This kind of sounds like my history. Wanted to learn, but had false starts for a decade. Then I found a project I actually wanted to complete, and that got me through the frustration.
Coding Is Hard
91–100 of 170 posts
Re: Coding Is Hard
#92Coding is hard exactly the way painting is hard or sculpting is hard or playing guitar is hard or writing is hard. It is but it's not. You need to put real effort in to learn, some less if you're naturally inclined to it, and many reach a point where they crest ahill and it really isn't that hard at all anymore. If you're chasing after it as a career and coding feels persistently hard and unnatural, you might be aimi…
I have the impression that some people can be software developers for 10 years or longer but they still don't "get it" while some junior devs are really great right from the start. These Seniors might be good at duct taping, overengineering or have a "my way or the highway" mindset but aren't capable of finding and implementing a good solution given the constraints. It probably boils down to factors like intelligence…
I object to bringing intelligence into the equation. It never explains anything that other factors couldn't. And it trains people to think they have innate limitations, which is a poor mindset for learning.
Re: Coding Is Hard
#93Whenever I see someone like this on HN – someone whose motivation is to build a large company and make a lot of money, someone who is an "idea guy," someone for whom programming is merely a means to an end – I'm glad I'm not like this. I'm grateful that programming itself is genuinely fun to me, that I don't mind whether what I'm coding is useful or ends up generating money. I'm glad I program because I enjoy it, not because I convinced myself to do it, hoping it would advance my career.
At the same time, it saddens me that the thing I love so much becomes a source of frustration for many others.
Re: Coding Is Hard
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It's at most a signal for whether or not they remember algorithms 101 or some leetcode exercise, but knowing that they do remember isn't really useful to me For bubble sort? Do you really think anyone should have to remember an algorithm to write a quadratic time sort? All you have to do is "compare and swap" and loop through until you are done, this is way easier than Fizzbuzz. This is only hard if you have a hard…
> All you have to do is "compare and swap" and loop through until you are done, this is way easier than Fizzbuzz. I think you have this wrong, Fizzbuzz is actually completely trivial to the point where the problem statement is almost literally (modulo modulo) a description of the algorithm. Bubble sort is very easy but it's not literally trivial to the same degree as Fizzbuzz!
for i = 0 to n { for j = i to n { if n[j] > n[i] { swap(n[i], n[j] }}}
Re: Coding Is Hard
#95Whenever I see someone like this on HN – someone whose motivation is to build a large company and make a lot of money, someone who is an "idea guy," someone for whom programming is merely a means to an end – I'm glad I'm not like this. I'm grateful that programming itself is genuinely fun to me, that I don't mind whether what I'm coding is useful or ends up generating money. I'm glad I program because I enjoy it, not…
> I don't mind whether what I'm coding is useful or ends up generating money
This is a problem most commonly seen in junior developers. It leads to them making poor decisions that are not aligned with business goals.
> I'm glad I program because I enjoy it
Spend enough time working in the industry and that will go away.
For your mental health's sake, I hope you find a hobby that is unrelated to your job. What you are describing is a very common path to burnout. Been there, seen many classmates go through it as well.
Re: Coding Is Hard
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
The author says he struggled with concepts that are “easy” or supposed to be. In my experience of coding since 6th grade and having been in the industry for quite some time, it’s difficult to say something is supposed to be “easy” or “hard”. The author doesn’t give many concrete examples so it’s possible he is just assuming certain things should be super easy… A lot of programmers I meet love to claim they don’t stru…
This seems like an uninteresting test. Nobody (almost) is implementing sorting algorithms in their day job. We use libraries. It's like asking people who claim to not struggle with driving basics to change their spark plugs and saying "aha, I new you were an idiot".
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Re: Coding Is Hard
#97I agree that coding is hard. This is coming from someone who's been coding for 15 years straight as my day job plus nights and weekends on open source. I've literally been working during 2/3 of my entire spare time excluding sleep (which is 6 to 7 hours per day).
Re: Coding Is Hard
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have the impression that some people can be software developers for 10 years or longer but they still don't "get it" while some junior devs are really great right from the start. These Seniors might be good at duct taping, overengineering or have a "my way or the highway" mindset but aren't capable of finding and implementing a good solution given the constraints. It probably boils down to factors like intelligence…
I object to bringing intelligence into the equation. It never explains anything that other factors couldn't. And it trains people to think they have innate limitations, which is a poor mindset for learning.
A common definition of intelligence is the capacity for problem solving.
There are few fields where the capacity for problem solving is more relevant.
People do have innate limitations. I agree that it's dangerous to categorize one's self too harshly, but it's also important to understand your own capabilities and limitations.
Telling people they have no innate limitations sounds nice, but probably just results in them becoming more frustrated and confused if they do hit those limits later on.
I say this as someone who has hit my own limits before. They exist. Maybe not in an absolute sense - I could likely learn nearly anything - but in a relative sense. If it takes me ten times longer than the average participant, it's simply not viable as a career. As a hobby? Sure, go wild.
Re: Coding Is Hard
#99Whenever I see someone like this on HN – someone whose motivation is to build a large company and make a lot of money, someone who is an "idea guy," someone for whom programming is merely a means to an end – I'm glad I'm not like this. I'm grateful that programming itself is genuinely fun to me, that I don't mind whether what I'm coding is useful or ends up generating money. I'm glad I program because I enjoy it, not…
> I don't mind whether what I'm coding is useful or ends up generating money This is a problem most commonly seen in junior developers. It leads to them making poor decisions that are not aligned with business goals. > I'm glad I program because I enjoy it Spend enough time working in the industry and that will go away. For your mental health's sake, I hope you find a hobby that is unrelated to your job. What you are…
Dunno dude, I’ve been in the industry for almost 3 decades, programming for almost 40 years, and I still enjoy it a lot.
Re: Coding Is Hard
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
> All you have to do is "compare and swap" and loop through until you are done, this is way easier than Fizzbuzz. I think you have this wrong, Fizzbuzz is actually completely trivial to the point where the problem statement is almost literally (modulo modulo) a description of the algorithm. Bubble sort is very easy but it's not literally trivial to the same degree as Fizzbuzz!
for i = 0 to n { for j = i to n { if n[j] > n[i] { swap(n[i], n[j] }}}
1 point for having a good reply. 100 points for doing it in code. Well done!