Subject: Re: Competent programmers (was Re: is Lisp used in text parsing and processing tasks?) From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.no> Date: 13 Nov 2002 19:06:30 +0000 Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp Message-ID: <3246203190473740@naggum.no> * Barry Margolin | A programmer who can't learn new languages easily, while not necessarily | incompetent, is at best mediocre. Does this apply to other things? Is a furiously fast and accurate typist on qwerty, if not necessarily incompetent, at best mediocre, if unable to switch to a dvorak layout? Is an author of great intellectual prowess and much acclaim, if not necessarily incompetent, at best mediocre, if unable to switch to a very different language? How trustworthy is a doctor of law or medicine who can easily change specialty? Would you take your pet to a veterinarian who boasted that he could learn a new animal easily? -- Erik Naggum, Oslo, Norway Act from reason, and failure makes you rethink and study harder. Act from faith, and failure makes you blame someone and push harder.