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When I started asking for help with programming, I had some idea that it would be similar to like... asking for help with a dance move, or how to do a thing in photoshop. Sure, there's different techniques, but not a *lot* of them; ask an expert, get a fast answer. 1/

350

Aella

@Aella_Girl

but when asking people who are really good at programming a question about 'how to do this thing,' a surprising amount of the time they *don't know*, and have to go google it. And when I ask multiple people, they often give me radically different answers. 2/

5:49 PM · Aug 30, 2022

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I think I thought programming was much narrower than it was, but it's actually extremely broad; even if you're familiar with the same language, you might not be with the same library, or the *type* of thing I'm trying to do. It's a huge landscape with many right answers.

289

Aella

@Aella_Girl

Aug 30, 2022

Maybe this is very obvious, but I didn't know that being a good programmer doesn't mean having all the vocabulary words memorized, but rather having a good grasp of grammar and syntax that allows you to do more efficient 'figuring out.' The answers are often not preloaded!

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That's an horrible realization we all ended up having after some time, so I think I can safely say now that you are:

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Coding is 10% inspiration, 90% knowing what to google

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The greatest programmers I know understand more about what DOESN'T work rather than what does. They're not lazy, they just know from experience that you can't always know the answer and build up with the best solution you have now.

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smartness isn't knowing something it's knowing how to find it