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Comment by laumars | Hacker News Reader

In fairness, you don't need to be a DBA to have written thousands of SQL queries and if you're in your 30s or older it's quite possible you might have forgotten some of the theory since you don't need that level understanding for your day to day.

It's getting on for 20 years since I did CS and I'm certain there's stuff I've forgotten about (I've definitely forgotten half the stuff about network topologies but most of that stuff was about coax networks rather than ethernet so it's not stuff I've much since)

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It's fair to forget OSI models since most of programmers don't need to deal with layers below IP, but the fact that there are 3 more hidden layers shouldn't surprise you. As for someone who writes SQL queries for work, I expect some level of understanding of how your underlying system work. Not in great detail, but at least a general picture. I usually consider the desire of understanding an blackbox as an indicator of whether the person will become a great programmer.

I agree with the "blackbox" metaphor 100% but you have to bare in mind that we all have blind-spots. Sometimes they're due to the path we took into our profession, eg different education/training routes; and sometimes due to the way we've specialised, eg the example I'd given about how specialised knowledge that isn't recalled frequently can be forgotten over time. Sometimes it's just because there's so much information to take in that our leaky brains missed that specific detail in lessons. However the fact that the author literally did research that "blackbox" -- hence the article being written -- should be an indicator that she is actually a pretty decent engineer.

I find criticising people for having blind spots that we might consider obvious isn't a great way to share knowledge. Not only does it make individuals less willing to come forward with questions but it also means they're less likely to correct your errors (we are all fallible) for fear of being chastised again.

I agree. Wasn't mean to criticizing tho. I definitely think the author is/could be a great engineer judging by the volume of her blog.

So in that case should every “great programmer” know assembly?

Know assembly in great detail? No. Know what is assembly and which piece it makes in computer system and how it's related to other pieces. Ofc Yes.

And then every programmer I guess should also know how the processor is doing branch predictions and the microcode....

How deep down should your bog standard web developer know?

Yes, at one point I did write x86 (and 65C02 assembly before that)

Then we get into the whole “Mo one person knows how to make a pencil.”

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