3 ms·

Ask HN: Does programming make you happy?

5 points by mlLK 18y ago

Does programming make you happy?

helveticaman 18y ago
No. I'm hoping it grows on me, but I've had a lot of shitty experiences so far, and not a lot to show for them. Think spending six months trying to install Lisp on a mac, or spending 50 hours installing Linux on a PC. SICP was also quite awful. Finally, I have this nagging feeling of obligation to program. So no, I wish I did, but I don't like programming. I hope your mileage varies.
mechanical_fish 18y ago
Sometimes. Other times it's a tedious obligation. Then there are the times when you're not sure if it makes you happy or not, but you can't stop doing it. If you're wondering if you enjoy programming, try giving it up for a while and see if you keep coming back to it.
- helveticaman 18y ago
  Thanks for the tip. I'll take a vacation.
izaidi 18y ago
For me it's 99% frustration, but the other 1% is the moments when the thing that used to be an idea in my head becomes a part of reality, and those moments feel so good I'm willing to put up with the frustrating ones.
IsaacSchlueter 18y ago
I believe there's a quote somewhere in Stranger in a Strange Land, where Jubal Harshaw comments that an author doesn't write because he can, or likes to, or because it's the best way to pay the bills–many can't, few do, and it usually isn't. It's just something that must be done, like breathing or defecating, and it's about as glamorous. It's hard to say whether programming makes me happy, per se. I do know that I can't escape it. I can avoid putting my fingers on a keyboard for a while. But the brain, it keeps going. It's how I'm built, and you may as well ask me if I like having two hands instead of 4 or one head instead of 7; but it's the shape of the brain we're talking about. I find it hard to imagine what life would be like. I program to pay the bills, and it keeps me comfortable. I also program because I have ideas for programs that don't exist, and it's the only way to make them exist. I program because I want my computer to do something that it doesn't already know how to do. I program because it's more engaging than television and less pointless than video games. Sometimes, it's frustrating or challenging. Sometimes it feels like a lot of effort for hardly any reward. Sometimes huge amounts of work have to be scrapped because it's just wrong. But other times, things click, and it's perfect, like a symphony. And in those moments, "happy" seems like an understatement. No, programming doesn't make me happy. But programming is part of what makes me me; and, in general, I'm happy about that.
- divia 18y ago
  >I believe there's a quote somewhere in Stranger in a Strange Land, where Jubal Harshaw comments that an author doesn't write because he can, or likes to, or because it's the best way to pay the bills–many can't, few do, and it usually isn't. It's just something that must be done, like breathing or defecating, and it's about as glamorous. I'd be interested to know which passage you mean. I've read that book many more times than is really necessary and I can't remember Jubal saying that. The closest I can think of is a passage where he says "I want praise from the customer, given in cash because I've reached him--or I don't want anything."
  - IsaacSchlueter 18y ago
    I could be thinking of one of Heinlein's other books, or even just something he said randomly. I've read a lot of his stuff, and it all starts to blur together. If I come across it, I'll make a note of it.
    - mct 18y ago
      The protagonist in Heinlein's The Cat Who Walks Through Walls says something very similar near the beginning of the novel.
      - divia 18y ago
        Ah, yes. This: >"Yes, dear. Richard, do you enjoy writing?" >"No one enjoys writing." >[...] >"But you don't enjoy it and we don't need the money. Truly we don't!" >"Thank you, my love. But I did not explain to you the other insidious aspect of writing. There is no way to stop. Writers go on writing long after it becomes financially unnecessary...because it hurts less to write than it does not to write." Thanks!
        IsaacSchlueter 18y ago
        Thanks, indeed! That's exactly the one I was thinking of.
gaius 18y ago
Getting stuff done makes me happy. Programming is a means, not an end.
- rodrigo 18y ago
  In a short story of JL Borges (and in a lot of other places, im sure): "the road is the goal" (veeery loosely translated from spanish)
mct 18y ago
Looking over the responses thus far, I'm surprised no one has posted an unequivocal "yes". Yes, the act of programming itself makes me happy. I've always loved building things, and programming is yet another outlet for that energy. Additionally, I love the thrill of bending a computer to my will, teaching it to do what I want to produce the output I need. Shortly after finishing an extended programming project, often times I feel a sense of loss, and a drive to seek out the next interesting thing I'll get to tackle. Are you asking because you feel like you should be enjoying it more than you do? Did you used to get more enjoyment from it than you currently do, or have you always felt this way? If you're second guessing yourself, I think mechanical_fish's suggestion of giving it a break for a while is a great one.
trapper 18y ago
If I couldn't work on things that I love every day I would hate it. I don't know how there are so many todo lists, chat apps, crm and accounting packages out there, I couldn't stand it!
draco 18y ago
I had a number of other jobs before I got to programming in my thirties. The big difference is, you keep coming up against totally novel problems for which there are no ready-made solutions. It's very challenging, and it places programming as a job in a league of its own in terms of creative problem-solving. It doesn't make me happy, but it makes me look forward to my work every day, and that's saying a lot. It's also given me the liberty to change job and even business sector as often as I please (typically every couple of years) which again is unusual and refreshing.

5 points by mlLK 18y ago

Does programming make you happy?

No. I'm hoping it grows on me, but I've had a lot of shitty experiences so far, and not a lot to show for them. Think spending six months trying to install Lisp on a mac, or spending 50 hours installing Linux on a PC. SICP was also quite awful. Finally, I have this nagging feeling of obligation to program. So no, I wish I did, but I don't like programming. I hope your mileage varies.

mechanical_fish 18y ago

Sometimes. Other times it's a tedious obligation. Then there are the times when you're not sure if it makes you happy or not, but you can't stop doing it. If you're wondering if you enjoy programming, try giving it up for a while and see if you keep coming back to it.

helveticaman 18y ago
Thanks for the tip. I'll take a vacation.

izaidi 18y ago

For me it's 99% frustration, but the other 1% is the moments when the thing that used to be an idea in my head becomes a part of reality, and those moments feel so good I'm willing to put up with the frustrating ones.

IsaacSchlueter 18y ago

I believe there's a quote somewhere in Stranger in a Strange Land, where Jubal Harshaw comments that an author doesn't write because he can, or likes to, or because it's the best way to pay the bills–many can't, few do, and it usually isn't. It's just something that must be done, like breathing or defecating, and it's about as glamorous. It's hard to say whether programming makes me happy, per se. I do know that I can't escape it. I can avoid putting my fingers on a keyboard for a while. But the brain, it keeps going. It's how I'm built, and you may as well ask me if I like having two hands instead of 4 or one head instead of 7; but it's the shape of the brain we're talking about. I find it hard to imagine what life would be like. I program to pay the bills, and it keeps me comfortable. I also program because I have ideas for programs that don't exist, and it's the only way to make them exist. I program because I want my computer to do something that it doesn't already know how to do. I program because it's more engaging than television and less pointless than video games. Sometimes, it's frustrating or challenging. Sometimes it feels like a lot of effort for hardly any reward. Sometimes huge amounts of work have to be scrapped because it's just wrong. But other times, things click, and it's perfect, like a symphony. And in those moments, "happy" seems like an understatement. No, programming doesn't make me happy. But programming is part of what makes me me; and, in general, I'm happy about that.

divia 18y ago
>I believe there's a quote somewhere in Stranger in a Strange Land, where Jubal Harshaw comments that an author doesn't write because he can, or likes to, or because it's the best way to pay the bills–many can't, few do, and it usually isn't. It's just something that must be done, like breathing or defecating, and it's about as glamorous. I'd be interested to know which passage you mean. I've read that book many more times than is really necessary and I can't remember Jubal saying that. The closest I can think of is a passage where he says "I want praise from the customer, given in cash because I've reached him--or I don't want anything."
- IsaacSchlueter 18y ago
  I could be thinking of one of Heinlein's other books, or even just something he said randomly. I've read a lot of his stuff, and it all starts to blur together. If I come across it, I'll make a note of it.
  - mct 18y ago
    The protagonist in Heinlein's The Cat Who Walks Through Walls says something very similar near the beginning of the novel.
    - divia 18y ago
      Ah, yes. This: >"Yes, dear. Richard, do you enjoy writing?" >"No one enjoys writing." >[...] >"But you don't enjoy it and we don't need the money. Truly we don't!" >"Thank you, my love. But I did not explain to you the other insidious aspect of writing. There is no way to stop. Writers go on writing long after it becomes financially unnecessary...because it hurts less to write than it does not to write." Thanks!
      - IsaacSchlueter 18y ago
        Thanks, indeed! That's exactly the one I was thinking of.

gaius 18y ago

Getting stuff done makes me happy. Programming is a means, not an end.

rodrigo 18y ago
In a short story of JL Borges (and in a lot of other places, im sure): "the road is the goal" (veeery loosely translated from spanish)

mct 18y ago

Looking over the responses thus far, I'm surprised no one has posted an unequivocal "yes". Yes, the act of programming itself makes me happy. I've always loved building things, and programming is yet another outlet for that energy. Additionally, I love the thrill of bending a computer to my will, teaching it to do what I want to produce the output I need. Shortly after finishing an extended programming project, often times I feel a sense of loss, and a drive to seek out the next interesting thing I'll get to tackle. Are you asking because you feel like you should be enjoying it more than you do? Did you used to get more enjoyment from it than you currently do, or have you always felt this way? If you're second guessing yourself, I think mechanical_fish's suggestion of giving it a break for a while is a great one.

trapper 18y ago

If I couldn't work on things that I love every day I would hate it. I don't know how there are so many todo lists, chat apps, crm and accounting packages out there, I couldn't stand it!

draco 18y ago

I had a number of other jobs before I got to programming in my thirties. The big difference is, you keep coming up against totally novel problems for which there are no ready-made solutions. It's very challenging, and it places programming as a job in a league of its own in terms of creative problem-solving. It doesn't make me happy, but it makes me look forward to my work every day, and that's saying a lot. It's also given me the liberty to change job and even business sector as often as I please (typically every couple of years) which again is unusual and refreshing.