behemoths - WordPress, Drupal, Joomla - that many of us know today. We're going through this again with front end frameworks. What I don't know because I wasn't involved in the web a decade ago, is how the crowd of innovators today differs from the crowds that spawned the mega CMSs, or the browsers, or the GUI operating systems, or the CLIs, that we all consider de facto today. Reputation, prior work and demonstration of skill should inform the responsibilities that one is given. I know that when someone says they're a 9 out of 10 with CSS, they're going to get an interviewing grilling that has in one instance caused tears (I felt really bad about that though!). Tell me you're a 9 out of 10 with JavaScript and I'm going to ask you to teach me something during the interview! Having worked exclusively with Drupal now for 2 years, what I’ve learned about frameworks is they get staid, boring and stable as they age folks put time into them. Contrast that with any of the front end single page app frameworks vying for attention in the interwebs right now. Of course, a decade ago, we had a bit of a kerfuffle with CMS competition and the winners are the behemoths – WordPress, Drupal, Joomla – that many of us know today. We’re going through this again with front end frameworks.

What I don’t know because I wasn’t involved in the web a decade ago, is how the crowd of innovators today differs from the crowds that spawned the mega CMSs, or the browsers, or the GUI operating systems, or the CLIs, that we all consider de facto today.

Reputation, prior work and demonstration of skill should inform the responsibilities that one is given. I know that when someone says they’re a 9 out of 10 with CSS, they’re going to get an interviewing grilling that has in one instance caused tears (I felt really bad about that though!). Tell me you’re a 9 out of 10 with JavaScript and I’m going to ask you to teach me something during the interview!

]]> Comment on authority and paying your dues by George Stephanis http://www.garann.com/dev/2012/authority-and-paying-your-dues/#comment-3174 George Stephanis Fri, 11 May 2012 21:13:17 +0000 http://www.garann.com/dev/?p=286#comment-3174 While it is critical to not let buzz words dominate, you've also got to keep aware of them. Otherwise, you'll get trapped in the past, and you wind up using Adobe GoLive to create table-based websites with a HTML5 doctype and pretend that they're modern web standards. While it is critical to not let buzz words dominate, you’ve also got to keep aware of them. Otherwise, you’ll get trapped in the past, and you wind up using Adobe GoLive to create table-based websites with a HTML5 doctype and pretend that they’re modern web standards.

]]> Comment on authority and paying your dues by We are all noobs | sabreuse http://www.garann.com/dev/2012/authority-and-paying-your-dues/#comment-3172 We are all noobs | sabreuse Fri, 11 May 2012 19:56:13 +0000 http://www.garann.com/dev/?p=286#comment-3172 [...] a nice self-defeating case of impostor syndrome, for the less confident among us; or the kind of junior dev arrogance that Garann talks about, for the otherwise [...] [...] a nice self-defeating case of impostor syndrome, for the less confident among us; or the kind of junior dev arrogance that Garann talks about, for the otherwise [...]

]]> Comment on authority and paying your dues by Dusty http://www.garann.com/dev/2012/authority-and-paying-your-dues/#comment-3170 Dusty Fri, 11 May 2012 16:21:00 +0000 http://www.garann.com/dev/?p=286#comment-3170 The problem with being better than everyone else is that people tend to think you're pretentious. The problem with being better than everyone else is that people tend to think you’re pretentious.

]]> Comment on authority and paying your dues by Rachel Nabors http://www.garann.com/dev/2012/authority-and-paying-your-dues/#comment-3169 Rachel Nabors Fri, 11 May 2012 16:09:28 +0000 http://www.garann.com/dev/?p=286#comment-3169 (Although, it should be noted that some people have a depth of understanding but at just poor teachers. Which is unfortunate.) (Although, it should be noted that some people have a depth of understanding but at just poor teachers. Which is unfortunate.)

]]> Comment on authority and paying your dues by Rachel Nabors http://www.garann.com/dev/2012/authority-and-paying-your-dues/#comment-3168 Rachel Nabors Fri, 11 May 2012 15:34:23 +0000 http://www.garann.com/dev/?p=286#comment-3168 I really do blame the employers here. Newbies get excited. They don't know their own limits because they haven't learned enough to put their own skills into perspective. They naturally grab onto the Next Big Shiny Thing, and who wants to slog through production work when you are rewarded and praised for embracing "the cutting edge"--even if neither party understands the "cutting edge" at any depth. Then it starts a chain reaction. When the boss and the other newbs or designers and marketing are impressed, they pass on how great Newbie McNewberson is, and soon everyone is buzzing. It takes a brave soul to shout out that the emperor has no clothes--and if you're a woman you're more likely to be seen as a contrite or envious child than a professional with deep reservations. But one thing I can say: The person I look up to most in my field is a woman. Maybe it's a sign that I don't know enough to know how much she has yet to master, but I genuinely respect and admire Rebecca Murphey for understanding JavaScript so deeply that she can explain it to layman. I have worked with JS "wiz kids" who couldn't explain a function to a designer. To me, that indicates a lack of depth of understanding. The emperor can keep his clothes. I really do blame the employers here. Newbies get excited. They don’t know their own limits because they haven’t learned enough to put their own skills into perspective. They naturally grab onto the Next Big Shiny Thing, and who wants to slog through production work when you are rewarded and praised for embracing “the cutting edge”–even if neither party understands the “cutting edge” at any depth.

Then it starts a chain reaction. When the boss and the other newbs or designers and marketing are impressed, they pass on how great Newbie McNewberson is, and soon everyone is buzzing. It takes a brave soul to shout out that the emperor has no clothes–and if you’re a woman you’re more likely to be seen as a contrite or envious child than a professional with deep reservations.

But one thing I can say: The person I look up to most in my field is a woman. Maybe it’s a sign that I don’t know enough to know how much she has yet to master, but I genuinely respect and admire Rebecca Murphey for understanding JavaScript so deeply that she can explain it to layman. I have worked with JS “wiz kids” who couldn’t explain a function to a designer. To me, that indicates a lack of depth of understanding.

The emperor can keep his clothes.

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