Do you get offended when people think you are a programmer?
Isn't it like people thinking that a novelist is literally a writer? And might be willing to write a novel based on their ideas if they share the profits with him/her?
32 comments
I don't mean this as a dig, honestly I don't, but if you're walking around life getting offended by things as small as that you should probably re-evaluate some things. Getting offended by something, at its root, is just a way to make people feel bad. Either just you (if the person meant to offend you) or you and the other person (if they didn't). Either way, it causes nothing but pain.
That's ok because it's an emotion with purpose in that it drives you to act. I am offended by the conditions in many African countries so I donate to those charities. I am offended by the jokes that person is telling so I don't hang around them anymore.
But if you are getting offended at something like this, where no action can fix it, than you're just causing yourself undue pain.
That's ok because it's an emotion with purpose in that it drives you to act. I am offended by the conditions in many African countries so I donate to those charities. I am offended by the jokes that person is telling so I don't hang around them anymore.
But if you are getting offended at something like this, where no action can fix it, than you're just causing yourself undue pain.
I get silently offended when people think I'm a computer repairman and that is what I went to school for.
And others get offended when I refute that exact same thing by saying "Nope, I'm not a computer janitor." :)
Hmmm....
Edsger Dijkstra described himself as a "humble programmer" in his Turing lecture (http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD03xx/EW...). Don Knuth categorizes his contributions in three groups: "As a researcher... As a university professor... And as a programmer..." (http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/bio.dvi). Joseph Weizenbaum's New York Times obituary headline called him a "Famed Programmer" (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/world/europe/13weizenbaum....). Tony Hoare's description of his work on implementing Algol includes this: "I eventually married Jill, the other programmer who came to work on the same project" (http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2009/3/21782-an-interview-with... -- ACM access required).
Maybe one day if I work very hard and am very lucky people will think I am a programmer, too.
Edsger Dijkstra described himself as a "humble programmer" in his Turing lecture (http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD03xx/EW...). Don Knuth categorizes his contributions in three groups: "As a researcher... As a university professor... And as a programmer..." (http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/bio.dvi). Joseph Weizenbaum's New York Times obituary headline called him a "Famed Programmer" (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/world/europe/13weizenbaum....). Tony Hoare's description of his work on implementing Algol includes this: "I eventually married Jill, the other programmer who came to work on the same project" (http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2009/3/21782-an-interview-with... -- ACM access required).
Maybe one day if I work very hard and am very lucky people will think I am a programmer, too.
There's nothing wrong with being a ghostwriter, or a session musician for that matter.
I am a programmer and I want to be one. Unlike "web designer", this is the first time I've come across negative feelings to the term "programmer" and I can't really see why (if you want to insult a programmer call them a code monkey).
What title would you prefer over programmer?
What title would you prefer over programmer?
Imperial code magistrate.
Absolutely. If anyone ever refers to me as anything less than a ninja rockstar hacker, I never speak to them again.
It sounds like you are inventing ways to put yourself above other people. There is no title that guarantees that you do good work. Ovid was a writer, Tolstoy was a writer, James Joyce was a writer, Thomas Pynchon is a writer, and none of them would be offended to be called a writer, even though there are multitudes of talentless scribblers who have never completed a novel (and many talentless scribblers who have completed novels -- so I'm not sure why "novelist" is any better than "writer.")
So why should you be offended at being called a programmer? There are people ignorant enough to think that "programmer" places an upper bound on your talent and accomplishments, but there are also people ignorant enough to think that writing is an easy task that requires no talent. If you want to impress such people, allow me to suggest that you rely on your clothes and hairstyle and just be vague about what you do for a living. Such people will be even more impressed if they think you do nothing at all.
So why should you be offended at being called a programmer? There are people ignorant enough to think that "programmer" places an upper bound on your talent and accomplishments, but there are also people ignorant enough to think that writing is an easy task that requires no talent. If you want to impress such people, allow me to suggest that you rely on your clothes and hairstyle and just be vague about what you do for a living. Such people will be even more impressed if they think you do nothing at all.
Most people outside of the tech industry have no more idea of what I do other than "he works with computers." I've long since given up trying to explain it to them.
I've started telling people I'm a database administrator just to pre-emptively ward off "will you check why my computer is so slow?" questions.
It is really too bad. I get the same thing, but it is mostly from people who don't use computers. If they use computers, they can at least get to the fact that I write mumbo jumbo that makes the computer do something.
Why would someone get offended by that? Does programmer equate to only codes for $ or something?
Unfortunately, in the vast majority of cases, it does.
I don't really understand why that would carry any stigma. I mean, do we hate doctors who are only in the medical field because it pays well?
Personally, yes, I do, particularly if they insist on using honorary titles.
No. Who cares, there are bigger things to worry about.
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=545530
Sometimes "programmer" carries too strong a connotation of "code monkey". I find it best to just avoid places where this is true.
Sometimes "programmer" carries too strong a connotation of "code monkey". I find it best to just avoid places where this is true.
> Sometimes "programmer" carries too strong a connotation of "code monkey".
You write that like code monkey is a bad thing.
> I find it best to just avoid places where this is true.
It is good to avoid places that look down on code monkeys.
You write that like code monkey is a bad thing.
> I find it best to just avoid places where this is true.
It is good to avoid places that look down on code monkeys.
Well, sure, okay. I'm quite happy to be called a code monkey by someone who respects what we code monkeys do. ;)
Not at all. I think about the end of The Fountainhead, when Roark's accomplishment is symbolized by the sign that says "Howard Roark: Architect," and I think about what that sign would read for me. I've never come up with anything better than Programmer - better in the sense that it conveys what I do in a way that people understand. Anyone who understands deeply enough to care about the distinction will probably dig deeper anyway.
Software developer is a broad term as well. ;-)
And the last bastion of respect, the software engineer is not without its enterprise-ish feel.
Researcher seems cooler, but it's all about feeling good and self-esteem in the end. :-)
What about the designers, web designers, front-end engineers? Does it piss them off being called a programmer every now and then?
And the last bastion of respect, the software engineer is not without its enterprise-ish feel.
Researcher seems cooler, but it's all about feeling good and self-esteem in the end. :-)
What about the designers, web designers, front-end engineers? Does it piss them off being called a programmer every now and then?
You think "programmer" is bad. Try "Visual Basic Programmer" or "PHP Programmer". That kind of stigma can never be erased.
As opposed to what? Developer? As a developer, I don't really see that much of a distinction, or care about it.
I call myself code simian all the time. I am beautiful no matter what you say!
No.
No, I am proud of it.
not really. i don't tend to get offended at this by default because most people who say this type of thing just don't know any better.
i might get annoyed if someone was doing it on purpose with the intent to get under my skin or something.
i might get annoyed if someone was doing it on purpose with the intent to get under my skin or something.
It's not entirely their fault. There are people after all who write code for money. So it's not too much of a stretch to think they might be willing to write code if you share with them any resulting profits.
How many people would be willing to write a novel based on your ideas for money? How many would be willing to write a novel based on your ideas for a share of profits?
How many people would be willing to write a novel based on your ideas for money? How many would be willing to write a novel based on your ideas for a share of profits?
Enough of them that they have their own term -- ghostwriters.