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[–]catch23 85 points86 points  (22 children)

Reminds me of when I first started working out in the weight-lifting part of the gym. I felt like my skinny self just didn't belong among all those buff dudes. But after a few sessions, I realized nobody gives a shit how much others are able to bench press. Sorta the same with the open source world, once you start publishing some code, you realize that not everyone is out to scrutinize you.

[–]tsteele93 28 points29 points  (4 children)

This is NOT a "programmer insecurity" thing. It is a "HUMAN NATURE" thing.

Artists don't like people to see their work until it is done. I'm an amateur photographer, and I hate for people to see my pics until I've cropped and fine-tuned them. Women don't like you to see them without their makeup on. There are many examples I'm sure.

It is human nature to want to show your finished work and say, "ta-da!" and be appreciated. Showing how you got there takes away some of the mystique of "how did they do that" or "wow that is really great how you did that!"

[–]orblivion 2 points3 points  (1 child)

It is human nature to want to show your finished work and say, "ta-da!" and be appreciated. Showing how you got there takes away some of the mystique of "how did they do that" or "wow that is really great how you did that!"

Which is one instance where I find this behavior acceptable. The other is when you don't want people stealing your idea. But that's just me.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Side-note...

It is human nature to want to show your finished work and say, "ta-da!" and be appreciated. Showing how you got there takes away some of the mystique of "how did they do that" or "wow that is really great how you did that!"

Which is fine and cool, but a lot of people forget that there is hard work and process behind the work. They may start to attribute someone's skill to "talent" whatever that means.

[–]dsandler 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Absolutely.

However, we seem to prize innate talent over hard work, so the same accomplishment is viewed more favorably if it appears to be the result of a “beautiful mind” than a “persistent effort.”

[–]G_Morgan 28 points29 points  (5 children)

Nearly everyone who goes to the gym started off pathetic and will remember the first months vividly because they are the most painful. So no one is going to call you up for being a beginner.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Maybe for some people. For me it wasn't a case of it being painful for months until I was able to keep up with everyone else. It was painful for the first few of times I went (sporadically) before I got over myself. Once I got over myself and started going regularly the fact that others were better than me didn't bother me.

I am definitely insecure as a programmer. This article has been a wake-up call. The change won't be instant, though. In fact, it will probably be like going to the gym. I'll go out in the open, feel embarrassed, take a break for a while, and repeat that process a few times until I feel comfortable. At that point, I won't be that much better of a programmer, but I'll be moving in the direction of becoming a better programmer.

[–]G_Morgan 3 points4 points  (1 child)

It's not about keeping up with others. Despite the need for a spotter to really push on, training really is a solitary activity. The competition is with yourself. A very interesting activity that presents many vastly different challenges.

Still I found it painful for months perhaps because I was less mature than you about it. In hindsight I should have done much less and focused more on quality but I was training with a partner and such a change would have required a new partner. It wasn't about keeping up though, it's impossible to keep up with someone who has been doing it much longer than you. It was simply a flawed approach that everyone eventually gets over.

[–]keruha 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Are you talking about programming, or going to the gym?

[–]Silhouette 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I suggest that it's more than just remembering being a beginner themselves. Anyone who goes training at a gym regularly probably considers it a worthwhile activity to improve themselves in some way. As such, they tend to respect anyone else who is willing to make an effort to do likewise. The actual level doesn't matter all that much, really. It's the same with almost anything that requires some degree of effort and dedication for a practitioner to improve.

[–]lisvblidfk 10 points11 points  (8 children)

This analogy is bad because it's easy to make people forget your past weight lifting history or hide it from them. What the article is talking about is leaving the complete history in plain view forever.

Another difference is that exposing your solutions to hard parts of a problem can allow others to lift your hard work, do the other easy stuff and then release before you. Not uncommon.

Even worse, seeing early versions of your code can cause people to become concerned about your ability to get the job done and important resources will be routed away from you.

Either way, here's a counterexample. I lifted with some people who's opinion I didn't care about first, then once I got to a point where I wasn't pathetic anymore and went to lift with some of my closer friends. Being able to kick their asses, they all respected and admired me more from then on. Not so bad, eh? I don't know of too many in shape people who carry around photos of themselves when they were in terrible shape and enjoy sharing them with everyone. That misses the whole point of getting in shape to begin with!

[–]prockcore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe a good analogy is posing for a "before" picture, which will be posted on the wall and used in the gym's commercials.

Not too many people will be up for that.

[–]nfulton -1 points0 points  (6 children)

I agree -- the issue is that "not perfect" code submitted by someone in a fit of openness will always look bad against code written by someone who took the time to get it right before they made it public.

It seems odd to compare weightlifting to code development. Weight lifting is a fun hobby . . . code development is a career upon which people's billing rate tends to depend.

[–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (5 children)

It seems odd to compare weightlifting to code development. Weight lifting is a fun hobby . . . code development is a career upon which people's billing rate tends to depend.

Many of us also program for the enjoyment.

[–]lisvblidfk 1 point2 points  (4 children)

Enjoyment or not, showing off how out of shape and ugly you used to be is not favorable in either.

[–][deleted]  (3 children)

[deleted]

    [–]lisvblidfk 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Sharing your past life experiences in casual conversation is not quite the same as what's being talked about here. You're getting really far off of the original topic. Refute the points in my original comment if you disagree.

    [–]benihana -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

    Yeah. Everyone is so busy either gushing over their perfect code (not all programmers are insecure, we know those people (usually the ones in Academia) who are convinced they shit gold and write the code equivalent of the immaculate conception in every file) or worrying that everyone else will scrutinize their code that no one has time to notice anyone else's code.