I've been toying with a new (AFAIK) conceptualization of programming. So far i've got, "programming essentially consists of N things. First of N is 'connecting.

I've been toying with a new (AFAIK) conceptualization of programming. So far i've got, "programming essentially consists of N things. First of N is 'connecting.' " I don't know how many N there should be or what the other essentials should be (could be 'iterating', 'transforming' or 'recurring' but i'm still thinking about them). But I'm fairly sure about the 'connecting' one - it refers to that part of writing a program where you need to set up a connection to a database, or an Ajax request, or whatever. Usually involves knowing some amount of protocol, which isn't particularly complex but can be quite 'bitty'. It's not one of the better parts of programming, it's usually a pain, but it helps to recognize it. Also highlights that although one particular problem may have been solved millions of times, for each individual programmer it can still be a hassle. It's not all 'plug&play' ... more like 'splice&pray'.