18 replies to this topic

[onyxthedog]

Just a fun topic about some of the programming cliques placed on us by society and if they are true or not. Just something I thought would be kind of fun.

[Reedbeta]

...well, aren't you going to post some yourself?

[onyxthedog]

Sure: "They are nerds." This is not generally true, we are just like everybody else, I play the guitar, do magic tricks, and am very active in various other things and most people don't even know I program. I know that I have seen many people on this forum that play the guitar, as do those other "non-nerds".

"They are weird." We have the same weird to non-weird ratio as every other group.

[.oisyn]

Do you mean clichés?

Btw, playing a guitar doesn't make you less of a nerd . But it depends on your definition of nerd, really. We at our office do call ourselves nerds. Because we're interested in computers and science and stuff. Not because we're introverted and lack social skills, which is usually the case with the common definition of "nerd".

So I hereby state that gamedevelopers generally *are* nerds. YES YOU TOO, ONYXTHEDOG!!

[onyxthedog]

.oisyn said:

Do you mean clichés? ;)

Btw, playing a guitar doesn't make you less of a nerd :p. But it depends on your definition of nerd, really. We at our office do call ourselves nerds. Because we're interested in computers and science and stuff. Not because we're introverted and lack social skills, which is usually the case with the common definition of "nerd".

So I hereby state that gamedevelopers generally *are* nerds. YES YOU TOO, ONYXTHEDOG!! :lol:

Yes I meant cliches, I realize guitars don't make you any less of a nerd ( but it is a common thing for lots of people), I do consider myself a nerd in that sense.

[Gunn3rGames]

I'm not a nerd, but a geek.
Being able to take apart and put a computer back together again with your eyes closed sufficently labels you as a geek in my community.

Other than that, I'm normal. I'm on a drumline, I play sports...

[starstutter]

Gunn3rGames said:

I play sports...

You are a trator to the C#rown

onyxthedog said:

"They are weird." We have the same weird to non-weird ratio as every other group.

Ehh... not *totally* sure about that one, but we're not the basement dwelling mole people that most would assume :P

onyxthedog said:

"They are nerds." This is not generally true

I guess it depends on your definition of nerd really. To me, a nerd just means that someone is smart in a particular field. Most educated people agree with this. A geek on the otherhand is your cliche'd -
"My mom's not home do you want to play some D&D at the age of 41"
stereotype.

So, are all programmers nerds? Yes
Are they all geeks? Actually I've never met a programmer who was a geek. Most if not all of them were physically active in some way and had lives outside of school and programming. Of course they have less of a social life like oh say, me :P, but are by no means shut-ins. And qute a few excersized like your regular sports joks. I'm one of them actually, but I do it mostly out of habbit.

Really though, I excersise not because I've got my mind set on girls (ok I can't finish that with a straight face), but it's mostly because it helps me think a lot better and relieve stress


So if I may finish this rant, I will say I'm beginning to notice a pattern. As the computer science and games industry matures, I'm beginning to see a lot more aspiring programmers that blend in to society as just "normal people" than there used to be.I never quite thought I'd be saying this in my lifetime, but there's actually quite a few girls in my college (non-geek girls) that genuinley think the entire field is rather fascinating and this leads me to belive that many of classic cliches are fading out a bit. That's a good thing of course.

[nassimamar]

Nah, many programmers i meet, are very "slick" and playboy style... although we do share a very cold perspective of the world, we're direct to the point and suprisingly objective... that doesn't mean we don't have a big heart :p

[TheNut]

Being called a nerd is like being called a level 1 wizard and everyone else is dancing around you with their cool level 60 spells. True masters will be called by their code name, like k0m@nd0r or some such. The more difficult it is to read, the more prestigious the user is behind the name.

[.oisyn]

TheNut: nerd!

[rouncer]

I think being a nerd just means you look wierd (your body is out of proportion, your skin is poorly toned) and you sound wierd (like a honky frog)
and your jokes arent funny. You had no friends in school, and you're a bit of a creep.
Your the kinda guy the girls shy away from at the party because being around you is a social negative. (your not a good accessory)

You know, but thats life.
But i dont judge people on these simple levels, I try to see the success of someone - not these small things that seem to matter a lot but
matter only little once you work it out.

[poita]

I'm not a nerd; I spend my Friday and Saturday nights coding just like everyone else.

On a more serious note, one thing I've found is that your average nerd doesn't really have any ego... until you put them with other nerds. I never noticed this until I start studying Comp Sci at uni, but my God some of them have huge egos, bragging about their graphics card, or what obscure languages they know, or how they do everything using command line :S It's quite annoying actually.

I think that, once you've accepted that you are a nerd, and you're happy with it, you think that you might as well be the biggest and best nerd there is. So nerds compete for their nerdiness by doing things like buying binary watches and everything else you can imagine from www.thinkgeek.com.

[Nodlehs]

poita said:

or how they do everything using command line :S

Wait... are you trying to tell me everyone doesn’t use only the command line to develop software? Crazy talk!

[.oisyn]

Indeed. This is how I write software:

C:\MyProject>echo #include "stdio.h" >myFile.cpp

C:\MyProject>echo int main() >>myFile.cpp

C:\MyProject>echo { >>myFile.cpp

C:\MyProject>echo     printf("Hello World!\n"); >>myFile.cpp

C:\MyProject>echo } >>myFile.cpp

C:\MyProject>type myFile.cpp
#include "stdio.h"
int main()
{
    printf("Hello World!\n");
}

C:\MyProject>gcc -o MyProject.exe MyFile.cpp

C:\MyProject>MyProject
Hello World!

C:\MyProject>

It takes a true master programmer to write such a file in one go without errors. I think I'm not arrogant when I say I am a true master programmer. Anyone who needs an IDE is just an apprentice.

My coworkers are just apprentices. "How can you write code like that?!?!", they say. "What if you need to debug or alter your code?" Obviously, in their cluenessless they do not see that flawlessly written code needs no debugging or altering. One day they will see the light and understand. For now, they are not ready to master the fine art of programming. I will not hold them in disregard, for I, too, have been one of them. That time has long past.

[z80]

More fun this way ;-)

C:\>copy con setup.exe

[Reedbeta]

.oisyn said:

I think I'm not arrogant when I say I am a true master programmer. Anyone who needs an IDE is just an apprentice.

Wrong, my friend. A TRUE master programmer needs neither commandline nor GUI, neither keyboard nor mouse: he simply focuses cosmic rays onto his hard drive platter to flip the bits creating the program he desires. How does he do this, you may ask? There are many ways, but the most elite programmers use butterflies to alter upper atmospheric air currents.

[poita]

I was wondering how long it would take before someone linked to that xkcd :)

[onyxthedog]

A true master programs Windows in punch cards, with no errors!

[Kenneth Gorking]

I usually just yell at my computer, then code comes out (in caps)