Ask HN: How to rediscover the joy of programming? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How to rediscover the joy of programming?

#221

Post by non-entity » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 1:13 PM UTC

mhotchen wrote: post #155

I'm only at around 13 years of professional programming, but I went through a period of 4-5 years where I stopped enjoying it (actually, I hated it). What resolved it for me was pretty simple in the end: I joined a company where I really believe in the mission, and I'm surrounded by like-minded people. This has given me a great amount of motivation and reminded me that programming is a superpower. I was simply lost o…

> Another thing that helped me was researching other careers. I found a couple of things I think I would get a great deal of satisfaction from. I felt very trapped in a career I hated, and looking at another 30+ years of this was like a dark cloud over me.

I sometimes wish I had gone to school, but for something other than CS. I got into software development with no career at all, there arent a ton of other interesting fields open to uneducated people. If I had gone to school for some other subject I was interested in, i could still have the option of a well-padi software career, but also in something else that fascinates me, as well as opening up a new class of "hybrid jobs" using programming in specialized domains

Re: Ask HN: How to rediscover the joy of programming?

#222

Post by Legogris » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 1:17 PM UTC

currymj wrote: post #4

there are a number of video games by ZachTronics in which you program in assembly language for fictional computer architectures in a sci-fi settings. “Shenzhen I/O” and “Exapunks” are both fun.

They really manage to strip it off to the problem-solving and optimization, with a clearly defined scope. No architecture, very small design choices, no compatibility, build errors, package versions, Stackoverflow, compiler issues, "am-i-solving-the-right-problem" etc.

Re: Ask HN: How to rediscover the joy of programming?

#223

Post by brailsafe » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 1:17 PM UTC

djhworld wrote: post #216

I have ups and downs, I really enjoy programming when I can get my teeth into something I'm really passionate about, but there are other parts of the year where I fall into a "programmers block" and can't bring myself to do anything. My fondest programming memories are those aforementioned passion projects, but they're often fleeting. What tends to happen is I go all in on something, write a blog post about it then i…

I'm in the latter right now, and am anticipating losing my job over it. I'm just not that motivated by doing somewhat arbitrary programming tasks, and at a certain point, the thing that was previously novel starts being insurmountably boring.

Re: Ask HN: How to rediscover the joy of programming?

#224

Post by mongol » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 1:28 PM UTC

It is easier if you stop programming in your work, at least as primary responsibility.

Re: Ask HN: How to rediscover the joy of programming?

#225

Post by sova » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 1:30 PM UTC

You, my friend, need a LISP

Re: Ask HN: How to rediscover the joy of programming?

#226

Post by ekrebs » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 1:31 PM UTC

OskarS wrote: post #169

matesz wrote: post #136

Great write-up on that subject is in the first chapter of "Mythical Man-Month". Here is small excerpt. Why is programming fun? What delights may its practitioner expect as his reward? First is the sheer joy of making things. As the child delights in his mud pie, so the adult enjoys building things, especially things of his own design. I think this delight must be an image of God's delight in making things, a delight…

Such a great quote. I think the thing is that people weight these "joys" differently. I know that for me the learning part is probably the most important: I love the feeling of becoming better and getting a deeper understanding of unfamiliar systems. Doing the same kind of coding for decades in the same language seems very dreary to me. On the other hand, the "making things that are useful to other people" is not tha…

I find this fascinating. For me, the lifelong learning is a chore, completed in order to do what I love: creating things.

And watching people use my creations to do things they couldn’t before is a reward on its own. I imagine it’s like a teacher watching their students apply their lessons in daily life.

Re: Ask HN: How to rediscover the joy of programming?

#227

Post by ProstetnicJeltz » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 1:34 PM UTC

chuck3201 wrote: post #213

ojnabieoot wrote: post #38

20 years is a long time in anything. My first piece of advice is that nobody here knows who you are, nobody here knew you as a teenager, and nobody is going to understand what "love programming" and "don't enjoy it" actually means for you. The point is: anybody who claims that they got de-burned-out with this one trick isn't necessarily dishonest or naive, and if something in the comments here resonates, then by all…

I'm also not trying to sound dismissive or condescending, but it really seems weird to me that if somebody says they are have been doing something for 20 years and now they are bored of it, then they should consider seeing a therapist? I mean, there are plenty of things I used to like that I don't anymore, should I go see a therapist every time my interests change?

I think it's more about your intent. I'm not too bothered I don't care about soccer any more, I'm not after therapy to change that.

In this case though, I see someone who badly wants to be enjoying programming, but for whatever reason they don't understand they don't. It's probably a good time to talk to someone. Usually I'd start with my girlfriend, maybe my mum, perhaps take a few weeks off and then see how I feel. If that doesn't sort it, I'd probably want to talk to a therapist.

Re: Ask HN: How to rediscover the joy of programming?

#228

Post by appstorelottery » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 1:35 PM UTC

I wonder if it’s complexity that makes it less fun? I have been programming for 38 years and went through a similar feeling. After the lockdown I picked up RISCOS and BBC basic, and learned the Teletext display standard (mode 7) in BBC basic. The feeling of being able to quickly understand a simple system and make stuff is great fun. Learning Teletext layout is only a few pages of reading and the standard itself for mode 7 fits on one A4 sheet. RISCOS is another simple thing to learn and you can access every aspect of the OS through BBC basic calls. I spent a few weeks doing this and then returned to unity c# work. I started with the Pico build for raspberry pi and thus - no mouse and using the text editor to write BBC basic. When I returned to using modern tools I had a new found appreciation of the power at my fingertips and got my mojo back. Having a break and doing something completely different for a while worked for me.

Re: Ask HN: How to rediscover the joy of programming?

#229

Post by Sosh101 » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 1:36 PM UTC

DenisM wrote: post #32

Feynman described his run-in with burnout, you may find his experience interesting. I quoted a piece below, but the book is more persuasive with more intricacies of his situation. Then I had another thought: Physics disgusts me a little bit now, but I used to enjoy doing physics. Why did I enjoy it? I used to play with it. [...] So I got this new attitude. Now that I am burned out and I’ll never accomplish anything,…

Coincidentally John Conway talks in an interview about coming to the same conclusion. I wonder if he was inspired by Feynman?

Re: Ask HN: How to rediscover the joy of programming?

#230

Post by tarsinge » Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 1:42 PM UTC

On a last resort there is an extreme solution that seems to work in any field especially artistic ones: stop doing it professionally. Get back to it as a hobby, exploring and playing with anything on personal projects without any financial pressure, and I'm sure you'll find that joy again.