Stages Of Programming Skill, From Freshman To Senior
- 1. The Stages of Developer Experience From Freshman to Senior
- 2. Freshman ● Characteristics ○ Sucks at programming and knows it ○ Low self confidence ○ Can't do fizzbuzz ○ 50% of all "developers" are Freshmen ● How to tell: ○ "LOL this code sure is shitty", "Yeah I know, I'm a noob" ○ May have a CS degree ○ May even have 15 years experience at a MegaCorp. ● How to graduate: ○ Get a major win. ○ Complete a project that you're proud of. (complete a tutorial, get something merged into an OSS project, etc.)
- 3. Sophomore ● Characteristics ○ Thinks they are great, but actually still suck ○ Calls him/herself "programmer" ○ Pounds out shitty code by the barrelful ○ "Wise and foolish" ○ 49% of all developers, 90% of working developers ● How to tell ○ "LOL this code sure is shitty", *gets offended* ○ Code they wrote 5 months ago looks the same as code written today ● How to graduate ○ Experience a major failure
- 4. Junior ● Characteristics ○ Knows first hand the importance of documentation, refactoring, type systems, proper architecture, etc. ○ Idealistic - Wants everyone else to things right too. ○ Writes genuinely great code ○ Assholes - Aware of their greatness, is actually great ○ 0.9% of all developers ○ Long process of continual improvement ● How to spot ○ "LOL this code sure is shitty", "Yeah I know, lets make it better" ○ Code written 5 months ago looks bad compared to code written today ○ Code written 5 years ago looks completely awful compared to code written today ● How to graduate ○ get old
- 5. Senior ● Characteristics ○ Senior year just kind of sneaks up on you, uneventfully ○ Doesn't give a fuck anymore ○ Is a great developer, but has dropped the idealism ○ Realizes the world is full of freshmen and sophomores ○ 0.1% of all developers ○ Is still good at writing code ● How to spot: ○ Is not an asshole anymore, has leadership skills ○ Goes home every night ○ Has a life outside of coding ● How to graduate ○ You die
- 6. Tips for hiring ● Avoid freshmen. Sophomores are inevitable. Hire any junior/senior you come across, no matter what. ● We all would like to hire only juniors and seniors, but they only make up 1% of the total workforce. ● If you have a senior, let them in on the interview process ○ They have an intuition for finding other junior/seniors. ● Fizzbuzz only eliminates the freshmen ● Juniors and Seniors get offended when you ask them freshmen questions during interviews.
- 7. Tips for programmers ● Do a personal project. Try to do one alone. ● 10,000+ lines of code or more ● Don't give up.