Ask HN: When has someone reached a level of mastery in software? In other trades we often speak about experience in terms of 'mastering' a trade, but in software it's usually phrased in ambiguous corporate goals like '10x productivity'. If we set aside productivity and view software as a trade and craft, which skills do you think are inherent in someone who's reached a level of mastery in the field? |
When I got started in electronics, the programmable kind of electronics would not fit on a workbench, and had traditionally required more than one person to operate. Way too expensive for one person to afford by a long shot anyway.
So I stuck with the analog stuff.
Eventually when programmable electronics came within reach, I was more fortunate than almost anybody around, but it was still a mainframe which was highly immobile so I had to go to within reach of it.
That was before my father got the first modem in our town. Bell-approved acoustic-coupled analog RS-232B it was. I could have tried to get more speed out of it, they didn't have RS-232C yet, but even by that time you were only allowed to communicate at 300 baud max on the phone lines. Plus there were long-distance fees by the minute for non-local land-line calls because they were expensive.
With a 20 kilo portable paper terminal to go with it, that was a real "teletype disrupting" combination :)
I can assure you no teletypes were impacted significantly, we were lucky to get the prototype terminals :\
By the time I finally got an industrial computer that would fit on a bench, Apples were already out (they weren't powerful enough) but not Ataris or PCs yet. Which weren't powerful enough either when they came along.
I guess I have looked at programming as a specialized function of electronics for quite a number of decades by now.
>which skills do you think are inherent
Mastery is a tough one and who am I to judge whether it matters if it's considered inherently natural or finely tuned talent. I think of it a lot when I develop instrument theory, and interestingly electronic instruments have a number of approaches in common with musical instruments.
There's even a "Stradivarius Effect" which is not altogether rare.
Then it's not too much of a stretch to think of a well-assembled PC, including of course functionally complete software, as a recognized finished product that you can individually rehearse and perform on in an analogous way to an instrument of some kind. Get more out of the electronics than otherwise in the pursuit of the objective. Like most people just can't do without great practice themselves. Maybe even some secret sauce.
I think after an ultimate degree of mastery has been achieved, you could expect for a new system once assembled to behave exactly as designed.
>When has someone reached a level of mastery in software?
When?
I wondered that for a long time too.
That would be when it always works the first time you plug it in.
Just like any other electronics.
After that it should be able to run whenever you want, as long as the hardware holds out, without any further attention.