Programming is teaching a computer to do something, and teaching something another being (even a stupid one like a computer) and seeing them grow can definitely be romantic.
How can you not be romantic about programming? (2020)
311–320 of 373 posts
Re: How can you not be romantic about programming? (2020)
#312This is basically why I quit doing it for money. It felt like taking this amazing, yes, romantic, thing, and perverting it until it is barely recognizable. Writing code that I knew from the onset would never last more than a year or two, would not see the light of day beyond inside its small nook. And in the end, we accomplished little more than moving money around and persuading other humans into doing things which…
I've been struggling a lot recently due to burnout. And I'm not sure if it's burnout or if it's what you describe.
I'm extremely passionate about my craft, but I feel like that's been to my detriment due to the sentiments of your post. Either I have a misalignment in what I've been doing and I need to change to a position I truly love or my expectations are so ridiculously unrealistic that I probably won't be able to function as a professional in this space.
Re: How can you not be romantic about programming? (2020)
#313Earlier quoted context omitted.
> For many, programming is the lowest-risk way to put a roof over their head and feed their family. It seems that to some extent the romantics are actually indebted to this cohort for pushing forth the ideas of fair compensation and fighting for workers' rights, because people who are passionate about their work usually end up getting taken advantage of.
Game Development is an example of what can happen when there are too many people passionate about their work. I'm not saying that everyone in that industry is taken advantage of but it's a lot more than the broader tech industry even though there's a lot of overlap between skill sets.
I would like to say that while this is definitely still a thing it has gotten better in recent years.
There has been a big push against crunch and there are more and more studios with a focus on work-life balance.
Re: How can you not be romantic about programming? (2020)
#314This is basically why I quit doing it for money. It felt like taking this amazing, yes, romantic, thing, and perverting it until it is barely recognizable. Writing code that I knew from the onset would never last more than a year or two, would not see the light of day beyond inside its small nook. And in the end, we accomplished little more than moving money around and persuading other humans into doing things which…
I've been struggling a lot recently due to burnout. And I'm not sure if it's burnout or if it's what you describe. I'm extremely passionate about my craft, but I feel like that's been to my detriment due to the sentiments of your post. Either I have a misalignment in what I've been doing and I need to change to a position I truly love or my expectations are so ridiculously unrealistic that I probably won't be able to…
If I were you, I would start thinking about two topics:
1) What can I give up to reduce my annual time and financial minimal upkeep?
2) What do I really want to work on? If my upkeep was taken care of and I didn't have to worry about food and shelter, what would I be doing to the point of exhaustion, passing out, sleeping, then waking up and jumping right back into it?
Re: How can you not be romantic about programming? (2020)
#315Earlier quoted context omitted.
> But answering the question literally, I am not representative of everyone in the industry, I am deeply /deeply/ romantic about programming, but industry is dreck. Unimaginative, low potential, sapping, low-ambition, filled with endless middle- & low-roads & compromises. Countless stakeholders, endless non-technical-personals to "reason" with. Plans & designs & endless corporate aligning & planning. All for middling…
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Most jobs are boring if you aren’t interested in the problem they’re solving. I appreciate you throwing some shade at the otherwise hive mind here but you’ve kind of jumped to the opposite direction. I don’t find recording audio interesting but there’s a whole field about it and I assure you I know people who find the art of recording sounds interesting who aren’t “telling themselves” it isn’t just to keep from being depressed. People are interested in different things and programming, like math, is the art of abstract problem solving and there very much are millions of people who find the act of abstracting problems and automating their solutions interesting. Your comment is downvoted because you are claiming otherwise to a community full of these very people.
Sure programming is boring, to the billions of people who aren’t programmers just as recording audio or, for a “real world” type of fun like you imply, playing most sports, is boring to me.
Re: How can you not be romantic about programming? (2020)
#316This is someone that doesn't love our craft. It's ok.
Romance can be taken away from anything, as meaning isn't objective, but a human idealization. In the end, everything we do are just atoms moving around, and after a few thousands years nothing will matter.
Re: How can you not be romantic about programming? (2020)
#317Seeing as i'm not as jaded yet as many of the other commenters here towards programming, maybe I can give my views. I understand what the author's getting at pretty simply, it's pretty awesome to write some words...lots and lots of words...and you create 'something'. It's sort of the same romance that say would surround something like A carpenter that builds homes from start to finish Or a mechanic that builds super…
I’ve not seen the word “craft” enough in the comments. You imply it, thanks.
Re: How can you not be romantic about programming? (2020)
#318This is someone that doesn't love our craft. It's ok. Romance can be taken away from anything, as meaning isn't objective, but a human idealization. In the end, everything we do are just atoms moving around, and after a few thousands years nothing will matter.
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Re: How can you not be romantic about programming? (2020)
#319Earlier quoted context omitted.
Other professions arent as technical, and focus more on creating human connections rather than abstract connections.
- Accounting? - Finance? - Law? I dunno, I think this notion that software development is uniquely technical is pretty misguided.
This is really right on the mark. Real accounting involving trusts, tax shelters involving various corporate structures, the intricate tax code knowledge required to understand and take advantage of loopholes is quite technical.
Having been exposed to what it takes to do this level of accounting via direct conversations with someone who does this, they can't wait to move on from it. It's not a good fit for their personality. It really is a back office type of work that can get quite lonely.
Re: How can you not be romantic about programming? (2020)
#320Earlier quoted context omitted.
> But answering the question literally, I am not representative of everyone in the industry, I am deeply /deeply/ romantic about programming, but industry is dreck. Unimaginative, low potential, sapping, low-ambition, filled with endless middle- & low-roads & compromises. Countless stakeholders, endless non-technical-personals to "reason" with. Plans & designs & endless corporate aligning & planning. All for middling…
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We are all human. Just because I don't understand why someone would spend their whole life studying beetles doesn't mean I don't respect that they find it engaging and worthwhile.
You are making the classic mistake of projection. Accept that people are unique and will find different things engaging even within the most "mundane" areas of software.