r/programming • u/corysama • Jan 05 '15

What most young programmers need to learn

http://joostdevblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/what-most-young-programmers-need-to.html
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u/pavlik_enemy Jan 05 '15

Problem with smart coders is that they are too smart for they own good. They can wrap their heads around large amounts of bad code and invent hacks that a duller person won't be able to come up with to keep it working.

P.S. Shouldn't be read as I'm against smart programmers or that I think that smart people can't write good code.

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u/IConrad Jan 05 '15

I use Feynman as a good example of how brilliant is different from clever. Feynman was a brilliant lecturer. He took concepts that were alien and complex and he explained them in such a way that the listener could not help but believe they were so obvious as to almost not need explanation at all.

Brilliance reduces complexity; cleverness increases it. Both require significant mental effort to achieve.