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The Programmer Identity Crisis

(hojberg.xyz)
270 points imasl42 | 4 comments | 21 Oct 25 16:47 UTC | HN request time: 0.019s | source
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greymalik ◴[21 Oct 25 17:55 UTC] No.45659146[source]▶
> One could only wonder why they became a programmer in the first place, given their seeming disinterest in coding.

To solve problems. Coding is the means to an end, not the end itself.

> careful configuration of our editor, tinkering with dot files, and dev environments

That may be fun for you, but it doesn’t add value. It’s accidental complexity that I am happy to delegate.

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dingnuts ◴[21 Oct 25 18:10 UTC] No.45659373[source]▶
A chef who sharpens his knives should stop because it doesn't add value

A contractor who prefers a specific brand of tool is wrong because the tool is a means to an end

This is what you sound like. Just because you don't understand the value of a craftsman picking and maintaining their tools doesn't mean the value isn't real.

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senordevnyc ◴[21 Oct 25 18:41 UTC] No.45659845[source]▶
Yes, but the point of being a chef is the food, not the knives. If there's a better way to prepare food than a knife, but you refuse to change, are you really a chef? Or are you a chef knife enthusiast?
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NewsaHackO ◴[21 Oct 25 18:48 UTC] No.45659932[source]▶
>The point of being a chef is the food, not the knives

They will never be able to undestand this, unfortunately

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1. pmg101 ◴[21 Oct 25 19:32 UTC] No.45660558[source]▶
But what if the New Way to prepare food was to put a box into a microwave , wait 60 seconds, then hand it to the customer?

Sure the customer still gets fed but it's a far inferior product... And is that chef really cheffing?

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2. NewsaHackO ◴[21 Oct 25 19:57 UTC] No.45660909[source]▶
This is a strawman. The point is that the original poster was going on about knives, forgetting that the final product is the actual thing that matters, not whatever tool is used to create it. In your example, if the food is inferior, then the food is inferior.
3. senordevnyc ◴[21 Oct 25 20:07 UTC] No.45661003[source]▶
If that's your analogy, then shouldn't you be able to dominate the market by not using AI?
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4. pmg101 ◴[22 Oct 25 06:55 UTC] No.45665704[source]▶
Cheap, fast, mechanised food provision does dominate the market. For price reasons

Nevertheless there's still a luxury market for hand prepared food.

Perhaps software will evolve the same way