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I think most if not all good developers have suffered or do suffer from imposter syndrome in some form.
If you don’t or never have, your either a god, or ignorant ;)
And the problem with being a god is that no one can teach you anything so you run the risk of stagnating as developer.
A small but healthy imposter syndrome that turns into an urge to learn more is a good stick in the stick and carrot motivation pair ;)
Thats why I love CR/PR where you get actual feedback and not just an OK.
Every time they provide some small suggestions indicating they really read through you code is a badge that you are good enough to not get “a talk” :) -
@TempestasLudi its the curse of knowing. Socrates said it best: "The only true wisdom consists in knowing that you know nothing."
The more you know the harder it is to accept how little you actually know -
@Hazarth easier*
You can spend years learning a single field, and you're acutely aware of just how much you don't know in that field. And you know that you don't even know how many other fields there are. -
@Pickman The Unix/Linux/bsd kernels are written in C. It's more readable than assembly. Writing C makes you aware of the hardware it runs on.
Not asking anyone to convert existing projects to C, merely to learn it. We've almost negated hardware advances in the past 10 years because our profession is careless with software. -
@codebanana I totally agree with you but C is NOT low level in my opinion as far as distance from hardware goes.
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@Pickman if it's not on a punch card I don't wanna hear it 😆
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@Pickman What constitutes a "low level" programming language? The ability to seamlessly call assembly language code within C is pretty low level IMO. Maybe people are confusing "low level" with "systems level" programming.
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@Demolishun for me low level means that the implementation written by the developer is machine-specific. While some libraries of C are architecture-specific (e.g. windows vs unix) it usually is not machine specific. It is meant to be written once and compiled on several machines.
It seems like every other day I run into some post/tweet/article about people whining about having the imposter syndrome. It seems like no other profession (except maybe acting) is filled with people like this.
Well lemme answer that question for you lot.
YES YOU ARE A BLOODY IMPOSTER.
There. I said it. BUT.
Know that you're already a step up from those clowns that talk a lot but say nothing of substance.
You're better than the rockstar dev that "understands" the entire codebase because s/he is the freaking moron that created that convoluted nonsensical pile of shit in the first place.
You're better than that person who thinks knowing nothing is fine. It's just a job and a pay cheque.
The main question is, what the flying fuck are you going to do about being an imposter? Whine about it on twtr/fb/medium? HOW ABOUT YOU GO LEARN SOMETHING BEYOND FRAMEWORKS OR MAKING DUMB CRUD WEBSITES WITH COLOR CHANGING BUTTONS.
Computers are hard. Did you expect to spend 1 year studying random things and waltz into the field as a fucking expert? FUCK YOU. How about you let a "doctor" who taught himself medicine for 1 year do your open heart surgery?
Learn how a godamn computer actually works. Do you expect your doctors and surgeons to be ignorant of how the body works? If you aspire to be a professional WHY THE FUCK DO YOU STAY AT THE SURFACE.
Go learn about Compilers, complete projects with low level languages like C / Rust (protip: stay away from C++, Java doesn't count), read up on CPU architecture, to name a few topics.
Then, after learning how your computers work, you can start learning functional programming and appreciate the tradeoffs it makes. Or go learn AI/ML/DS. But preferably not before.
Basically, it's fine if you were never formally taught. Get yourself schooled, quit bitching, and be patient. It's ok to be stupid, but it's not ok to stay stupid forever.
/rant
rant