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Understanding Kafka with Factorio

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Re: Understanding Kafka with Factorio

#61

Post by fredley »

Baeocystin wrote: post #33
DonHopkins wrote: post #2

When I saw this title, I first thought it was about understanding the cockroach-like aliens in Factorio, but it is actually about queuing and congestion and parallel processing with conveyor belts and factories! With the caveat that Factorio is EXTREMELY addictive, properly described as "programmer crack", here are some other Factorio related discussions: Factorio – a game where you can automate basically anything (f…

Pro-tip to others who think 'Programmer Crack' is hyperbole- it is not. Factorio does have a rather steep learning curve, and the UI is not the most intuitive. But. Once how it works clicks, it clicks, and suddenly morning. And I'm in my 40's, I'd thought my days of unexpected overnights while working on fascinating problems were mostly behind me. Highly recommended, but be aware.

I think the reason for this is that it pushes all the buttons your programmer brain wants pushed: designing building and debugging systems with a strong focus on optimisation. However it doesn't contain meetings, sprints, language oddities, politics or any of the stuff that makes normal programming less fun.

Re: Understanding Kafka with Factorio

#62

Post by ummonk »

Baeocystin wrote: post #33
DonHopkins wrote: post #2

When I saw this title, I first thought it was about understanding the cockroach-like aliens in Factorio, but it is actually about queuing and congestion and parallel processing with conveyor belts and factories! With the caveat that Factorio is EXTREMELY addictive, properly described as "programmer crack", here are some other Factorio related discussions: Factorio – a game where you can automate basically anything (f…

Pro-tip to others who think 'Programmer Crack' is hyperbole- it is not. Factorio does have a rather steep learning curve, and the UI is not the most intuitive. But. Once how it works clicks, it clicks, and suddenly morning. And I'm in my 40's, I'd thought my days of unexpected overnights while working on fascinating problems were mostly behind me. Highly recommended, but be aware.

I can't stand Factorio and find it too tedious and exhausting, which is probably related to why I find coding to be a chore, despite being a talented software engineer.

Re: Understanding Kafka with Factorio

#63

Post by Baeocystin »

blueblimp wrote: post #53
novok wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried factorio several times and it didn't click for me as a 'crack' game. And I'm a software engineer, and I've loved computers since I was 5, and I spend most of my free time on my computer. I didn't learn to write code until I was in my late teens although. Ultimately I've found factorio a rather tedious game, that kind of reminds me of my job. I also tend to not code things for fun, seeing how it will ultimatel…

What do you find motivating in software engineering? I initially found Factorio interesting, mostly for the parts that encourage spreadsheet calculation, e.g. balancing the various rates of production and resource intake. Some other aspects appealed too, such as finding drill placements to fully cover ore deposits. Where I lost interest is when the game became mostly about refactoring large transport belt networks. T…

I never particularly cared about belt optimization past 'good enough'. I spent most of my time trying to break things and find edge-cases in the control system. Working around the (purposefully nerfed to keep them from being too powerful) logistics bots issues was probably my favorite thing to tackle.

(That, and building vast quantities of artillery in the middle of almost fully red zones, then flipping the power switch for the loaders and watching the fun. :D)

Re: Understanding Kafka with Factorio

#65

Post by Baeocystin »

jjjensen90 wrote: post #58
mabbo wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had to uninstall it last weekend because I came to realize my playing it was no longer healthy. I mean, that sounds funny, but I'm being totally serious. I've had a few games like that in my life, and I've come to recognize a few signs that what I'm doing is not good for me anymore. But wow, what a great game.

I've only had 2 games like that in my life, EverQuest (also called EverCrack) and Factorio (also called Programmer Crack). I had to go cold turkey or I was skipping the gym and meals and not sleeping!

One thing I credit Factorio for (and I am not joking at all when I say this, despite how ridiculous the statement might seem) is learning to be a little more understanding about folks that deal with addictions. I've never had a problem not doing something to excess, so I never really understood people who do. But when I first discovered Factorio a few years back, there were enough times where I didn't do $ActuallyRatherImportantThingX because I was allllmost done with some aspect of a megabase to give me pause.

There are lots of games I can play for a specified amount of time and be fine with it. Pretty much all of them, really. Factorio, I get annoyed if pulled away in the middle of a project. So now I know to not even start unless it's free time for the rest of the night.

Re: Understanding Kafka with Factorio

#66

Post by Baeocystin »

Itsdijital wrote: post #57
xmonkee wrote: post #51

That's crazy! I installed it yesterday for the first time to try out the steam proton thing and was literally up till 3 am. I didn't realise the programmer crack angle till I read this. I'm screwed.

You're screwed. Also press Alt And use "Q" while hovering over an object to put it in hand (if it's in your inventory). Press "Q" again to drop whats in hand. I played waaayyy to long without knowing this and it is unbelievably useful, saves mountains of time digging through your inventory.

Also, Z to drop something on the ground if you find your bots a little to assertive about filling your inventory back up and you find yourself stuck. :D

Re: Understanding Kafka with Factorio

#67

Post by ZeroGravitas »

dEnigma wrote: post #24
X6S1x6Okd1st wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty off topic, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't use "____ crack" as a way to describe something that is addictive.

Why? Isn't crack famously (or infamously) addictive?

I agree with the (apparently unpopular) notion and I avoid describing things as "x crack" and wince a bit when people use it as it seems a bit tone-deaf and childish, like referring to something you don't like that there's too much of as "programmer AIDS" or a bad design as a "UI Holocaust" or a failed project as an "abortion" or a bad sports defeat as being "raped", all of which make a similar kind of allegorical sense but are more obviously tacky.

For whatever reason crack allusions are a bad taste joke that people (unlike most of the above) don't seem to realise is bad taste, possibly because they consider crack addicts as either other or lesser to them, rather than unfortunate victims with a shared humanity.

Re: Understanding Kafka with Factorio

#68

Post by lucb1e »

derefr wrote: post #49
vlunkr wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that you would even consider comparing the controls of a video game to vim probably means it’s not the most intuitive.

I think the parent was assuming "steep learning curve" here was qualified as " for a piece of software used by programmers "; while the people that downvoted them assume "steep learning curve" here was qualified as " for a game ." It is certainly easy to learn compared to a code-base; it is certainly hard to learn compared to Bejeweled. Mind you, compared to other “programming games” like e.g. Shenzhen I/O, the main…

> I think the parent was assuming "steep learning curve" here was qualified as "for a piece of software used by programmers";

No. For example, my cousin plays it, someone who typically plays games like the Sims (and other games popular amongst women), has no university degree. She has no trouble with Factorio. I am honestly confused how anyone would call Factorio a difficult game. It's nigh impossible to lose unless you change the default settings to generate a more difficult world with much more aggressive biters. It's a building game, not a shooter that requires any kind of skill or specialised software that requires a manual.

Edit: asked said cousin whether she thought it has a steep learning curve. Answer was "lol, yes! And the curve just continues, there is still lots I could do better". I suppose having nearly only programmers as friends skewed my view of how many people had no trouble getting into it.

Re: Understanding Kafka with Factorio

#69

Post by mabbo »

jjjensen90 wrote: post #58
mabbo wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had to uninstall it last weekend because I came to realize my playing it was no longer healthy. I mean, that sounds funny, but I'm being totally serious. I've had a few games like that in my life, and I've come to recognize a few signs that what I'm doing is not good for me anymore. But wow, what a great game.

I've only had 2 games like that in my life, EverQuest (also called EverCrack) and Factorio (also called Programmer Crack). I had to go cold turkey or I was skipping the gym and meals and not sleeping!

EverQuest was actually the game that taught me what the bad signs were.

In high school, my friend was into drugs and partying. I was into EverQuest. I think we'd have both been better long term if he'd gotten me into drugs instead of me getting him into EverQuest.

Re: Understanding Kafka with Factorio

#70

Post by jand »

pul wrote: post #20

I wrote this article a couple of months ago and didn't expect it to appear on my news feed all of the sudden. Thanks for the love everyone. Any questions are welcome of course!

I really enjoyed reading this, thank you very much.

Please check the picture with the label "All microservice instances consume all messages". From my understanding it is more of a depiction of a consumer group.

As factorio really consumes the messages (they are gone once consumed) you cannot really implement "All microservice instances consume all messages".

Maybe this is BS, i have no Kafka expertise.

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