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Hello, World

hello-world.io

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Re: Hello, World

#131

Post by magic_beans »

wtbob wrote: post #104
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.

That's why it's a career, not a job. That's why professionals introduce themselves with, 'I'm a doctor' or 'I'm a lawyer' or 'I'm a developer.' That's why we are (or should be) salaried. We are our professions; in a very real sense, we can't be anything else.

Exactly. Some people will experience their work as a career (as their identity), and these people will be HAPPY. Those who experience their work as a job will not be as fulfilled.

Re: Hello, World

#132

Post by LVB »

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 think it boils down to whether the overtime your brain is doing is satisfying. If I’m spending my commute and evenings worrying about work or otherwise stressing out negatively, I’d want to end that. But if my job ends up posing interesting problems that I can’t help wanting to solve off-duty, then that sounds like I’ve found the right profession and company.

Re: Hello, World

#133

Post by leppr »

jerf wrote: post #121
untog wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man, I love programming but there are times after sitting at a desk for seven hours then spending another hour at the gym to get exercise that I feel like modern life makes no damn sense. It's moments like these that the idea of working on a farm, doing something real with my hands, sounds really great. But who am I kidding.

You may want to consider "life-hacking" your exercise routine. There's a lot of evidence coming in lately that suggests that an hour is far more time than you need to be spending for health, if you do different things. (I'm not in love with using the term life-hacking, but, alas, it really is the best fit for the concept in question. Still, it need not be done as a fad or because it is "cool" in a certain set... it c…

So much this. Sometimes little life hacks can have big (positive!) consequences.

For example, two weeks ago I picked up the muscle-a-day routine and already I'm feeling way more focused and energized. The concept is very simple, today is butt-day so any time I'm not thinking about anything in particular I contract my glutes. It's really a fantastic concentration and fitness exercise that keeps you focused until the end of the day when your attention begins to drift, and restores the balance between your over-stressed mind and under-utilized body.

Re: Hello, World

#134

Post by untog »

jerf wrote: post #121
untog wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man, I love programming but there are times after sitting at a desk for seven hours then spending another hour at the gym to get exercise that I feel like modern life makes no damn sense. It's moments like these that the idea of working on a farm, doing something real with my hands, sounds really great. But who am I kidding.

You may want to consider "life-hacking" your exercise routine. There's a lot of evidence coming in lately that suggests that an hour is far more time than you need to be spending for health, if you do different things. (I'm not in love with using the term life-hacking, but, alas, it really is the best fit for the concept in question. Still, it need not be done as a fad or because it is "cool" in a certain set... it c…

I know there's more I can do, but that's sort of besides the point. The mere fact that I need to 'hack' my life seems like an indicator that something is wrong.

Re: Hello, World

#135

Post by stephancoral »

trunkation wrote: post #120

Is 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 b…

Instead of pen and paper, fire up that REPL and learn you some scheme. The book is called "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs" for a reason.

Re: Hello, World

#136

Post by kleer001 »

leothekim wrote: post #42

So 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…

thanks for saving me from reading this article, the author sounds like a waffly idiot

Re: Hello, World

#137

Post by magic_beans »

Bahamut wrote: post #50

One of my friends got similarly burnt out of 10 years of coding - he left software engineering for teaching English to kids in Vietnam. Everyone's desires in a career/life are different. We also are wired differently. For me, I would like to become wealthy enough to live comfortably & support my friends, financially & coding-wise, in their endeavors (many of them are musicians)

10 years of ANYTHING will burn out a certain type of person.

Re: Hello, World

#138

Post by klibertp »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #109
jofer wrote: post #67

Earlier 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…

> there's just a great rewarding feeling of learning new things, fixing things,

You don't need to live anywhere special to do this. It's easy. Just fix it if something breaks. Try to make things instead of going out to buy them. It's not even always cheaper to do this, and the effects are certainly less polished than what you can buy (it gets better over time), but the feeling that you did something real is very worthwhile.

I'm living in a tiny apartment and I gathered some tools like this: http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Tools/Pages/ToolDetail.aspx?pid=... for working with small pieces of wood, leather, metal and glass. Good tools are very important, you don't want to be fighting with your tool when making something, it's frustrating. I made something like this: http://i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/2042435968_5/Electronic-C... out of an old leather belt, fixed a few bedside lamps and some flashlights and built a bedside table, among other things. It took me from one week to one month to make them, in contrast to going out and buying them in 30 minutes tops. But I learned many useful skills, and - in some instances - made things much better suited to my tastes than any mass produced equivalent.

It's like Linux or Mac OS thing: if you want your computer to just work, go with the latter, but if you want to decide yourself how most of your computer works you need Linux. Needless to say I'm using Linux wherever I can :)

Re: Hello, World

#139

Post by jakejake »

jofer wrote: post #67
jakejake wrote: post #47

Earlier 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 didn't intend any disrespect to farming. Rather, just for me, I love programming so much more than doing other kinds of work.

I have in the past worked in the most corporate programming environments writing insurance processing systems. Even within those parameters there were all kinds of adventures and problems to solve. Perhaps I wasn't in control of the "grand vision" of the company, but I was solving the little problems that pertained to my assignments. I found the possibility for immense creativity even in these supposedly mundane programming tasks.

I don't say this to blow my own horn or anything but I feel like programmers who truly, truly love it - it's almost irrelevant what project they are working on.

Re: Hello, World

#140

Post by yuncun »

leothekim wrote: post #127
ky3 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

he doesn't sound like he has full agency over his current decision. There's a finished sheen to his prose, so I give him the benefit of doubt that he's merely caricaturizing his situation. Actual life stories are quite dull, you know, as opposed to say, the movies. And on the topic of differing sensibilities, it's curious that you find it "disturbing to read." We are left wondering why.

If he's caricaturizing himself on his own web site like this, then it's absolutely disturbing. It's disturbing to me that, in abandoning his current reality to embrace a new one, he idealizes his next step in a way that repeats a pattern of psychosis. It's not at all clear he is actually in reality in moving to his next decision. It'd be far less disturbing if he were listing his reasons as "I've been looking forward…

You're right to feel disturbed, but I think his post is pretty embellished. He might have a list of reasons tucked away elsewhere that is more level-headed than the poetic version we are reading. Normal people don't want to read the story of the family man who made level-headed retirement decisions.
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