> Just by your description of why you are into programming.
Ahh, I said why I GOT into it. I never said anything about even being into programming any more (cuz I'm not).
Are there good programmers who don't get a thrill out of beating the computer when it's throwing bug after bug? Because bug hunting is a huge part of development and it requires a special kind of perversity to enjoy it. If you don't enjoy it, you hate most of what you do. If you hate most of what you do, you are not going to be very good at it, unless you have a different but equally special kind of perversity. And you have to be diligent about debugging to be a decent programmer. If your code doesn't work, it's pointless to call it code.
> I'd say you're in it more than most, judging by your submission history
You do realize that something like 80% of my submissions are my own blog or my husband's? I'm here for self-promotion, baby, to reach those who haven't yet drunk the koolaid. My blog is essentially the antithesis of the HN belief system. Example:
http://unicornfree.com/2012/second-hand-tales-from-the-start...
And my husband mostly writes about how arguments over programming styles are retarded, for which he gets a lot of flack.
> Just reading it on a semi-frequent basis will alter your perception of what is typical in this field.
No, being involved in it -- believing it -- buying it will. But I'm not, and I don't.
> Of course, this depends on what you consider "decent", which is undoubtedly influenced by the ideas that float around HN and the bubble.
I don't read tech blogs. I don't read technical posts on HN. It'd be an epic waste of my time. But I've worked with lots of crappy programmers.
> What you consider "good" I would consider supreme levels of talent
How do you know what I consider good?
You're projecting all kinds of opinions on me that you have no business. For example: our main source of income is running on Rails 2.x… because it serves our customers, and that's our priority. We don't follow TDD because extremes are pointless. Etc. I don't care unless it benefits (or costs) our customers. Bet you didn't know that.
You seem to think we're engaged in some kind of debate, but the "debate" is nothing but you telling me (and HN) how I am. But, newsflash: I'm a person, not some kind of phantom you can make believe, think, and do anything you want.
So. Boring.
