> If programming in 2018 has become more like plumbing, then plumbers in 2018 have become more dogmatic, and less willing to steer novices that prefer tools like 'x' towards approaches that use tools like 'x' more often.
Do you think that real plumbers are excited to teach novices how to do their own plumbing? Plumbing is boring, and novice technique 'x' is even more boring. And in programming tools change so fast, that you'll be explaining the same thing again in six months from now.
Somehow SO has solved the problem of getting experts to weigh in on questions by novices, even though experts are typically busy and the landscape of tools/patterns changes quickly.
The remaining problem to solve is getting experts not only to weigh in, but to model patterns or point to alternatives that incorporate (rather than deride) the novice's original approach.
Do you think that real plumbers are excited to teach novices how to do their own plumbing? Plumbing is boring, and novice technique 'x' is even more boring. And in programming tools change so fast, that you'll be explaining the same thing again in six months from now.