Ask HN: How can I tell if I have programming aptitude?

It seems that a lot of "talent" can be attributed to somewhat random preferences, especially in childhood.

You described your friend's childhood drawings as "a little less "hurried", as she obviously loved doing it and spent more time on a drawing", and I think this is the key. She liked drawing as a kid, which made her draw more than her peers, she got better at it and because people generally like doing things the more the better they're at them, a positive feedback loop started.

It also suggests a practical approach to get good at something: sit down, practice, and ignore the discomfort you'll be feeling at the beginning. Many people considered talented simply didn't have that initial discomfort, so they drifted into a skill early, whereas for non-talented it is a barrier to entry.

> Have you tried exercising, getting enough sleep, eating healthier, doing more "outside" or social activities and/or testing out nootropics like citicoline/noopept?

Oh, the usual stuff ;). Tried all of these at various points; haven't noticed much difference, but I think I might not have tried enough. Going item-by-item:

- Exercising: probably not enough; the amounts I did didn't really affect much (except weight), but I'm going to try again, at a gym this time.

- I have problems going to sleeping due to depression and anxiety (I constantly feel I haven't done enough yet, so I can't go to sleep yet), combined with being generally a night person (after day spent with people I really appreciate the late hours without any face-to-face distractions). But when I finally fall asleep, no force on Earth or in Heaven can wake me before I get my 7-8 hours. Which annoys my employers.

- I try, but I just don't like green food :(. Cutting out sugar from diet did wonders to my weight and dental health, but didn't improve mood issues.

- I'm a very social person, people call bullshit on me when they hear me describing myself as an introvert (I usually send them this classic then: [0]). I frequent various events, both as an attendee and speaker, help run a local Hackerspace and have uncanny ability to serve as a translator between technical and untechnical people.

- Piractem & noopept - little to no noticeable effects. Nicotine (pure, in gums, I'm not a smoker) - helps stay up a little longer and improves my alcohol tolerance. Adrafinil - does wonders when I need to skip a night's sleep or feel the stress-induced tiredness during the day. I didn't try anything else.

> BTW, highly recommend checking out The Healthy Programmer book

Thanks, I'll check it out! I highly respect the Pragmatic Bookshelf for Pragmatic Programmer and Pragmatic Thinking and Learning. The book you linked is one hell of an expense, but if it could help, then I guess it may be worth it.

> Virtual manly hug mate!

* hug *

#HNTherapy

[0] - http://imgur.com/76HUN

I've seen the opposite end of the spectrum, too, though, which is why I don't think talent is only a lot of practice, I just think that you can be very good at something without being one of those "really talented" people.

I have another acquaintance who's a musician (an actual musician, unlike me -- I'm just a programmer who likes playing the drums). The guy obviously had a lot of practice, especially as he graduated a famous music academy so he had to play the violin a lot.

That being said, he started taking violin lessons when he was 6, but by that time he could play it pretty well. Having realized that he can't remember the songs he was inventing, he even developed his own rudimentary notation system (when he was about four), with horizontal lines whose length indicated direction and a combination of dots and relative heights to indicate pitch relative to the first note of the song, so that he only had to remember where to start from. His violin technique was also remarkably good. When he started giving violin lessons himself, he struggled with understanding the first gripes of beginners a lot more than he'd expected. For instance, he never realized it takes so long to learn how to properly angle the bow when playing the second and third string of the violin (they're at almost equal height with respect to the base of the resonance box, so most beginners will unintentionally stroke both at the same time). Not only did he not remember having that problem, he literally never really imagined that someone could have that problem.

He's one of those people who does have an innate talent; there are a lot of techniques that he never learned, nor really "discovered" through an iterative process, he just figured out it would sound good if he did , and it did. His brain was wired in a manner that's favourable to playing the violin and to music in general.

Needless to say, he still had to practice a lot -- he had to learn "proper" notation, he's constantly refining his rhythm and coordination, he had to learn how to play in an orchestra, and it's not like he could play any piece, no matter how difficult, from the very beginning. But there were things which his mind and his body could do without being taught, or which, at least, they discovered a lot more quickly than others did. They weren't enough to make him an orchestra-level musician from the moment he set his tiny three year-old hand on a violin, but they are certainly enough to set him apart from a lot of musicians of his age and experience.

Well a lot of these answers helped me feel better thanks guys.

To op: for me i find sheer stubborness is how i code. Im not sure if that makes me a good programmer (i have only released one piece of software, took me 4 months to get to where i am, and a long way to go).

I started out loving the results: in my softwares case, the computer understanding what i said and doing that action, then i began to really enjoy how i did it: i just finished expanding it internally to be able to listen to multiple things and perform those actions at the same time.

For me, once i figured out what i wanted todo, not just exercises, that really drove me. I think ive learnt more in the last 4 months, than the previous 8 years of tinkering.

I know your not asking how to code, but this is what is convincing me that i should be programming. Alas i an English teacher, but it pays the bills, and lets me program after work.

You're asking on HN. That tells me that you have the interest. The question becomes if you're willing to do the work. Are you willing to put in daily practice to learn coding? Even when the "passion" is gone? If so, you're cut out to be a programmer. Aptitude does not apply.