I’m A Web Developer Hear Me Roar

I’m laying in bed sick from an attack of bad Chinese food. My mind half fuzzy from the combination of medicine to prevent my stomach from going full alien on me. Instead of playing a game or reading a book I’m reading articles on how to become a better programmer and advice on how to become a “rockstar programmer” etc. You see I’m a self taught web developer. I code at work, then I code at home. Sometimes I even dream in code. I love what I do because it’s a challenge. I love challenges. But one thing that urks me is classifications in my industry. Sr., Rockstar, etc are often terms that you hear to explain an experienced programmer. The problem is that development as a whole is so diverse and ever changing; how can anyone classify them self as a rockstar or Sr. Whenever I hear about .Sr or Rockstar that tells me that either the development is focused on a single or handful of disciplines or someone is trying to fine tune classifications in order to achieve greatness or a higher salary bracket.

I don’t focus on one language. I focus on the problem with the ultimate goal of getting the job done effectively. I write code as if the Zombie Apocalypse is a real thing and happening tomorrow. But I don’t classify myself as a Sr. Web Developer or Rockstar developer because I tackle new challenges and not the same over and over again. I look at past code to either do a re factor or to fix a bug not to judge myself. It’s like looking at an old girlfriend. It was great while it lasted but I’ve moved on to bigger and better things.

I hate developer tests. I even walked out on one. When I was asked about the history of .Net I walked out (this wasn’t the only reason they tried giving me head game tests too). Tests of minuscule problems won’t help you identify a good/bad programmer and by asking those silly questions tells me allot about your organization. Give me a problem and my tools to solve that problem. Don’t take away the internet and expect me to know that whole list of http status codes. I’m not an encyclopedia I’m a developer.

Tags

Web Development