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15-Sep-19 02:59 PM
Fox is answering Elite's Question:
Question: How did you come up with your online alias?
Fox is answering supergrecko's Question:
Question: Why did you decide to start The Programmers Hangout?
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Fox: I disliked how other servers made a point of allowing people free roam to discuss anything. The goal is to help everyone as equally as possible, some conversations, e.g. "X is a bad language" simply take up too much space to be productive for a discord chat, so I made a server with the goal of removing those kinds of conversations. You can see my most recent attempt to get rid of more such conversations in #announcements. I'm always open to dialogue though so if anyone disagrees with those choices feel free to send some messages in #server-meta
Fox is answering andré's Question:
Question: What is your greatest achievement so far?
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Fox: It's hard to say, I feel like this can be attacked a few different levels. If you're talking about achievements that other people would care about I could talk about grades or promotions, but I don't think those things matter all that much. I think what matters the most is being the best version of yourself. In the last year I've tried to try new things more often, I used to hate natural languages (e.g. French, Spanish) but as of a few days ago I've been rated by 2 people as a B1 in German. I just need to take the official test to see where I am. In short: I think personal development is far more valuable than any trinkets or trophies you can get your hands on.
Fox is answering saturn's Question:
Question: What kind of keyboard are you using right now?
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Fox is answering Fakerac's Question:
Question: Favorite keyboard/keyboard switch?
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Fox: Ergodox is my favourite keyboard because of the health benefits, but I think if you're someone who doesn't spend much time at a computer you don't really need one. So for someone like that I would be more likely to recommend just a bog standard corsair keyboard. For switches, I think the 78g (I think that's the weight) zilent v2s are the best. They feel mechanical, they are mechanical, and they're not loud an annoying. Perfect for the open office environments I seem to find myself in
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Fox is answering Clements's Question:
Question: How do you keep an healthy work/life balance ?
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Fox: I leave work on time every single day, I only work overtime in dire situations, I try to exercise regularly, I try to learn and do things other than programming. I think a lot of people here really like programming, but I think the reality is, deep down, people love learning. I'd recommend that you try to stay away from the screen more often but it doesn't need to be a day and night change. Maybe just this following week try to read a book for the hour before bed. If you're already doing that, maybe try to come into work sooner and leave sooner too. You have a limited amount of time to experience the world, your parents, your friends. Nothing you have can't be taken away from you. Try to use your time wisely. That's what I try to do and sure, sometimes I am lazy too, but trying all of the time leads to fun and new experiences most of the time. In short: Try
Fox is answering ddivad's Question:
Question: When starting TPH did you expect it to get this big?
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Fox: Absolutely not, I basically wanted a server with 150 people. I don't know what happened 
Fox is answering Vin¢'s Question:
Question: what technologies / languages are you planning on learning in the near future?
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Fox: Good question, I figure that my weakest suit is languages that operate outside of the JVM. I've already spent a good deal of time learning a lot of OOP/FP stuff but I've never really spent a good deal of time with Rust. When I conquer the German B2 exam I'll probably pick it up.
Fox is answering (SMC) Tadakune's Question:
Question: how much do you sleep?
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Fox: Not that much, I wake up at the same time every day, but elsewise, there is time enough to sleep when you're dead
Fox is answering Kaunta's Question:
Question: How do you run this place without going insane?
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Fox: I don't! If you draw your eyes to the announcements channel you can see I'm at least one third insane
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Fox is answering Kibb's Question:
Question: What is your area of personal interest in computer science?
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Fox: I adore language-design more than anything else. The innards of the compiler, Type theory and all things revolving around it. It's very pleasant to create programs in things like Haskell. On the contrary, I am all about being time efficient... so these two loves of mine tend to battle with each other. I've decided that I will leave the design of languages and the like to people who have a bigger passion for it than me. Just reading up on the latest advancements in FP or seeing new people pick up their first functional language is enough for me 
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Fox is answering DrBracewell's Question:
Question: What language did you start coding with?
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Fox: I started with HTML when I was 13... Yes I know that's not a language, but it's the first "programmy" like thing that I had my hands on. A few years later skip a few I ended up toying with Java. After that I decided that I should do a Bachelors in Cs and here I am now 
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Fox is answering Christian's Question:
Question: What's you opinion on the current trend towards development on electron based applications for easy cross platform compatibility at the cost of performance
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Fox: I think it's a good thing, really. If you can pump out an app that saves lives 10 times faster because you can build an electron app... performance be damned. That being said, there are two options to be had here... if you're writing software for an oil rig the likelihood is you really don't have much processing power to work with and you really need to use something that is hand rolled. I think electron is very good for a vast majority of use cases out there. That being said, building more performant is often appreciated, but doing that doesn't come without a cost. Take a text editor - yes it's nice to build it in C++ but really how do you fit plugins into such an ecosystem. You can totally do it! It's just much harder than consumer some js. Really, I just wish people would use what they like rather than what they think is right. Then they'll be more likely to finish the project. 
Fox is answering Lgneous's Question:
Question: Which sector (finance, ...), among those you have worked in, was your favourite ?
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Fox: Oil rig monitoring, fintech, web development -- My favourite is fintech. They have the most interesting problems. Also, work for a 3rd party company and not a bank. If you do work for one, make sure it's one that is modern. This way you get to use all the cool gadgets you want. It's not without its stresses though... I wrote an API all by myself for a bigname bank which had a price tag of maybe $500k. So if you go down the fintech road, make sure you can handle the pressure!
Fox is answering JoaBro's Question:
Question: Do you have any other hobbies?
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Fox: I pick heavy things up and put them down, I am a sneaker head, I've a little watch collection but I don't really add much to it, I like teaching people programming... although I guess that's much of the same thing, I love gaming, and I love exploration. Part of why I want to move to Germany is, well, why not? It sounds hard doesn't it!
Fox is answering lima()'s Question:
Question: when did you start programming, why and how? and which things did u learn on the way
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Fox: It was coming up on 10 years ago now (not exactly, I can't remember though). I feel like programming taught me how to think. I learned because my older brother, as much as I dislike him, is a software engineer too. His job seemed cool.
Fox is answering Badnja's Question:
Question: How do you find time for personal projects after work?
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Fox: I mostly just carve 30 minutes out per day at the same time every single day and program at that time. 30 minutes per day is plenty when you already sink 40 hours per week. The ideal amount of work is that which can be sustained for decades.
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Fox is answering ddivad's Question:
Question: With all of your experience in mind hat one piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out in a SE career?
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Fox: I would say the most important piece of advice is there are two sides to every story. People hate a thing but a similar amount of people love a thing... which one are you? Well you can only find out by trying. In short, try things with an open mind. It'll serve your career extremely well. Outside of that, work on your communication skills and remember to live. SE is a great career, but remember... it's a career. The people around you and how well you are upstairs. Those are the things that really matter.
Fox is answering Xetera's Question:
Question: Did you have that moment where you realized you were standing on top of the dunning krueger "mt. stupid" as a beginner? What lead you to figure that out?
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Fox: Everyone has this moment, and if you have not had it yet, you will soon. For me, it was when I was in my job in fintech. It was not necessarily a dunning krueger thing... it was much more so "wow, that guy is so good, I could never be that good.". I would say this is kind of the defining movement when you move from "dangerous know it all" to "effective developer". For some people it can be when you're a complete noob, but really this moment comes much later when you think you know things. Never assume!
Fox is answering Zenohm's Question:
Question: What's your favorite anime?
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Fox: I guess I will be a basic boi and say dragonball. But outside of that I really, really loved these short animes: Code geass, One punch man, Death note, hero academia. I don't watch much anymore, though... recommendations welcome
Fox is answering RedKnight's Question:
Question: What's your favourite movie?
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Fox: I do not have one, but if I had to pick I would probably say the dark knight
Fox is answering Elite's Question:
Question: Do you have any go-to song(s) or genre(s) you listen to that help you concentrate when programming?
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Fox: Electronic. Electronic for sure.
Fox is answering Eyepatch's Question:
Question: What did you do when you had a pause and you don't know what to do next while learning programming?
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Fox: I went and found people who were better and smarter than I was and asked them. When they didn't know I found a problem that annoyed me and solved it. I kept doing that until I got bored and I feel like I'm at a good point now. There is always more to learn, though.
Fox is answering ddivad's Question:
Question: In your opinion, what makes a good software engineer?
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Fox: Being grounded. I really can't stand working with people who bikeshed or who have it as "my way or the high way"
Fox is answering Lgneous's Question:
Question: If you had one advice to give to a freshly graduated software engineer just getting its foot in the industry, what would it be ?
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Fox: Having a resume that stands out is the difference between having a job and not. Find someone who is a hiring manager, ask them to review yours. You will thank me later. Also -- don't be afraid to just accept a job and get the ball rolling, you can still accept a better offer later when you've more time to look into it. Get the money and experience rolling!
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Fox is answering Elliott's Question:
Question: Whenever you're interviewing potential hires, what are some of the most important traits or values you look out for?
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Fox: Honesty. If you're a liar I don't want to talk to you. If you can say "gee I really don't know that" I am 100 times more likely to say yes. This tells me that I can work with you. You don't know everything, don't pretend like you know everything.
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Fox is answering lambda's Question:
Question: How do you self learn most efficiently?
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Fox: Remove distractions, play some good songs and really focus. Try to get all of the annoying crap you need to do out of the way early in your day, then you can focus later on. I would also say having a clean work environment is paramount.
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Fox is answering pythia's Question:
Question: Why did you move from spacemacs to emacs?
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Fox: To have an excuse to learn some lisp so that I could better introduce friends to it
Fox is answering Elliott's Question:
Question: What is one mistake you witness new programmers making more frequently than others?
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Fox: Absorbing the opinions of jaded people as if they are fact. You're young, develop your own crappy opinions yourself! It'll work out much better for you if you do it that way. At least that way you will understand what you are saying
Fox is answering Elite's Question:
Question: Was programming always your future goal or did you have another career path in mind when you were younger?
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Fox: I was going to be a physicist but I decided computers were like, totally cooler than science and such. 
biiiig mistake. Haha, I'm just kidding. Physics was always on my mind but I love programming more than I like physics.
Fox is answering Syndicate's Question:
Question: What was your plan B if programming didn't turn out to make ends meet? Did you have any other careers in mind that you could have safely landed on?
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Fox: When I was younger: Physics, today: I would probably teach German or maths or something.
Fox is answering Kibb's Question:
Question: Did you ever hit a point where you thought you knew everything then hit a point where you realise you don't know anything?
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Fox: I've never assumed I knew everything but I feel like I do not know anything a hell of a lot
Fox is answering Zenohm's Question:
Question: Why did you return as co-owner instead of leaving all responsibility to Elliott?
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Fox: Because I felt bad about leaving the weight of this server on his shoulders There was a rather large amount of people who tried to contact me. Several people tried adding me to pull requests on gitlab to get my attention. I just decided it was not fair to leave it to someone else alone.
Fox is answering lambda's Question:
Question: How much weight does research experience hold on a resume vs internships at software companies when applying for a job in software engineering? I asked you this before, but thought I'd ask again for the sake of people watching.
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Fox: It depends on way too many variables, really. Generally I would say both are quite valuable, but internships are a little more desirable. If you want an industry job, what's better than industry experience, right?
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