Re: AW: Translating an embedded C algorithm

[Stephen Leake <stephen_leake@stephe-leake.org>]

Jeffrey Carter <spam.jrcarter.not@spam.acm.not.org> writes:

> Robert A Duff wrote:
>> I'm sure you didn't mean to attack the guy, but questioning someones
>> competence could come across that way, don't you think?
>
> I'm not a very good judge of such things. Obviously a lot of people
> thought so.
>
> In my experience, the vast majority of people involved in SW
> development are not qualified to design SW, much less write books
> about it. I'm marginally qualified, and I'm familiar with a number of
> people who are better qualified, but I'm also familiar with large
> numbers of people who aren't qualified. I think it's very important to
> SW and the world that this situation be improved, so I tend to bring
> it up when it seems important.
>
> I'm not sure what this has to do with my lack of social skills.

Since he is _already_ writing a book, clearly he believes he's
qualified. So a statement "you are not qualified" will simply
be rejected.

As I recall, your statement was phrased as a question, something like
"how can you think you are qualified when you don't know Ada". That
implies both that he _isn't_ qualified, and that he doesn't know what
_qualified_ means in the first place. Both messages will simply be
rejected; he will assume you are just a crank, since you don't know
him personally.

Criticizing people effectively is a social skill. I'm a blue-blood
physics nerd, but a few things have rubbed off on me from my
social-worker wife :). Generally, criticism at this level will only be
accepted from someone you know, or someone you have a formal
relationship with; an editor, or an official reviewer.

-- 
-- Stephe