"Wherever you go, there you are."
Hello, World
111–120 of 174 posts
Re: Hello, World
#112"Wherever you go, there you are."
Re: Hello, World
#113So this guy: - Changed his major overnight from whatever it was to computer science after writing a Hello, World program - Left "so-called higher education" to work at a real-life job "without even thinking about it twice" - Quit real-life job to be a bartender and chef - Quit doing that after getting girlfriend pregnant to 'go back to the "real world" to get a job' - Quit that to build a house and work on a farm Eve…
Of course, life is an ever changing thing. I don't suppose you've kept the same job for your whole life? Even the things you love can become a chore. I completely sympathize with this guy and applaud him for making changes he feels will make his existence more full. Grass is always greener can be one way of looking at this, another way is that he's LIVING HIS LIFE.
Re: Hello, World
#114So this guy: - Changed his major overnight from whatever it was to computer science after writing a Hello, World program - Left "so-called higher education" to work at a real-life job "without even thinking about it twice" - Quit real-life job to be a bartender and chef - Quit doing that after getting girlfriend pregnant to 'go back to the "real world" to get a job' - Quit that to build a house and work on a farm Eve…
Perhaps peace of mind can't be found by making the "right decisions" at all, but only by learning to find peace of mind in your circumstances, and not being afraid of change. This guy sounds like he's doing okay.
Re: Hello, World
#115As many others, I often get frustrated when working through different problems. But I find taking a break and doing 'outdoor activities' such as backpacking and rock climbing gives my mentality a break. Afterwards, when I go back to tackling my problem, I feel refreshed. However, I don't only do this when I get frustrated with a problem, but after I complete one too.
Taking breaks to 'get back in touch with nature' while doing something so technically involved tremendously helps my workflow.
Re: Hello, World
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think this is the result of the relative ease of getting programming work and good salaries. It attracts a lot of people who are not really in it for the love. Some of those people are going to feel like their soul is being sucked out. This guy is one of them which explains his extreme reactions. I personally would rather work at the shittiest programming job than go out and work on a farm. But that's just me.
While I agree that programming attracts a lot of people that aren't in it for the love of the craft, I disagree with most of your sentiment. I see a creative person who struggles with having to focus on someone else's agenda. Most non-developers see programming as tedious, mind-numbing work that involves zero creativity. Most people who have never worked on a small farm or built a table/shed/house/whatever think of t…
I just went to our yearly gathering of local farmers. I know one small acreage farmer who has hacked together an automated irrigation system, and others in the community are building similar systems. Arduino or similar devices controlling larger arrays of irrigation switches and a scheduler (cron) controlled from a simple web interface.
Re: Hello, World
#117This rings true. I'm 30, have a well paid programming job, but I just don't care that much about it anymore. I used to be so passionate and enthusiastic. But now I feel like there's more to life than banging out code. Unfortunately there's not much else I know other than the internet and the fact it's currently making me a lot more money than 95% of my friends. So that leaves me ultimately disenchanted with nowhere t…
This is my fear as a soon-to-be graduating student from university. I was in the same boat as the author, only discovering my excitement of making computers do things on the screen by typing at the keyboard.
I've noticed a large number of stories and comments, on HN at least, regarding burn out. Is anyone aware of studies that look into why burnout is so common with developers?
Re: Hello, World
#118Maybe I'm just cynical, but I feel this article plugs very well into another article I read this month: "What nobody told me about small farming: I can’t make a living"[1]. [1] http://www.salon.com/2015/02/10/what_nobody_told_me_about_sm...
Yeah, farming is not gardening++ If you're raising livestock, you don't take week-long vacations because your herd would die. There is always a lot of work to do so the work schedule is like perpetual crunch time but with less stress. Less stress if you haven't been facing drought or pest or fungus outbreak for the past few years. The room for niche farmers is much smaller than the tech world. There are not too many clever startup farmers that disrupt the food world. Small farmers really either just compete against mega-farms to produce cheaply and efficiently or cater to affluent quality-driven customers.
Re: Hello, World
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
While I agree that programming attracts a lot of people that aren't in it for the love of the craft, I disagree with most of your sentiment. I see a creative person who struggles with having to focus on someone else's agenda. Most non-developers see programming as tedious, mind-numbing work that involves zero creativity. Most people who have never worked on a small farm or built a table/shed/house/whatever think of t…
>Both working on a farm and programming are surprisingly creative professions. For all the shit rural culture gets around here, I'm usually impressed by the ingenuity of its homegrown hacker-like culture. I sometimes get frustrated with my overly automated urban life. Apartment/condo living with a low maintenance car/appliances/technology and a worklife where I'm shuttled to and from via public transportation doesn't…
And just not spending enough time in free outdoor spaces...and I'm not talking about contrived "urban spaces"
Re: Hello, World
#120Is it possible to pick up programming skills by studying computer science books? In particular I enjoy reading SICP because of its mathematical nature. So far I have been using SICP like a math book without any REPL. Just pen and paper problem solving. But I was told that won't teach you any useful coding skills. Just learning how to code seems to be an unbelievably painful task. Are there any math oriented compsci books that double as coding boot camp? Thanks.