Real Programmer

Noun · Hacker Culture

Definitions

  1. A historically loaded and often satirical archetype of a 'serious' programmer defined by low-level skill, toughness, or disdain for abstraction. The phrase is most famous from the essay 'Real Programmers Don’t Use Pascal' and is now often cited ironically.

    In plain English: An old stereotype of what a 'serious' programmer is supposed to be like.

    Example: "The joke about real programmers writing hex by hand landed because everyone knew the essay it came from."

Related Terms