3 ms·

Am I the only one here who derives a considerable amount of joy from the act of writing code? I've worked across a wide variety of languages and environments,

Am I the only one here who derives a considerable amount of joy from the act of writing code? I've worked across a wide variety of languages and environments, including far more Access VBA than anyone should be exposed to (I loath Access more than any other environment ever), and yet, even here I love writing code. There's something amazingly zen about it; I am the machine, corny as it sounds. It's where I am at peace. I don't know how to respond to people who see coding as merely an end to a means, except to say that that may be true for you, but for me it's far far more.

visitor4rmindia 18y ago
Same here - I enjoy programming. I'm passionate about it. I can relate very strongly to the OP. I program because I want to - because the very act gives me joy. I'm not crazy about debugging but it's a part of my craft and I even enjoy it sometimes. Sometimes, I still can't believe they pay me to do this!
- blhack 18y ago
  I love debugging...I even [sometimes] love debugging other people's code... Its a bit like being a kid, and going out exploring in the woods, or trying to figure out where your parents hid the christmas presents. Everything is new, and shiny (with other's code)...its fun seeing how other people do things... That and it is a puzzle. Doing stuff in the "real world" is boring, predictable. Doing stuff in code is fun. There are no "rules" really. The only limitation is how much yerba matte I can consume.
  - benmathes 18y ago
    I like solving puzzles based on inherent complexity -- complications that arise in the data structures and algorithms of a piece of code. Any time spent fixing complexity layered onto the minimal complexity by confusing or poorly-factored code sucks. For example: I enjoy solving a performance issue by introducing a time/space tradeoff. I do _not_ enjoy fixing a bug where a previous coder (maybe me) misspelled a variable name once in a 6000-line function -- that's just cleaning up a mess, not problem solving.
berntb 18y ago
I see programming as very similar to playing computer games. I have to avoid games as I avoid drugs and golf. I just don't buy graphics cards. What scares me in life as bad as heights are Eve Online ads... I stopped doing C/C++ etc since scripting languages are like Counterstrike with a wall hack (no direct experience of cheating in multi user games. I'm too old for kid stuff.) Unlike you, I still wouldn't do Windows again. I had some stomach problems for a while and know that Windows programming is worse than starving. 1/2 :-)
sho 18y ago
Hey, that is totally cool. No need to respond in any meaningful way! Everyone's different. And it doesn't sound corny at all. I know exactly what you mean actually, since that's how I feel about writing music, which is hard work by any standard but I just lose myself in the joy of it. I'm not even trying to complain or anything; I program a lot and don't avoid it at all, I'm always writing little scripts for this or personal experiments for that. It's just that I don't find the process particularly fun in the way that you perhaps mean. I appreciate the power, I love having the skill, but the main driver is the outcome. Takes all sorts! : )
- cubicle67 18y ago
  Music is probably a great analogy. I'm not musical, but I know people who are. Something about it aligns perfectly with who they are; it is inseparable from the person.

visitor4rmindia 18y ago

Same here - I enjoy programming. I'm passionate about it. I can relate very strongly to the OP. I program because I want to - because the very act gives me joy. I'm not crazy about debugging but it's a part of my craft and I even enjoy it sometimes. Sometimes, I still can't believe they pay me to do this!

blhack 18y ago
I love debugging...I even [sometimes] love debugging other people's code... Its a bit like being a kid, and going out exploring in the woods, or trying to figure out where your parents hid the christmas presents. Everything is new, and shiny (with other's code)...its fun seeing how other people do things... That and it is a puzzle. Doing stuff in the "real world" is boring, predictable. Doing stuff in code is fun. There are no "rules" really. The only limitation is how much yerba matte I can consume.
- benmathes 18y ago
  I like solving puzzles based on inherent complexity -- complications that arise in the data structures and algorithms of a piece of code. Any time spent fixing complexity layered onto the minimal complexity by confusing or poorly-factored code sucks. For example: I enjoy solving a performance issue by introducing a time/space tradeoff. I do _not_ enjoy fixing a bug where a previous coder (maybe me) misspelled a variable name once in a 6000-line function -- that's just cleaning up a mess, not problem solving.

berntb 18y ago

I see programming as very similar to playing computer games. I have to avoid games as I avoid drugs and golf. I just don't buy graphics cards. What scares me in life as bad as heights are Eve Online ads... I stopped doing C/C++ etc since scripting languages are like Counterstrike with a wall hack (no direct experience of cheating in multi user games. I'm too old for kid stuff.) Unlike you, I still wouldn't do Windows again. I had some stomach problems for a while and know that Windows programming is worse than starving. 1/2 :-)

sho 18y ago

Hey, that is totally cool. No need to respond in any meaningful way! Everyone's different. And it doesn't sound corny at all. I know exactly what you mean actually, since that's how I feel about writing music, which is hard work by any standard but I just lose myself in the joy of it. I'm not even trying to complain or anything; I program a lot and don't avoid it at all, I'm always writing little scripts for this or personal experiments for that. It's just that I don't find the process particularly fun in the way that you perhaps mean. I appreciate the power, I love having the skill, but the main driver is the outcome. Takes all sorts! : )

cubicle67 18y ago
Music is probably a great analogy. I'm not musical, but I know people who are. Something about it aligns perfectly with who they are; it is inseparable from the person.