Coder vs. programmer vs. developer vs. system architect

It's not a protected title. However I doubt the guy in the article could write his own OS. Which I can.

Also keep in mind the phases of learning and understanding:

1. I know nothing...this is so hard.

2. I know everything...this is so easy.

3. I know nothing (again), but this time for real since I realized there is so much more to learn.

4. I really, really, really know nothing.

5. Hmm...maybe I might be getting the hang of this.

And in phase 5 other people start calling you a guru. However you'll have no problem finding a job in phase 2.

Very nice. When I first learned Django this year (after a year in Python and several years doing web development) I saw myself as an all-encompassing guru of awesomeness. A few months later I realized how big my knowledge gap is of the framework, and interviews helped me see how much I still have to work on. Easy to feel good on step#2; after that comes the true trial, and they go into cycles. Then you realize you did your 10 years and you still know very little LOL

Those are valid points, but I think they miss the purpose he was driving at. Maybe the title of the article could be different, but that's a minor issue.

Bottomon line: He wanted a job as a developer. He got that job. Success.

You're right though, people do have to learn these other concepts, but first they have to have some money to pay the bills, then they can just knock themselves out learning all about algorithms and data structures.

agreed.

Now lets see if he can keep that job... likely knowing basically nothing about what he is doing.

I know from professional experience that he can go from zero to competent very quickly. He will keep that job exactly as long as he wants to unless the company doesn't know how to manage their resources.

I downvoted you and also flagged your post. This kind of negativity is totally uncalled for.

What part of "I watched 13 lectures of MIT's OpenCourseWare on computer science" means "I learned how to program in nothing but Django"?

I answered the questions people asked. Are you for real?

Have you made money as a result of code you've written? If so, you're a professional programmer. I wouldn't worry about whether you conform to a checklist an arrogant troll (I don't use these words lightly, but check his comment history) wrote on an internet forum. Hats off to you for doing it, especially under so much pressure.

I applaud you for all the things you've achieved, it's pretty commendable ( always like to hear stories about people working hard and getting stuff done ). But the truth is, it wouldn't hurt to go and take the time to re-visit the topics he mentioned and tie up loose ends. It would help your career regardless of what was said here. 2 cents.

What's ridiculous about your comment and rorrr's trollish one is that he probably already has (re-)visited them. He writes that he watched 13 lectures of the MIT intro to computer science OCW class. That definitely touches on data structures and algorithms.

Writing django apps requires the use of algorithms and data structures. He just didn't talk about them.

He became a programmer in 12 weeks, not a Computer Scientist. Get over it, he's being paid to program, he's a programmer.