Jesper and I have been doing a lot of learning lately. We're both learning C#, and in doing so, reading a lot of books, blog posts, and other resources.
Specifically, we've had several discussions about the book CLR Via C#. This book goes into great depth about how C# works, and some depth on how best to use C#. This is the type of book to read when you want to know why to solve a problem a certain way, instead of just solving it that way because, you found some code online, and it seems to work. The goal is to really understand why, not just how. There is a reason they teach math in school. They could have just given us a calculator our first day of first grade. Why didn't they? Its important to know the why.
Anyway, while reading a book review on Jon Skeet's website, I ran across the concept of a "Cargo Cult Programmer." I was intrigued. I followed Jon's link to the original blog post which explained the concept. A Cargo Cult Programmer is someone who just cares about how, and not why. I have been guilty of this in my career but I strive to improve and this is one place I'm working hardest.
Anyway, I thought that Cargo Cult Programmer blog post was a good read so I thought I'd share.
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It's also a good idea to know what's going on in code you strip from the internets.
ReplyDeleteIt turns out that if you are a part of the Cargo Cult and blindly use code from the internets, your planes might actually show up, but will often crash and kill your fellow Cult members, maybe even yourself.