I know it is an old post but I just came upon it.

First off great post, I was in your situation more then once and asking for help was the hardest and in the end best thing I could have done.

There have been a few times that Darren also came to my rescue. He had the knack of looking at any problem and finding a path to the solution. I am happy that we shared an office, because I got to learn from him, and laugh with him on many many occasions.

Cheers..

Thanks for this post. You have articulated very clearly something I have personally felt for a long time. For me personally I have been a lifelong web hacker who has had a bit of “programmer envy”. But you hit the nail on the head. The thought, the idea, no the fear that one might be discovered as a fraud.

But as I grow “older and wiser” I realize there is a huge gulf between sheer incompetence and merely misunderstanding. I have also come to appreciate the virtues of being “naive” or taking a naive approach to problem solving. To take things at face value and see if that can lead to useful problem solving insights. And being unafraid to talk to others and ask for help is the key to finding out the difference. Lately I tend to actively seek out the wisdom of others. In a way it is a means to find out how intelligent and capable others really are. At work I have become a bit of a pest. But I enjoy it because I enjoy learning how others think and solve problems. And as I gain more confidence in my own abilities this process of working through problems with others becomes more rewarding because you get to a finer nuance and deeper understanding of the problem and the solution.

And then there are those rare friendships where you can share an intense zeal for a subject and can obsess together over a subject domain. What a sublime opportunity, to “geek out” about something in common. I think that explains the great dynamic and creative partnerships. Woz and Jobs, among others. So I guess the moral is cherish your friends, especially the ones who will humor your questions.

Anyway, great post. An must read for any up and coming programmer.