Programming is not fun when you're constrained by people, methodologies, or technologies that you don't agree with on the inside. It's great fun when you do it at home, or on a small team of like-minded people, because you get to pick what you work on and how. The more other people are pushing you to make choices that you wouldn't make yourself, the less fun it is, because that's basically the essence of stress.
Programming Is Not Fun
31–40 of 41 posts
Re: Programming Is Not Fun
#32I got news for you: Yes it is. I love it. It was my hobby when I was young. So much so, that I thought working in the field would kill the fun of it, so I avoided that. Eventually, needing a career (and not just a job), I went into programming professionally. It didn't kill the fun. In fact, it's now more fun than ever. Programming is fun.
I'd tend to agree, but for myself I think what I enjoyed most about programming was the problem solving aspect. As I've matured as a programmer the problems become easier and thus less interesting and there seems to be less and less undiscovered country. I wonder how to get that feeling of exploration back and I think I should blame myself for not having the time or energy to explore harder problems. I do think the a…
The problem is that the really interesting problems in computing aren't tractable as spare-time projects. How do you explore scaling operations to hundreds of computers in your spare time? How do you play around with making a service scale to millions of users as a side project?
Re: Programming Is Not Fun
#33It's all in how you approach programming. If you view it as a puzzle and enjoy finding new ways to optimize some workflow it can be very enjoyable. Yes there are tedious moments, but those goes with just about any career out there and I'd argue that programming has a lot less tediousness compared to other jobs out there. The question to ask yourself, is if you are finding programming not fun, is this really the caree…
At one point, I'd have voted this up. But programming itself simply isn't what is not fun. I can easily take the tedium of programming in stride.
The problem is that few employers will pay you to solve puzzles and optimize workflow. They pay you to put out a product that makes them money.
Re: Programming Is Not Fun
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have you done at least 10-15 years of it and are still a coder and not a manager?
18 years, here: still coding, still loving it, no interest in becoming a manager.
Ditto @ 21 years! It's not work, it's a hobby I happen to get paid (well) to spend time doing (well). The field is sufficiently vast, with "new things" (that I can teach myself at 0 cost, not including time) "coming out" at an ever increasing rate that there isn't the slightest chance I'll run out of things to learn. Plus almost all of my "old knowledge" is still relevant.
Re: Programming Is Not Fun
#35This article is mistitled, it should be "Code monkeying is not fun". Programming is as fun as you make it, but what the article describes is not programming.
What makes programming fun is reuse; you only ever have to do something once. If all you do is move data around, display it, or glue modules together, you are not implementing your solutions abstractly enough.
Re: Programming Is Not Fun
#36Funny, but someone needs to add a "WhatProgrammersCanDoWhenProgrammingIsNotFun" page that talks about entrepreneurial activities, business, etc. that people bored of development can get into. I'm burnt out on programming, mostly because I find joy in business and doing good. I have very little joy in my current job, but I do it because it's my job. I would leave, but I have a family, I don't have income to replace it…
>someone needs to add a "WhatProgrammersCanDoWhenProgrammingIsNotFun" page
It's a wiki. Go for it! :)
Re: Programming Is Not Fun
#37It's all in how you approach programming. If you view it as a puzzle and enjoy finding new ways to optimize some workflow it can be very enjoyable. Yes there are tedious moments, but those goes with just about any career out there and I'd argue that programming has a lot less tediousness compared to other jobs out there. The question to ask yourself, is if you are finding programming not fun, is this really the caree…
At one point, I'd have voted this up. But programming itself simply isn't what is not fun. I can easily take the tedium of programming in stride. The problem is that few employers will pay you to solve puzzles and optimize workflow. They pay you to put out a product that makes them money.
Optimizing workflow does make money.
Re: Programming Is Not Fun
#38I've been programming in the aerospace/defense industry for 5 years now. For me, programming has stayed fun because I get to work on interesting problems and see the fruits of my labor when a new product gets built and certified. My biggest piece of advice for people is keep learning and find something new when you get stuck in a rut, never settle!
I definitely agree with the authors "Lack of a Programming-Centric Career Path" points. I recently ignored my gut and took on a management/leadership role. It's good experience and the "right career move" but it's not what I wanted at this time. Anyone wanting a programming career should read "Apprenticeship Patterns: Guidance for the Aspiring Software Craftsman".
Re: Programming Is Not Fun
#39Sometimes many of the individual tasks in a project could be considered not fun but the goal and the journey as a whole is. The same concept I guess with why people in WoW would spend hours doing things they wouldn't consider fun at all in order to achieve a goal which will be a fun payoff.
Re: Programming Is Not Fun
#40Programming is fun, but shipping is not fun, and shipping is your job: http://www.removingalldoubt.com/PermaLink.aspx/a32977e2-cb7d...
Off topic, but that's one of the oddest permalinks I've seen. Is that a uuid on the end of the url? Any particular reason why it's that format?