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You’re not writing code, you’re solving problems
21–30 of 143 posts
Re: You’re not writing code, you’re solving problems
#22I say, don’t go too far down this path. Keep in touch with the part of you that loves to code, is a programmer, and is not concerned with solving “business problems” :)
Re: You’re not writing code, you’re solving problems
#23I liked this article, but one point it misses is that you should be solving problems in a way that makes it easy to keep solving problems in the future, and that's a tradeoff that even more people get wrong.
For instance, writing good, maintainable code only matters because if you don't, you might reduce your ability to solve more problems in the future when the problems you need to solve might change, due to learning new information about your users/customers, your users/customers changing, etc. For example: - the code itself might be difficult to understand, reason about, and change, making it hard to make changes. - the code might require time spent on maintenance, which reduces the time you can spend making forward progress.
Re: You’re not writing code, you’re solving problems
#24If you write code to solve problems then you are a coder, just like if you drive trucks to solve a transportation problem. What's the point of getting into semantics?
What programmer on the face of this earth doesn't realize that they're hired to code up a solution to some problem? Is this article implying that there are programmers out there who believe they are employed to write beautiful code to be looked at and admired and never to solve a single problem?
Re: You’re not writing code, you’re solving problems
#25Re: You’re not writing code, you’re solving problems
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I'd argue that any creative process can be coined as a problem-solving exercise Problem solving with real-world constraints = engineering Problem solving without any constraints = art
This is reminiscent of the old divide between mathematics and philosophy: true and useful = math true and useless = philosophy
I wouldn't bet on the "true" part in philosophy. More like nonsensical.
Re: You’re not writing code, you’re solving problems
#27"You're not cooking meals, you're solving problems"
There's a real lack of humility among our industry, especially in the AI space.
Literally you can google "AI solves world peace" or "AI solves COVID-19" and you'll hit an article.
We also call ourselves ninjas when most of us are just building hugely complex infrastructure behind what is ultimately just a CRUD website.
Re: You’re not writing code, you’re solving problems
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Art has always had constraints: funding, the physical media’s capabilities, and the ability to reach an audience. This is why any time a new technology shift happens there’s a spike of artists trying things which were not previously feasible.
It's a spectrum. I just wrote down the two ends. Also, an artist's constraints are often self-prescribed, and they can easily change them if they like.
> Also, an artist's constraints are often self-prescribed, and they can easily change them if they like.
the most amazing art (both graphics and music) i have seen on computer were from atari, amiga, & c64 demosceners. these artists had real software and hardware contraints.
i like what you said about it being a spectrum though. i think it's hard to tell when engineering becomes art and art becomes engineering. but one can easily spot pure (for its own sake) engineering or pure art.
Re: You’re not writing code, you’re solving problems
#29"You're not cooking meals, you're solving problems"
There's a real lack of humility among our industry, especially in the AI space. Literally you can google "AI solves world peace" or "AI solves COVID-19" and you'll hit an article. We also call ourselves ninjas when most of us are just building hugely complex infrastructure behind what is ultimately just a CRUD website.
That lack of humility also exists in other industries. You can Google "healthcare saves lives" and hit many articles
Re: You’re not writing code, you’re solving problems
#30"You're not cooking meals, you're solving problems"
By extension (and legitimate curiosity), who _isn't_ solving an actual problem in his day job?
I can think of many classes of artists, but cannot put a blank statement for _all_ of them.