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As a programmer and aspiring writer, the two activities don't really feel the same to me at all. I understand that there are many similarities. Building a piece
by jonnycomputer 5y ago
As a programmer and aspiring writer, the two activities don't really feel the same to me at all. I understand that there are many similarities. Building a piece of software and writing a novel are complex projects that span long periods of time, requires iteration, attention to detail, and cognizance of structure at varying scales, planning, etc....
But when I'm writing prose, it does not feel anything like writing code. I enjoy a beautiful line of written code, and can sit back and admire it for a while, before I get on with the business of hating it a week or three later, but it is nothing like the experience of feeling the taste of words on the tongue, of reaching into my own garbage sack of mental vomit to pull out gems to glimmer in the sun.
- k__ 5y agoI write (technical) articles and develop software. Good devs can be bad writers and the other way around. But good code is as good writing. It's a planned endevour which takes a few iterations to get right. Most people who code bad and/or write bad are doing so because ther code and text are just streams of thoughts typed down as they had them. Sure, iteration can fix a bug here and there, but if their thoughts don't follow a red line, nobody can understand what they wanted to create.
- kian 5y agoI feel like programming in a point-free style is the closest to writing prose that coding gets for me. A composition of named functions in sequence is essentially a functional sentence. The ability to effortlessly re-arrange the product on the page is what gives it the flavor -- written imperatively and in detail, that flavor is either lost, or diluted homeopathically amongst the much more verbose format.