71–80 of 230 posts
Programming: learning by doing instead of by reading. I started learning Rails when I wanted to build PicDigest and the mistakes I've made have helped me learn faster on a broader foundation.
Giving up video games in my 20s. If I hadn't done that, I'd still be stuck in front of a game somewhere. Those things will eat your life.
Programming: switching back into programming from management
Life: Deciding that I want to make a difference in the world. Programming: To start programming.
Programming: Two for the price of one:
1) Really understanding locality of concerns. I.e., creating and using granite-like abstractions so that when I use them I don't have to think at all about what is under the hood. So, when I need to reason through a given piece of code, I have a local and finite amount of the rest of the system that I have to load into my finite brain. I can inductively assume that the abstractions I am viewing as primitives are themselves reliable.
2) Beginning programmers write simple code. Intermediate programmers write complex code. Master programmers write simple code.
Life: Leaving financial services voluntarily, never taking unemployment while I was without work, and going all in on whatever future that meant for me. Programming: Committing to the idea that ideas must, must, must be expressed cleanly.
Never taking unemployment while without work -- may I ask why?
It felt like I was already given unemployment.
In addition to that, other people surely needed the funds, which seemed limited at the time, more than I did.
Starting to learn about art (aka going to Museums, art galleries, reading art books). It soothes my soul. By far the most intellectual challenging activity I've ever done.
Would also love to hear about how you started learning, I've been working with a team on a product to try and make art galleries more accesible to "none arty" people so any pointers on the type of thing you found helpful would be really interesting.
Life: forgiving my wife after she had an affair. It was hard, but a single mistake doesn't negate the fact that she is a great mom, we are good together and our son deserves a shot at having his dad in the house. Programming: learning by doing instead of by reading. I started learning Rails when I wanted to build PicDigest and the mistakes I've made have helped me learn faster on a broader foundation.
Programming: Finally deciding to just dive into a project rather than continually reading books. I'm not a very good programmer by any means though so take that as you will.
Life: forgiving my wife after she had an affair. It was hard, but a single mistake doesn't negate the fact that she is a great mom, we are good together and our son deserves a shot at having his dad in the house. Programming: learning by doing instead of by reading. I started learning Rails when I wanted to build PicDigest and the mistakes I've made have helped me learn faster on a broader foundation.