
The myth of the “genius programmer” is extremely dangerous. On one hand, it sets the entry threshold excessively high, scaring a lot of would-be-programmers away. On the other hand, it also haunts those that are already programmers, because it means that if you don’t “rock” at programming, then basically, you suck. As a result, as a programmer, all of your time needs to be used on learning more programming and work, which in the end has a large impact on the quality of life. … (omitted) …We need to get rid of this kind of attitude. Programming is just a bunch of skills that can be learned, it doesn’t require that much talent, and it’s not shameful to be a mediocre programmer.