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Why I Love Coding (2012)

henrikwarne.com

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Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#21

Post by spideymans »

jack-bodine wrote: post #9

There really is a special kind of satisfaction when you see something you wrote actually work. I remember the first time I made a sprite move around the screen with arrow keys, I probably moved that guy around for several minutes just out of pride. I'm sure we all have similar memories.

> I remember the first time I made a sprite move around the screen with arrow keys, I probably moved that guy around for several minutes just out of pride. I'm sure we all have similar memories.

Memories? I still do that to this day :)

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#22

Post by technological »

graton wrote: post #14

I also love it :) Just this weekend I was learning about RabbitMQ and setting it up on a free Oracle Cloud VM. Writing some Python code (using the Pika library) to be able to send and receive messages. Also getting around to learning about how to use Flask (Python web framework) and then Gunicorn. All this so I could try to figure out how to have my own webhook receiver accessible on the Internet and then get those e…

I too love coding but as I code complex things I get frustrated when things do not work (may be due to my lack of knowledge) or hard to understand and loose interest

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#23

Post by spfzero »

allenu wrote: post #19

I love coding too, basically for the same reasons. There’s something about creating things from scratch, making them better, and debugging issues that can’t be matched by other hobbies. You just have more control and speed in working on things versus physical things like working on an engine. That said, I don’t like the business of coding. Doing coding for a living strips away a lot of the joy out of it, but this is…

I think a big part of the “joy”, is pursuing your own idea of what would be cool to make. Start a side project, and not one you think would be lucrative, or that other people would be impressed by. Just something you yourself are fascinated with, even transiently.

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#24

Post by ipaddr »

enw wrote: post #10
bitwize wrote: post #6

I got hooked on the feeling of power and control. When you're five years old (the age I was when I started programming "seriously"), it's an age when people start expecting things of you, making demands of you, but you are in no position to do likewise to others. The computer is a machine, not a person, but it's more like a person than other machines are (which is part of why it's so mystifying). It can follow instru…

> When you're five years old (the age I was when I started programming "seriously") I know this is HN, but I have a hard time believing this. Somehow feels like nostalgic self-congratulatory boasting. Honestly curious, what does it mean for a 5-year-old to be programming seriously?

It means to type basic programs found in a book or magazine. It meant learning a poke command to change your background color. Writing a for loop to print out a number.

At 6 maybe you type that huge program that creates a sprite ball that bounces across the screen. By 7 you are drawing out sprites on grid paper and making that bouncing ball different pictures.

It took me until later in highschool to understand things but typing and modifying is programming. My variables for loops were always lili,lolo,lala,lulu,p naming them there purpose seemed foreign.

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#25

Post by ChrisArchitect »

(2012)

7 years ago, 3 pts, no comments. (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7010730)

9 years ago, 3 pts, no comments. (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4057897)

Nothing super insightful really in this article, usual creativity, problem solving allure etc.. Most comments here just self-analysis, anecdotal.

This year present time, 67 pts, 19 comments. Meh, why?

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#26

Post by mackrevinack »

yea I've thought the same thing about coding being the ultimate puzzle. i think you pull your hair out way more than you would if you were solving a regular puzzle but there great part is having something that's actually useful at the end of it all, and not just having the satisfaction of solving it.

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#28

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

the_only_law wrote: post #7

I feel like I’ve lost most of my interest in it. It’s been years since I’ve been truly excited by it and and motivated to do it, but I had been on and off the edge, losing interest for long periods of time before a random spark of motivation would bring it back, only to go out within a few months at most, and after the most recent spark, I’m not sure if I can see myself coming back to programming. It’s a strange feel…

That’s sad, to me, but I tend to have the author’s point of view.

I support you in whatever endeavor to which your muse directs you. Having a background in coding generally means you’re a good problem-solver, and good problem-solvers are valuable in any vocation.

In my case, I was a manager for the last 25 years of my career, and was forced to do my programming as a “nights and weekends” gig. Since leaving my last job, I have been 100% focused on programming, and I’ve never been happier.

The advent of the Swift programming language has also been serendipitous. It’s proven to be fun and engaging.

My first computer was also a VIC-20.

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#29

Post by bitwize »

enw wrote: post #10
bitwize wrote: post #6

I got hooked on the feeling of power and control. When you're five years old (the age I was when I started programming "seriously"), it's an age when people start expecting things of you, making demands of you, but you are in no position to do likewise to others. The computer is a machine, not a person, but it's more like a person than other machines are (which is part of why it's so mystifying). It can follow instru…

> When you're five years old (the age I was when I started programming "seriously") I know this is HN, but I have a hard time believing this. Somehow feels like nostalgic self-congratulatory boasting. Honestly curious, what does it mean for a 5-year-old to be programming seriously?

That's why I put it in quotes. Compared to the stuff I would do later, it was utterly trivial, but yes, I was writing what one might consider real programs, with multiple statements, branching, loops, and conditionals, at 5. It's not intended to be self-congratulatory at all -- honest. Only to give you a picture of what's going through a kid's head at that age.
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