3 ms·
1. When I realized programming was easy That's it. For a long time, when I thought of the hardest stuff to program, I was thinking of computer games. Mind you,
by kleiba 6y ago
1. When I realized programming was easy
That's it. For a long time, when I thought of the hardest stuff to program, I was thinking of computer games. Mind you, not the latest AAA billion dollar development budget 300+ people on the team kind of games. No - given my age, I was thinking about single-programming doing code and graphics and sounds on a C64 kind of games. To me, it was incomprehensible how one person alone could manage to do a machine, especially with the hardware limitations, do all that.
And then one day it struck me. I had started to dabble with programming in my early teens and then never stopped but, I guess, gotten better at it over time.
Like with every process that evolutionary rather then revolutionary, there's a good chance to lose track of your progress. I remember clearly after finishing college, I really though that everything I knew then about computers and programmers I had already known even before I entered university. But then one day, a freshman asked me a question about a programming assignment in their class, and it was completely trivial to me. Yet, when I was a freshman, I would have probably asked the same question to someone else.
And yet, that was not my aha moment. It still took many years for me to realize that my idolization of game programmers was perhaps a bit much. Mind you, I do realize of course that someone specialized in any area will be able to produce better code than someone who's not - for any definition of "better". I'm still not a game programmer and never will be, so I still have the highest respect for their profession. But I do realize now that there's not outer-worldly skill that separates the game coder from the crop of all other programmers. Anything is within reach - what you need is not some innate talent, it's just dedication.
Life is somewhat better now and I'll never go back to thinking I'm not good at programming.
- thorin 6y agoAfter watching the first few weeks of Handmade Hero [1] I realised my idea of hard work and dedication was different to a lot of people I was trying to emulate. Doing this as a spare time, free project and the amount of knowledge and experience on-show was incredible [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee3EtYb8d1o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee3EtYb8d1o
- kleiba 6y agoI really enjoyed watching that series too for a while, although it was sometimes moving along a bit too slowly for my taste. I also hear it's not really going anywhere even after a few years in the making now (?!). One thing I always find amusing about such endeavours is the discrepancy in the level of difficulty when presenting their contents. Often you see (or read) them explaining programming concepts on a kind of baby level ("imagine a variable is like a box that you can put something in...") but then when it comes to video games math, they have no trouble assuming people know advanced concepts from linear algebra or even calculus. Cute.
- thorin 6y agoOr as the kids say "that escalated quickly!" No surprised it didn't really go anywhere, but an excellent resource if you have the time.