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This thread on CS gatekeeping reminds me a lot about breadmaking (bear with me) 1/8 https://twitter.com/IanColdwater/status/1336411491323453440
I went to a Jesuit high school, and as a gift got the book "The Secrets of Jesuit Breakmaking" by Rick Curry. He was a Jesuit brother who traveled the world, visiting residences in many different countries, collecting their recipes for bread and putting them together in 2/8
a wonderful cookbook. The types of bread and the ingredients reflected different cultures, from Jesuits in Ireland, to Brazil, to Indonesia, to Australia. One thing he emphasized was that to make really good bread, really phenomenal bread, what you needed was 3/8
just a bowl, a spoon, basic ingredients, and some heat. These Jesuits swore to a life of poverty, and had only basic tools. Yet they produced incredible baked goods! Decades-old worn pans, open fires in some cases, simple wooden spoons. 4/8
Some people feel like you need a brand new kitchen with a Viking stove, 600W Kitchenaid Professional stand mixer, copper mixing bowls, etc. to get started with cooking. People invest 10s of thousands of dollars upgrading their kitchens! 5/8
OK back to software. Different people develop software using a ton of different approaches, and there are some people who insist that you have to know dozens and dozens of frameworks, packages, runtimes, package managers, etc. - a very expensive kitchen! 6/8
Some folks insist that you have CLRS memorized and can reproduce it on a whiteboard (copper pans and a Viking stove). But ultimately if you start with what you know, and let that drive where you're going, you can typically get really far! 7/8
Over time you'll probably find that expanding on what you know, and learning some more advanced concepts will help you in the long run, and that's great. But don't let anyone tell you that you can't just... start. Start with what you know, and stay curious and open-minded! 8/8
