Beefy Boxes and Bandwidth Generously Provided by pair Networks
Just another Perl shrine
 
PerlMonks  

Re: Updating my confidence in my Perl knowledge

by Your Mother (Archbishop)
on Nov 04, 2009 at 17:32 UTC ( [id://805002]=note: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??


in reply to Updating my confidence in my Perl knowledge

About four years ago I found myself in the same mindset. I had finally come to realize how much I didn't know and that the things I'd been able to accomplish, while significant, could have been done in small fractions of the time and much more sustainably/cleanly by, say, half of the top 100 monks in the Saints in Our Book list. I humbled myself before Perl and started paying more attention to things that had previously struck me as mere opinion.

I did have some trouble in a couple of interviews in that period because I was unwilling to call myself a Perl expert, guru, whatever. I had come to know how much I didn't know. I didn't realize that what I'd lost was the best baggage I'd ever shed.

I went from gig to gig in this time ending up being the go to hacker in all but one. Doing tutorials and running the occasional code review. Being the document writer, the tester, and completing more features/code than the other hackers. Wondering at first how this was possible since I didn't know WTF I was doing.

You're in a great place even though it doesn't feel like it. The desire and interest to learn is ultimately more important than confidence. Our curiosity is what makes us special animals, not our posture. :) The reason I suspect I was able to get a few of those jobs, despite what may have seemed like low confidence, was exuberance. Loving what you do and wanting to have fun with it is contagious. Have fun! The rest will likely follow.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^2: Updating my confidence in my Perl knowledge
by kyle (Abbot) on Nov 04, 2009 at 18:01 UTC

    I regret that I have but one vote to give to this reply and particularly to this: The desire and interest to learn is ultimately more important than confidence.

    I learned a lot by spending a couple of years trying (and sometimes failing) to answer questions here at the Monastery. Aside from that, almost all I've learned about Perl has come from using it for my own projects and those of my employers. I've learned a little by just reading things I found interesting, but everything else has been from having some immediate application for the knowledge I sought.

Log In?
Username:
Password:

What's my password?
Create A New User
Domain Nodelet?
Node Status?
node history
Node Type: note [id://805002]
help
Chatterbox?
and the web crawler heard nothing...

How do I use this?Last hourOther CB clients
Other Users?
Others surveying the Monastery: (4)
As of 2024-03-29 09:07 GMT
Sections?
Information?
Find Nodes?
Leftovers?
    Voting Booth?

    No recent polls found