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Ask HN: what was the best life/programming choice you ever made?

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Re: Ask HN: what was the best life/programming choice you ever made?

#111

Post by cnlwsu »

kenjackson wrote: post #57

Life: Having a child. The first six months were mad hard. But he's been what gets me up in the morning now... Literally Programming: Not caring about trends. I've realized I can learn pretty much anything on demand. So I find interesting problems and try to solve them, rather than spend alot of time learning frameworks and languages and hope to apply them. And I've found learning on demand for real problems causes me…

Having a kid was amazing for life and didn't affect my programming at all... they sleep a lot :)

Re: Ask HN: what was the best life/programming choice you ever made?

#113

Post by rnemo »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #26

Giving up video games in my 20s. If I hadn't done that, I'd still be stuck in front of a game somewhere. Those things will eat your life.

Everything in moderation. Video games can eat your life but so can anything else, it's all about how much self control you have. I still play a lot of games because, hey, I have to do something with my spare time (and having spare time is essential), and I find it to be one of the more engaging things I can do. Not to mention multiplayer games are the only way to do anything with a lot of my friends, as they live in different states.

Re: Ask HN: what was the best life/programming choice you ever made?

#114

Post by _dark_matter_ »

kenjackson wrote: post #57

Life: Having a child. The first six months were mad hard. But he's been what gets me up in the morning now... Literally Programming: Not caring about trends. I've realized I can learn pretty much anything on demand. So I find interesting problems and try to solve them, rather than spend alot of time learning frameworks and languages and hope to apply them. And I've found learning on demand for real problems causes me…

The first six months will be over in ten days for my fiancé and I…and damn are we excited about her future!

Re: Ask HN: what was the best life/programming choice you ever made?

#117

Post by TeMPOraL »

Tyr42 wrote: post #53
TeMPOraL wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't even try to play multiplayer games anymore, as within moments I get the feeling of time wasted. I do however, from time to time, play single-player games (like Portal, or Modern Warfare series, or more recently, Bioshock) for their artistic / story value. The best games have stories much better and deeper than most of the movies, so I find them important intellectually and artisticly.

I'd recommend playing Mark of the Ninja. I sat there, thinking for a long time at the end. And if you like puzzles, there's spacechem.

I'll check out Mark of the Ninja, thanks.

SpaceChem is awesome, I played it a lot on PC and also now on tablet (it's more playable with mouse, though).

Also worth checking are all other games by Zachronics Industries (maker of SpaceChem)[0] - I particularly liked "The Bureau of Steam Engineering", where the goal is to route steam via pipes, valves, etc. inside a mech to make it fight other mechs.

[0] - http://www.zachtronicsindustries.com/

Re: Ask HN: what was the best life/programming choice you ever made?

#118

Post by z92 »

kstenerud wrote: post #7

Life: The day I learned to stop worrying and love the chaos. Programming: The day I pulled my head out of my ass and started learning from my peers.

> The day I learned to stop worrying and love the chaos.

That was the one of the greatest turning point in my life too.

Re: Ask HN: what was the best life/programming choice you ever made?

#119

Post by adimitrov »

cnlwsu wrote: post #111
kenjackson wrote: post #57

Life: Having a child. The first six months were mad hard. But he's been what gets me up in the morning now... Literally Programming: Not caring about trends. I've realized I can learn pretty much anything on demand. So I find interesting problems and try to solve them, rather than spend alot of time learning frameworks and languages and hope to apply them. And I've found learning on demand for real problems causes me…

Having a kid was amazing for life and didn't affect my programming at all... they sleep a lot :)

Here's a thought: you probably have an awesome spouse.

Which is not to say your spouse is doing all the work for you (I don't know that. Maybe they are, maybe they're not.) But when a couple works well together as a team, that's when they can be relaxed about having kids. Unfortunately, many people don't work well together (and don't know it until they actually have to do something major together.)

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