Comment by promethean | Hacker News Reader

Comment by promethean | Hacker News Reader

That analogy only holds if you can build any object of a carpenter's skill with just a hammer, or just a screw driver, etc. C is a general purpose tool, compared to the task-oriented tools of carpentry.

There is a very strong difference in signal from someone telling me "I am an expert C programmer" compared to "I am an expert PHP programmer."

Leaving out the name of the programming language all together removes salient content without adding anything else of value. If I want to make your of your programming skills, I'll still need to ask "Okay, what languages?"

So, saying that "Calling oneself a C Programmer is like saying you're a Hammer Carpenter" is like saying when there is a choice between tool sets, the choice doesn't matter.

Yup, programming languages are (generally) Turing-complete. Hammers are not the equivalent in the woodworking space, good luck cutting that plank of wood into two equal pieces, lengthwise, with a hammer.

Saying you're a C programmer is more like saying you're a carpenter specialising in furniture, as opposed to say a carpenter that specialises in houses.

> cutting that plank of wood into two equal pieces, lengthwise, with a hammer.

Sounds like one of those "round manhole" interview questions.

I think the solution to that one is to use a hammer to make a saw out of metal and use it.

Build a forge. Construct a saw mold. Melt down the head of the hammer into the mold. Meanwhile, carve notches into the handle to measure the board. After the saw cools, find a rock to sharpen it with. Saw the wood in half.

This actually sounds like a process that's more fun than some work I've done in the past.

Saying your a C programmer is more like saying you are a carpenter that only uses non-powered hand tools. You can accomplish any task and you take pride in being a master of you simple tools, but getting a job done might take you multiple times longer than the carpenter who shows up with a table saw and cordless drill.

This is an even worse analogy for so many reasons, not sure why it hasn't been voted down into oblivion. Must be all those people using that great new OS written in PHP.

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