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The reaction to VS achievements is kind of interesting, people seem to be taking it seriously, at least as some sort of symbol. Who knows, maybe it is the thin
by Hominem 15y ago
The reaction to VS achievements is kind of interesting, people seem to be taking it seriously, at least as some sort of symbol. Who knows, maybe it is the thin edge of the knife that will lead to the "gamification" of programming. At any rate,anyone who uses VS and C# with any frequency probably understands it to be tongue in cheek. I don't think I will change my coding practices to get achievements... Well maybe I will, I've just got to get those last two!
- brudgers 15y agoYour comment made me see a parallel between VS achievements and sites like StackOverflow which offer a system of rewards which incentivize increasing one's programming knowledge.
- Hominem 15y agoExpecially since potential employers look for StackOverflow accounts now.
- rquantz 15y agoIsn't software development already kind of gamified? It's full of little bursts of dopamines and adrenaline -- from that first little "Hello World" to finally tracking down a bug, to seeing your code in production. Its addictive and it already comes with distinct achievements.
- Hominem 15y agoI think in a sense it is. Not strictly quantified yet. I was thinking about the adulation or sense of defeat you can get from code reviews. Code is a spectator sport with arbitrary rules that keep changing. Just like Calvinball!
- dpritchett 15y agoHence the ascendance of dynamic languages! The compressed feedback loops keep you munching those power pellets: Action RPGs (Ruby, PHP, Javascript, Python, anything with a REPL) vs. PBEM chess (C, Java, C++, your favorite statically typed & compiled language). Different genres with widely divergent playstyles and reward structures.
- tikhonj 15y agoI think it's not so much a difference between "dynamic" and "static" as it is between higher and lower levels of abstraction.
- bitwize 15y agoI saw this statement in a guy's sig a few years back, which made me realize why I got into programming in the first place: "The computer is the game."
- icefox 15y agoI tossed together git-achievements one weekend for fun ( https://github.com/icefox/git-achievements https://github.com/icefox/git-achievements ) and it has taken off as the most popular project I have ever made with hundreds of forks and watchers. There is something about Achievements that people _really_ enjoy.
- kevinh 15y agoI'm not surprised. Achievements are another form of positive feedback and in the case of programming, can provide an additional incentive for continuing to code.