I just have to say that this post spoke to me. I've found things on this forum that have helped me tremendously at work. I have a minor in CS and I now work as a developer. I have been able to perform well at work, but I still feel inadequate for the job. I know some of the other developers do things better than I do, and I struggle to see how "I" am a Hacker. I really deem that a term for the elite in our field, and I don't think I'm there.

But I'm learning and I love learning and that's what I think is really important as a programmer. Some of the things in this post I knew about others, I'm going to have to research but at least it's easy to find useful help nowadays. Thank you Hacker News.

I sometimes feel the exact same way. I graduated with CS degree but have never used any of that knowledge until I got my current contracting gig - almost 11 years later.

During the first 10 years of my career, I used a language where I didn't have to "worry" about all of the kind of things I have to concern myself with now (using Java/MyBatis/Oracle).

I've always wondered what it was like using a "real" programming language and now I know - it can be tough but it's not terribly difficult. I love using the tools I've been reading so much about on various blogs and whatnot.

>Sometimes to the point where I don't consider myself a 'real' programmer and feel like a faker any time I'm talking with someone more skilled than myself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20060901/handson-leadership.html

interesting! As one of the top performers in my major as a senior, I think I self-inflict this a little bit to keep myself sharp / hungry. Kids call me crazy and say I've had all kinds of success, but I don't compare myself to the apathy I see around me and putting a chip on my shoulder compared to 'elite' devs has worked for me.

Privately I think most people have this but don't want to admit it because they think someone would call them out on it. From what I see/experience it seems like the world mostly runs on people trying to impress other people because that's the only validation for our own skills we get.

Thanks for these. The first one describes me in many ways.