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Why I Love Coding (2012)

henrikwarne.com

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Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#71

Post by garethrowlands »

yeswecatan wrote: post #16

I love coding on my own projects. When it comes to work, I get so incredibly anxious about not being able to deliver a good solution. I obsess over every detail fearing I'll make the wrong choice ("this _could_ be a foreign key but should it be?" "Redis or postgres for this very crucial counter data") that most joy is completely stripped away. I admire and envy those who can hear unclear requirements and get excited…

Two things I find help reduce the fear of making a wrong choice (architects have this particularly bad, btw):

* Make the decision for just the next step, and try it out. The faster the feedback loop the better. * Work as a team. The better the collaboration and support, the more effective the team. Good teams care about psychological safety and about the outcomes - there's no contradiction there.

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#72

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

domano wrote: post #65
weinzierl wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I second this question. I find that "potentially loosing [..] effectiveness" is the least of the problems though, but that a few years of experience in management makes one essentially unhirable for positions that even involve some coding. I saw this from both sides of the table: as employee and hiring manager. It's also not a money problem, accepting less for a coding position does not work. A career path back to co…

Why does management experience make you unhirable? I do program every now and then in my spare time, but not to the extent the original commenter does in his spare time. Interview wise i am doing fine, albeit not for FAANG type roles.

Managers -especially young ones- can be quite insecure. They don't want folks reporting to them that can call BS.

Basic human nature.

TBH, they have a point. I was a manager for many years, and know BS when I smell it. I had a management style that involved a lot of self-reflection and intimate feedback loops with my employees, but I also managed very experienced engineers that all knew more than I did, so treating them with respect, and listening to their counsel, became second nature. It wouldn't have bothered me a bit to have employees that used to be managers, as long as they were good engineers.

Not sure that most managers, these days, operate that way.

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#75

Post by BlameKaneda »

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…

"Programming is Chaos, Art and Science. It is a curse, a blessing, and progress. It all depends on who uses programming, how they use it, and to what purpose. And code is everywhere. All around us. Easily accessible. It is enough to stretch out one’s hand. See? I’m stretching out my hand.”

― Yennefer of Vengerberg, the software engineer

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#77

Post by bitwize »

cymon wrote: post #38
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…

Interesting you were coding at 5, I have 7 and 5 year olds who are pretty good with computers, can install and learn new games by themselves but I haven't considered introducing them to programming mainly because I don't feel they can manage and also it does not seem necessary...considering I personally started coding at the age of 20 when I joined university for my computer science degree and I have been fairly succ…

Well, for one thing, back when I learned, there wasn't a whole lot you could do with a microcomputer besides program it. The first computer I had was a VIC-20, and I didn't get any games with it so it was strictly a BASIC machine. Today, kids have endless options for games and other software to try, plus access to the whole online world (well hopefully, only as much of that world as their parents let them see!).

You may wish to show your kids something like Scratch or even just drawing pictures with Python's turtle library, just to get a feel for their interest level. If they figured out how to install games and stuff on their own, they are good candidates for programming, provided they are interested. Most importantly, you cannot rush it. They will become interested in programming (or anything else) if and when they are ready. Any age is a good age to get started. I have much respect for folks who discover programming during middle age or older.

Oh, and like the other commenter said... worry about their career prospects later. Right now, for them it's about having fun.

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#78

Post by valenterry »

I started to lose interest in coding over time until I learned about functional programming and started to apply it by writing code in Scala.

Sometimes it is enough to change perspective and learn a new way of doing things to enjoy old stuff once again.

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#79

Post by roland35 »

I have always enjoyed coding most when it is part of a bigger project - such as writing firmware for an electronics project or writing a script to generate G-Code for a CNC machine. Connecting code to the real world is always the most fun.

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#80

Post by klibertp »

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?

I was 7 when I started writing simple programs (to solve simple equations which came up in maths class) in QBasic. I was 8 when I learned about arrays, which led to writing a contacts app (storing name, address, and phone number in a file, then reading it and displaying the info). It took crazy amounts of time and incredible number of trial and error, but it was fun.

Not sure if I'd be able to pull off the same at 5, but it doesn't strike me as utterly impossible. Also, the GP didn't say what was the result of his "serious coding" - could be nothing (working) at all until much later.

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