Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Hello, World

hello-world.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 174 posts

Re: Hello, World

#31

Post by 72deluxe »

lawl wrote: post #10

> I am burnt out on having a “40 hour” work week that actually occupies the majority of my mental time. This really resonated with me. I can't just stop thinking about this stuff just because I'm at lunch or at home if I'm working on a hard problem. But I don't get paid for that time.

I have found going outside and observing nature or looking at fields/birds if they're close by can help your mind drift. I work in an office but if I get chance I like to go outside and sit a short drive away by the fields.

For the most part though I use my lunchtimes working on my own code, as I am in the "working" mental state; it is easier to use the drive home as the unwind time (resisting the urge to drive fast, as this doesn't help unwinding).

Re: Hello, World

#32

Post by drderidder »

I think it shows how important it is to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Hopefully he'll find a way to combine his technical aptitude with his new lifestyle in a symbiotic way.

Re: Hello, World

#33

Post by shepardrtc »

I love technology and computers, but I found a job that doesn't require me to be thinking about things non-stop. I work less than 40 hours a week (even though I'm salaried), but I still work in my field of choice. It doesn't stress me out. Do I make less than the average computer guy? Maybe a little bit. But hey, its one less massive thing to worry about. I can go home and not think about it. Instead, I can think about side projects and other fun things.

Don't let yourself get burned out so much from your current job that you end up hating your field. Its what you're good at, right? Use that skill to do good things. Driving yourself crazy shouldn't be one of them.

Re: Hello, World

#34

Post by shepardrtc »

dagw wrote: post #25
asimjalis wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet, is that so bad?

It is when it interferes with stuff you actually care about. Like when I'm supposed be having family dinner or playing with my daughter and I realize instead I've just spent the past several minutes staring into the distance thinking about a work problem. Sometimes I really envy people who never get the urge to work (either actually or mentally) on work after leaving the office at 5 pm.

I've learned to accept that work should only be a certain percentage of your life. Occasionally it can bleed over, sure, but unless you want it to be 100% then you need to drop it and think about other things. Maybe I'm just lazy, but when I'm with other things I care about - especially people - then work can kiss my ass :)

Re: Hello, World

#35

Post by chuhnk »

The tech industry for the majority attracts like minded people. We tend to have an all on our nothing mentality. We don't do it on purpose, it's just how we're wired. We work endlessly, hours upon hours, and at some point it starts to take its toll. The mental burn becomes too much, it wears on you. Eventually there is only one option, to walk away, for some time at least. I wish we were able to find balance. I've been doing this for close to a decade now, maybe not as long as some, but I've hit burnout and had to walk away. Upon my return I vowed never to get there again, I'm not so sure I was able to keep that promise. Maybe these are things we learn through time and experience. Or perhaps its subject to the way in which we lead the rest of our life.

Re: Hello, World

#36

Post by jhull »

Good for you man. I took a year to do the same thing and travel.

The first step for me was creating a blog and writing a similar post, reflecting on what I had been doing and what was about to change. I also wrote down a lot of things I wanted to do in that next year. While I only did a handful of them, its great to look back now a few years later and see where my mindset was.

It is also great to reflect on the things that I did do on that year off that were so amazing, the things which I didn't write down, because they weren't even things I could imagine. That's the best part, realizing you've broadened your horizons.

:a toast: Wishing you do many unimaginable things.

Re: Hello, World

#37

Post by bkeroack »

kylec wrote: post #21

You take an incredibly advanced and complex programming language, and dumb it down to the absolute bare essentials in order to embark on the journey of learning a new system. The purpose of the "Hello, World!" program, at least as I've understood it, is to make sure that you can actually get code running with whatever language, frameworks, and build process you have. Printing out a simple phrase is sufficient to demo…

It's likely that you already know how Hello World works in at least one other language. By showing you it in the new language, Hello World allows you to start mapping concepts across those domains (ie, how to print characters to the console, where the entry point is, how to express string literals, etc).

Re: Hello, World

#38

Post by kbenson »

Cyph0n wrote: post #30
kylec wrote: post #21

You take an incredibly advanced and complex programming language, and dumb it down to the absolute bare essentials in order to embark on the journey of learning a new system. The purpose of the "Hello, World!" program, at least as I've understood it, is to make sure that you can actually get code running with whatever language, frameworks, and build process you have. Printing out a simple phrase is sufficient to demo…

If we're talking about the modern purpose of a "Hello, world!" program, then I agree. However, at the time the idea was originated, and I'm sure for a good time afterwards, build processes and frameworks weren't as mainstream as they are today. Therefore the function of a "Hello, world!" program was simply to test out the basic features of the language. That's the way I see it.

It doesn't take modern build processes and frameworks to need to know that you've crafted the bare essentials for a running problem, and the multi-stage compilations and linking process has performed as expected. Or that your cross-compile is working. Building software has been complex enough to warrant this for many decades.

Re: Hello, World

#39

Post by d2ncal »

I agree with the sentiment, but how's he going to pay the bills for rent, school, car, etc? A lot of people work on jobs they don't like to pay bills. Is he not going to have a place to stay? May be his girlfriend has enough income that he can pursue hobbies while she works A 'proper' job? There is a minimum you need to make to live a comfortable life and not rely on government to help ends meet.

Re: Hello, World

#40

Post by dougk16 »

Demiurge wrote: post #19

This article is very uplifting and easy to empathize with. However, I can only hope he ends up as happy as he might think he will. I've done farming when I was young as well as some manual labor jobs. It's not fun, you sweat a lot, your back hurts, the sunlight burns, at the end of the day you are physically burnt out so much that you can't actually think. I am much more happy to be closing tickets that are undoing p…

I had sort of the opposite experience. I moved furniture for a number of years...manual labor at its finest. I put on 10 pounds of muscle, melted any extra fat from my body, slept like a baby every night, and had no back problems compared to slumping in a chair all day. It was certainly hard work, but I look back on it with a simple fondness that I can't conjure for all my past office jobs. All I see is this weird fluorescent limbo in my emotional memory despite all the interesting software I've worked on.
Post reply on HN