Ushaped Get It Curves

Many alleged GoldenHammers have U-shaped "get-it" curves. If somebody does not see the alleged benefits after some experimentation and light use, proponents often say something like, "You just have to stick with it for a long time and eventually it will click."

Personally, I am suspect of such. Generally I know early on if something has a shot at being a good mental fit for me. I have not encountered any cool technology to my memory that had a deep U-shaped curve in the end. The benefits of stuff I like generally start to appear fairly early. Sure, some of it comes later, but the "flavor" is usually clear up front. If the flavor is bad, then generally long-term exposure will not make a significant difference. The sparklies should start sparking fairly early.

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OOP had a deep curve for me, and I have seen the curve affect others writing code in OOP languages. Beginners seem to easily grasp the mechanics of OOP, but not the motivation (I'm not arguing for or against it here). I see a lot of code where someone has written a "manager class" or two. This is always a dead giveaway that they don't get OOP. To me, the magic with OOP is that you don't tell the computer about your whole problem. You just tell it about lots of very small problems. If the many small problem definitions are consistent, then the large problem definition happens emergently from them. The speedbump that people have to overcome is trusting the emergent properties of their definitions. Since they don't trust it, they write "manager classes" to make sure the overall purpose of the program is achieved. I know one guy who has been writing in OOP languages for 15 years, and still makes manager classes. I have seen others go through the process of "getting it" in just a few short months. What I have never seen, is someone write code in an OOP language for 15 years, and then get it. -- MichaelSparks

I don't like the topic spelling, but don't have a good alternative. Suggestions?

In some way the opposite is a WowMoment. However, I suppose the end of the U-curve could also potentially be a WowMoment.

I suspect, that any dogmatic concept in general (with GoldenHammer as an example) will inevitably have UshapedGetItCurves. This is because if you emerge yourself enough in any subject it will get a life of its own. You will find convincing patterns - be it because you want to trick yourself or because there are some advantages that may come from simple routine (see also TautologicalDefinitionFallacy DogmaticFallacy). -- GunnarZarncke

CategoryTrainingAndEducation?, CategoryOopDiscomfort