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Ask HN: Does hobby programming indicate you would rather invent than discover?

2 points by amichail 2y ago

If so, might it strongly suggest that you should not major in a science later?

PaulHoule 2y ago
Some of my hobby projects really feel like invention but others feel like discovery. Myself I was a hobby programmer, than I got a PhD in physics, then I became a professional programmer. There were things I found nervewracking about the culture of science that led me to leave but looking back retrospectively I could have taken better advantage of the opportunities I was given.
- chairmansteve 2y ago
  Writing a program is voyage of discovery.
  - PaulHoule 2y ago
    Depends on the program. In some cases you understand what it is to be done and it is about building and not discovery. Sometimes the discovery is "what are the requirements?" Some programs require a lot of "discovering" the truth about APIs you use. Some require discovering about how machine learning algorithms perform. I have a few side projects that depend on arangodb, which like most databases from the 2010s, has a terrible license -- so I am getting these ported to run with Postgresql using JSONB. I've been building an adaption layer that looks a lot like https://docs.python-arango.com/en/main/ https://docs.python-arango.com/en/main/ but it's turning out to be an interesting act of triangulation between (1) The parts of the arangodb API I really use (2) The requirements of my applications (3) Affordances provided by SQLAlchemy and Postgres, and (4) The database API I really want So there has been a lot of discovery there.
WheelsAtLarge 2y ago
Not at all, programming is mind-stimulating. By doing it, you don't just invent, but you discover how to create new things. So it's a combination. But for the most part, it is a way to satisfy the need many people have to solve problems. Why do people like puzzles? Because many people like to solve problems. Hobby programming falls in the same real. The way I see it, neither says anything about majoring in science. That decision is all related to what you would like to learn in school and where you want to work in the future.
tocs3 2y ago
I do hobby programing. It is sometimes to create something (supposedly) useful. Lately though it is more discovery and a little math like. I enjoy Project Euler (https://projecteuler.net/ https://projecteuler.net/. Recently I have been playing with superpermutations (https://projecteuler.net/ https://projecteuler.net/) and pencil and paper is useful but filling lots of paper with lots of numbers is not that fun.

2 points by amichail 2y ago

If so, might it strongly suggest that you should not major in a science later?

Some of my hobby projects really feel like invention but others feel like discovery. Myself I was a hobby programmer, than I got a PhD in physics, then I became a professional programmer. There were things I found nervewracking about the culture of science that led me to leave but looking back retrospectively I could have taken better advantage of the opportunities I was given.

chairmansteve 2y ago
Writing a program is voyage of discovery.
- PaulHoule 2y ago
  Depends on the program. In some cases you understand what it is to be done and it is about building and not discovery. Sometimes the discovery is "what are the requirements?" Some programs require a lot of "discovering" the truth about APIs you use. Some require discovering about how machine learning algorithms perform. I have a few side projects that depend on arangodb, which like most databases from the 2010s, has a terrible license -- so I am getting these ported to run with Postgresql using JSONB. I've been building an adaption layer that looks a lot like https://docs.python-arango.com/en/main/ https://docs.python-arango.com/en/main/ but it's turning out to be an interesting act of triangulation between (1) The parts of the arangodb API I really use (2) The requirements of my applications (3) Affordances provided by SQLAlchemy and Postgres, and (4) The database API I really want So there has been a lot of discovery there.

WheelsAtLarge 2y ago

Not at all, programming is mind-stimulating. By doing it, you don't just invent, but you discover how to create new things. So it's a combination. But for the most part, it is a way to satisfy the need many people have to solve problems. Why do people like puzzles? Because many people like to solve problems. Hobby programming falls in the same real. The way I see it, neither says anything about majoring in science. That decision is all related to what you would like to learn in school and where you want to work in the future.

tocs3 2y ago

I do hobby programing. It is sometimes to create something (supposedly) useful. Lately though it is more discovery and a little math like. I enjoy Project Euler (https://projecteuler.net/ https://projecteuler.net/. Recently I have been playing with superpermutations (https://projecteuler.net/ https://projecteuler.net/) and pencil and paper is useful but filling lots of paper with lots of numbers is not that fun.