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Comment by erichocean | Hacker News Reader

> Half the code was written in a language you didn't understand. The other half was written using libraries you never heard of.

The author already describes himself as "not a rockstar developer", but if this is the definition of "rockstar" I need to recalibrate.

Being able to learn new languages and libraries, to me, is completely normal.

(Also: how funny is it to suggest rewriting code you self-admit you can't even read.)

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The point is that developers like this purposefully introduce new languages and frameworks that only they (and maybe not even they) fully understand, so they make themselves harder to replace and ensure that they appear ahead of the curve. (Then they get bored and leave anyway.) It's totally valid to introduce new technologies when the problem calls for them, but doing it in a way that's purely detrimental to the rest of the team is very selfish.

Exactly my point. Learning stuff is fun. But if you're going to introduce new technologies or programming languages into a system, you need to make sure it suits the skills and experience of the rest of the team. Rewriting the company's admin dashboard in Elm, not letting anyone else work on it, and then quitting - that's just cruel. (Elm's cool, but you know what I mean..)

There's a difference between introducing new things because they are a well thought out appropriate choice and completely ignoring the standards of the company because you want to do resume driven development. I believe the author is talking about the latter.

I've worked with folks like the ones he cites. I've been jealous of their ability to absorb new things, but then you realize they're absolutely allergic to any kind of maintenance or responsibilities beyond "build, build, build".

Just look at the author's accolades. They are very light.

I've never heard of this guy. He's "self employed"

The article lacks any real detail and it just a guy patting himself on the back.

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