Comment by zakkap | Hacker News Reader

Comment by zakkap | Hacker News Reader

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No you haven't offended me... and I haven't missed your point either.

But I do feel like you are putting words in my mouth: "are you seriously saying that you know everything"

Where the hell did you see myself saying that?

If you read my other replies - I said I have an intense passion for learning. This means I do learn from other people than myself.

You're right... A competent programmer should be able to jump between languages.

I don't think Ruby is the best programming language in the world - but it has suited me well for what I'm doing and allows me to iterate through development cycles quickly with ease, plus there is a large community built around it in San Francisco.

When something better for the job comes along I'll pick it up just as quickly.

No.

Initially I asked you if there isn't something your roommate could teach you which would be good and I gave the examples compilers, creating games or advanced algorithms.

Where you responded What makes you think I don't already know about compilers, algorithms and game creation?

This I read as a you're being offended and/or missing my question or as if you're telling me that you already know everything about compilers and the something (which alas is everything).

It's great that you like to learn, just like me, and I think it's a great opportunity to learn and to get a roommate who knows a lot of good funky stuff. This is also why I don't think purely focusing on programmers who knows Ruby is a good idea, instead you should focus on good programmers who know stuff you'd like to learn.

I don't want to pick on Ruby, in fact I think it's great.

isn't something your roommate could teach you which would be good and I gave the examples

In many ways two specialists in the same area can teach each other far more things than two specialists in different areas. The problem is until you know a lot learning from a wiki is often the best approach, however the more you know about say java script the more things you can learn with that foundation.

Think of it this way, how long would you need to spend with tiger woods before he becomes significantly more useful than the average golf instructor. And how does that change as you go from a beginner to the pro level.

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