Home Forums Article Discussions Article Discussions by Author Discuss Content Posted by Steve Jones Beginner, Expert, or Both? RE: Beginner, Expert, or Both?

  • October 8, 2013 at 8:44 am

    #1656772

    Jeff Moden (10/8/2013)

    Gary Varga (10/7/2013)

    simon.crick (10/7/2013)

    Cadavre (10/7/2013)

    simon.crick (10/7/2013)

    I will probably get shot down again for saying this, but I believe people should stick to core technology and basic tecnhiques unless there is a very good reason for using exotic technology and advanced techniques.

    Why? Because no one person (even those of you who think you are expert experts) can ever know more than a tiny fraction of all the available technology and techniques, and if we all go off on our own paths following our own preferences for exotic technology and advanced techniques, then our systems will end up being a completely unmaintanable mish-mash of technologies and techniques.

    I am not dumb. I have consistently achieved very high grades and won awards for outstanding achievement, etc., but the more I learn, the more I realize it is impossible to know everything, and therefore, out of consideration for our colleagues, we really ought to be sticking to core technology and basic techniques wherever possible.

    Simon

    I disagree completely. You go with the "best" technique (measurable by performance tests) for the job, regardless of complexity. Then make sure that you document how the logic works.

    So if it works 1% faster but is 10 times as complex, you still go for the "advanced" technique?

    Surely, that is over simplifying the argument to validate your point.

    It is frequently said on these forums that "it depends" and your statistical scenario would most likely result in a no to the "advanced" technique in most cases, however, there are possibly scenarios where 1% would be considered of enough benefit. Particularly as a tactical solution to overcome system capacity limit issues.

    Yet I agree with you in principle that all too often a complex solution is rolled out due to:

  • role justification
  • CV engineering
  • curiosity
  • post-training experimentation
  • etc.

    • I guess this is another example of where professionalism should be applied alongside experience and expertise (and documenting skills ;-)).

    Again, I could be wrong, but I believe you may have taken what Simon posted the wrong way. See my post to Cadavre above.

    Actually, I sadly agree that all too often a complex solution is rolled out due to the reasons Gary listed above.

    Unfortunately, it also seems that people who have lots of exotic technologies and advanced techniques listed on their CV often get promoted to senior positions faster than other people who could have solved the very same problems much more effectively using core technology and basic techniques.

    This seems to be a viscious cycle in the computing industry, resulting in more-and-more complex systems that are less-and-less effective. To see that this is true, you only have to consider that computers are now at least 1000 times as powerful as they were in the mid-nineties, but how many of our systems have 1000 times the capacity/performance? Most of the extra power is being wasted on unnecessary complexity.

    Simon