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Why I Love Coding (2012)

henrikwarne.com

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Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#91

Post by bombcar »

sombremesa wrote: post #90
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.

> There really is a special kind of satisfaction when you see something you wrote actually work. I think your second sentence is actually the key here - first time. If you do something day in day out for 20 years there’s no surprise if it works. Thankfully, there’s plenty of room in the domain of programming for someone to go from seasoned expert to absolute beginner and experience the joy all over again.

Exactly - the first time you work out a "puzzle" it's amazing - especially if it's a complex one without a "solution" that you can glance at when you get stuck.

But doing roughly the same thing for 20 years it can get wearing - it's a different form of brainwork at that point.

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#92

Post by alexf95 »

replwoacause wrote: post #87

I love it too. However, it is one of the few things in my life that has plainly exposed the limits of my intellect and sobered my imagination. So while I love it, I always wish I was better and smarter but can at least take satisfaction from continuing to learn.

I feel you, in general I love coding, but I just usually run out of ideas fast if I actually want to start some kind of side project.

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#93

Post by tonyedgecombe »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #54
domano wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been in a more management or consulting focused role for 3 years now and i already fear that i am loosing my effectiveness as a programmer. How did the transition back to programming go for you?

In my case, it went well. I never really took my hand off the programming wheel, while being a manager. I just wasn't being paid for it (bonus was that I have a big open-source portfolio). I just did open-source work in nights and weekends. When I left my last company, I just made it my full-time vocation, and that went quite smoothly. I do this for the love of the craft; not the money.

>I do this for the love of the craft; not the money.

I think this is main point. Somehow introducing money into anything seems to drain all the pleasure out of it.

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#94

Post by my_usernam3 »

KineticLensman wrote: post #62
mattikl wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've also lost interest many times during my 25 years of coding, but now I feel excited as ever again. One of key realizations has been that I'm more interested in people than machines (even though I feel the same fascination figuring out how something works). In the end, software is almost always for people to use. Things like programming language design easily get regarded as highly technical, but it's so much abou…

> Another one has been learning how software fits the bigger picture. In order for a company to succeed with software, things starting from vision, strategy, execution need to be in line This was something that I experienced in my career trajectory. My first shift from pure programming was to requirements definition, which I enjoyed. I then got involved in specifying the need for systems in the first place - developi…

> Luckily I was (mostly) able to stay tech-focussed rather than moving into pure management

Can you expand on this? Like what was the title, or was this a unique role to your business?

This thread has really resonated with me and where I might want to be taking my career.

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#95

Post by tonyedgecombe »

wildmanx wrote: post #64
collyw wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have changed job numerous times in the last decade. It's the same shit everywhere. Poorly paid jobs writing fresh projects, or better paid senior roles trying to keep the crap projects started by a junior running a few years down the line.

You may have bad luck then. Anecdotal evidence from myself and friends tells me that there are better outcomes too.

Not many. I was doing short term contracts for a while, anything from a single day to three or four weeks on site. Over the five years I was doing that I visited a lot of companies. I could count the number I would consider working for on one hand.

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#96

Post by tonyedgecombe »

sublimefire wrote: post #48

The set of "why's" is well put. But in a production environment, that pleasure is being squeezed out by processes, principles, capitalism. Programmer becomes like a machine that makes sure the necessary requirement is in place and then executes. Over time this flow brings cancer to the hacker soul. I fight it every day: sometimes by visiting HM to charge myself with ideas, sometimes by delaying the work and delving i…

>The last bit just extends the delivery of a feature but brings long-awaited joy to the soul.

Programmer productivity is so hard to measure that I think nearly everyone can get away with this and should.

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#97

Post by joeberon »

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…

Time + patience + other hobbies + moving on.

If you can manage to stop worrying about it and move forward, then the curiosity and magic has space to grow. Worrying that the magic isn't there is not a good way to bring it back, it's not a good mindset to have anything positive arise. But "giving in" is easier said than done of course, since you want the magic back :) Once you stop wanting it, it will have a chance to return

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#98

Post by sidpatil »

jasonhansel wrote: post #74

I would add: the ability to automate nearly all the repetitive or tedious parts of the job, something not found in (nearly) any other profession.

This is the same reason that motivates me. My day job involves some really tedious manual procedures, of which I've been able to automate a few of through software.

I've never been more motivated to learn relevant knowledge and work on solutions than when the goal is to write tools to make my team's work less tedious. And I've never felt more satisfaction than when I completed those tools, successfully used them to cut those tedious tasks down to a few minutes, and got praise from my coworkers for making their jobs easier.

See also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27080695.

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#99

Post by et1337 »

bitcoin01 wrote: post #70

I love coding. Only issue I have is that I don't talk to many people during the day. I rent an office and I just sit at work the whole day. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but I wish there was a setting in which I could network with more people. What has worked for you?

Try working somewhere that does pair programming. I work at a full-remote company that does pretty much 100% pair programming. We're constantly talking all day.

Re: Why I Love Coding (2012)

#100

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #93
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my case, it went well. I never really took my hand off the programming wheel, while being a manager. I just wasn't being paid for it (bonus was that I have a big open-source portfolio). I just did open-source work in nights and weekends. When I left my last company, I just made it my full-time vocation, and that went quite smoothly. I do this for the love of the craft; not the money.

>I do this for the love of the craft; not the money. I think this is main point. Somehow introducing money into anything seems to drain all the pleasure out of it.

I have to agree. It sucks, because I have skills and experience that could make people with established corporations millions.

They just can't seem to bring themselves to work with people like me, unless they are doing the whole "alpha dog" thing.

The NPO I'm working with can't afford to pay me squat, but I'm not constantly mud-wrestling knuckleheads.

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