11 ms·

I Am Not A Programmer

8 points by Floopsy 14y ago

lutusp 14y ago
> For me, however, no matter how many new or interesting projects I would begin working on, the question that would ultimately appear in my mind would be, “Why are you doing this?” This is not meant to be critical or in any way superior, but shortly after acquiring my first programmable calculator in the early 1970s and extending to the present, I have no doubt about why I write programs -- programming works in a world where nearly nothing else does. Governments don't work. Religions don't work. Relationships don't work. Philosophy doesn't work. And psychology certainly doesn't work -- it's a field with more self-deluding, self-important frauds per square meter than any I can think of. But programming works -- if you become skilled at it, you may end up writing real solutions to real problems that people find useful. I get calls every day from people who have problems they could easily solve if only they knew how to program. For example, today I got an e-mail from someone who needed to compute the relationship between sensor height and volume in an underground storage tank that (a) had an unknown shape and size, and (b) had also been deformed by overhead truck traffic over decades. I solved the problem for him, using a little math knowledge and some simple programming. Programming is to modern times what literacy was to the Middle Ages -- it puts you in the enviable position of having an essential skill, one people simply can't do without. > I Am Not A Programmer I am a programmer. Looking through my notebooks from the 1960s, I realize I was a programmer before I had a way to gain access to a computer -- I kept trying to solve problems algorithmically, years before I had a chance to write a real algorithm or see it executed. I think back to the early 19th century, the time of Charles Babbage (difference engine) and Ada Lovelace (the first computer programmer), and I think how tragic that they spent their lives pining for access to something we take for granted. This isn't to overvalue computers, only to say that having access to computers now seems like a natural right, a good thing, but being denied that access is like not being able to breathe. A few decades ago, almost no one realized this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lutus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lutus
zwdr 14y ago
I dont really know why I should care that some, to me random, person, doesn't regard himself a programmer. There really is no valuable information for anyone who doesnt know that person in that post. So why post it? Who would be interested?
- acuozzo 14y ago
  > There really is no valuable information for anyone who doesnt know that person in that post. Many people make things accessible via the WWW with no goal or intention to reach a wider audience than their respective peers. > So why post it? To reach his/her peers without having to send it to each one individually. Alternatively, he/she could be using a blog as a place to vent. > Who would be interested? Obviously, HN readers.
  - zwdr 14y ago
    HN readers who dont know the person? I really dont think so. It hardly qualifies as news anyways.
    - acuozzo 14y ago
      > HN readers who dont know the person? They up-voted it, didn't they?
ekm2 14y ago
Governments don't work. Religions don't work. Relationships don't work. Philosophy doesn't work. And psychology certainly doesn't work -- it's a field with more self-deluding, self-important frauds per square meter than any I can think of. Mathematics and Physics work too,just saying

8 points by Floopsy 14y ago

> For me, however, no matter how many new or interesting projects I would begin working on, the question that would ultimately appear in my mind would be, “Why are you doing this?” This is not meant to be critical or in any way superior, but shortly after acquiring my first programmable calculator in the early 1970s and extending to the present, I have no doubt about why I write programs -- programming works in a world where nearly nothing else does. Governments don't work. Religions don't work. Relationships don't work. Philosophy doesn't work. And psychology certainly doesn't work -- it's a field with more self-deluding, self-important frauds per square meter than any I can think of. But programming works -- if you become skilled at it, you may end up writing real solutions to real problems that people find useful. I get calls every day from people who have problems they could easily solve if only they knew how to program. For example, today I got an e-mail from someone who needed to compute the relationship between sensor height and volume in an underground storage tank that (a) had an unknown shape and size, and (b) had also been deformed by overhead truck traffic over decades. I solved the problem for him, using a little math knowledge and some simple programming. Programming is to modern times what literacy was to the Middle Ages -- it puts you in the enviable position of having an essential skill, one people simply can't do without. > I Am Not A Programmer I am a programmer. Looking through my notebooks from the 1960s, I realize I was a programmer before I had a way to gain access to a computer -- I kept trying to solve problems algorithmically, years before I had a chance to write a real algorithm or see it executed. I think back to the early 19th century, the time of Charles Babbage (difference engine) and Ada Lovelace (the first computer programmer), and I think how tragic that they spent their lives pining for access to something we take for granted. This isn't to overvalue computers, only to say that having access to computers now seems like a natural right, a good thing, but being denied that access is like not being able to breathe. A few decades ago, almost no one realized this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lutus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lutus

zwdr 14y ago

I dont really know why I should care that some, to me random, person, doesn't regard himself a programmer. There really is no valuable information for anyone who doesnt know that person in that post. So why post it? Who would be interested?

acuozzo 14y ago
> There really is no valuable information for anyone who doesnt know that person in that post. Many people make things accessible via the WWW with no goal or intention to reach a wider audience than their respective peers. > So why post it? To reach his/her peers without having to send it to each one individually. Alternatively, he/she could be using a blog as a place to vent. > Who would be interested? Obviously, HN readers.
- zwdr 14y ago
  HN readers who dont know the person? I really dont think so. It hardly qualifies as news anyways.
  - acuozzo 14y ago
    > HN readers who dont know the person? They up-voted it, didn't they?

ekm2 14y ago

Governments don't work. Religions don't work. Relationships don't work. Philosophy doesn't work. And psychology certainly doesn't work -- it's a field with more self-deluding, self-important frauds per square meter than any I can think of. Mathematics and Physics work too,just saying