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A couple nights ago I was thinking how can absurdly incompetent programmers exist out there (based on stories I read here), and I think I know the reason. They just don't like doing it, to them it's just a job. They get into the building, work and go home. They learned programming in college but probably never wrote anything for fun. Because of that they don't dedicate themselves to learning new tech, don't try to improve and be good at the job, all they want is the money to be able to survive and that's it. Since they don't have the curiosity to drive them forward, they just don't and keep writing shitty code.

I'm not saying you need to have a bazillion side-projects, work an 8h shift and then go home and spend 3h on personal projects, or that you have to breathe programming and tech. All I'm saying is that, to be competent and good (this probably applies to most jobs) you have to like what you do and have at least some interest in it.

Comments
  • 6
    You can be competent and hate it with the right amount of discipline. You will, however, never be enjoyable to work with.
  • 1
    I agree. I've met my fair share of these 9-to-5 developers that just have no ambitions at all. You'll find similar workers in other professions, too. If we had standards, though, I don't think they'd have too much trouble following them. Sure, they'd still be doing the absolute minimum, but at least to a generally accepted minimum.

    Another type of absurdly incompetent programmers are cowboy programmers. They don't fit into what you describe, since they do have ambitions and they do have fun while programming. How would you explain them? I'm guessing Dunning–Kruger effect.
  • 1
    @VaderNT
    Cowboy coders are usually spoiled only children with narcissistic personality disorder. #TrueFacts
  • 1
    @VaderNT I'm not sure I what cowboy programmers are, but from what I understood they're those cocky guys that always think they're the smartest person in the room. In that case, I'd say they simply lack humility. They can't accept they don't know something.

    Edit: exactly as @SortOfTested said
  • 3
    Most workers do their job mostly for the money. In a world where you need money to live, that is to be expected.
    Especially, when they made their hobby their job some years ago - because then they lost their hobby by now and only the job is left.
  • 0
    @Oktokolo accurate. Especially when ur forced to use libraries/tech stacks you don't particularly enjoy.
  • 3
    I know a guy that works around 11h per day on average, is extremely passionate about the project he works on, seems to have tons of fun while working, yet he writes the most absolute shit I've ever seen. It works - but every time it's an unreadable, uncommented, undocumented, typos-filled shitload of spaghetti code.
    So... I don't think passion is a magic bullet. Dunno.
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