It's the way I learn, too.. But it doesn't make me write things as a guy who's knowledgeable.
I'm a total noob, yet the first few paragraphs made me cringe because I felt there were some odd things. I had a weird feeling about it. It wouldn't have bothered me if there wasn't this "A periodical about best practices and advanced techniques in Objective-C"..
Or using the word "great contributors", etc. I mean, one has to be humble because unless one really knows his stuff, he shouldn't talk that way.
If the writing style was more in the "I'm learning and journaling my progress", it would've been more than okay, and knowledgeable people wouldn't have a problem with it.
I was in forums and learning to design my PCB's, I'd post my design and ask for feedback, and people who'd spent 30+ years would comment on them and point flaws on what I thought was nice and would find a thousand flaws in it. And I got back to wrok, iteration after iteration.. Until these really great guys who do that for a living would say "Beautiful work".
Had I posted something like "advanced PCB design" in the "this is how it's done" way, they'd have ignored me and I would've stayed more ignorant than I still am.
There was a question on the Python mailing list asking how long it takes to say that one knows how to program. People with 40+ years actively programming said: I'll let you know when I'm there.
Humility goes a long way. Heck even when I read things on the nmap mailing list, I don't feel that tone that they consider they know more than you do even though they really, really know their stuff.
Could you post an example of the "I'm learning and journaling my progress" writing style? I'd like to start doing this and I don't want to come off as an expert on things I'm just learning.
One thing is to not publish it -- a learning journal is probably much more important for you to write than for anyone to read. Then give yourself a couple of years or decades of learning time, and if you still want to write about it, what you wrote as a beginner will give you valuable insights into the beginner's mind, things you have probably forgotten.
And of course you can publish it (might be good for feedback), just state that it's a learning journal, not "best practices".
Great idea. I have a notebook where I write down ideas for companies, things I think about. I think it is a really, really good practice to write it down..
The reason I'm saying that is that human beings have selective memory. They tend to remember things they did the right way, they remember their good ideas, times they were right, etc.
I used to note my ideas that would seem genius.. And then I'd look at them a couple months later and it's humbling. How stupid could I be.
But there is a good thing about this: It taught me a valuable lesson.. It taught me to focus on real needs, and not some fancy thoughts I have at 3AM. Like real needs.
And I know that at an early stage, one needs to let go of critical things and be open and not dismiss ideas, etc.. But it's just that some ideas are plain stupid and I had plenty of those.
I write them down, then cross things. Not a real need, not a problem. Now I'm thinking about an idea that I'd use if it were available. And I'm not the only one.
I was on the forum chat, and I'd send pictures and they'd help me see, they'd open my eyes and explain things. Why 90° tracks are a no-no, etc.
People are tremendously generous with their time as long as your attitude is okay. I learned orders of magnitude more on the internet than in college, and still do every minute I'm online.
I'm a total noob, yet the first few paragraphs made me cringe because I felt there were some odd things. I had a weird feeling about it. It wouldn't have bothered me if there wasn't this "A periodical about best practices and advanced techniques in Objective-C"..
Or using the word "great contributors", etc. I mean, one has to be humble because unless one really knows his stuff, he shouldn't talk that way.
If the writing style was more in the "I'm learning and journaling my progress", it would've been more than okay, and knowledgeable people wouldn't have a problem with it.
I was in forums and learning to design my PCB's, I'd post my design and ask for feedback, and people who'd spent 30+ years would comment on them and point flaws on what I thought was nice and would find a thousand flaws in it. And I got back to wrok, iteration after iteration.. Until these really great guys who do that for a living would say "Beautiful work".
Had I posted something like "advanced PCB design" in the "this is how it's done" way, they'd have ignored me and I would've stayed more ignorant than I still am.
There was a question on the Python mailing list asking how long it takes to say that one knows how to program. People with 40+ years actively programming said: I'll let you know when I'm there.
Humility goes a long way. Heck even when I read things on the nmap mailing list, I don't feel that tone that they consider they know more than you do even though they really, really know their stuff.