Guys, guys! Programming is actually cool!

Where I am

I recently got interested in programming and I have to say it's fascinating!

• Much of my YouTube feed is about programming now.
• I started using Twitter again just to read @htmx_org's memes.
• I decided to finally learn touch typing (so far I'm even slower than before, but I'm hopeful).
• I'm doing last year's Advent of Code (yes, in the Summer, sue me).
• I'm trying to push something (at least a README update) to my GitHub every day.
• I even made my first contribution to an Open Source project a few days ago.
• Coding every day in general. Like bigbox said: now it feels weird when I don't code.

All of this in a little longer than a month (including a 2-week vacation)!

These guys are pretty cool I guess

The twist

Ok, so here's the kicker: I'm 34 and I've been a Java/Fullstack developer for 8 years now.

How?

I don't know if it was reading The Grug Brained Developer or watching Primeagen or some sort of combination of the two and/or other factors (most likely), but I finally caught the bug (xD).

How could I do this without any interest?

Actually it was super easy, barely an inconvenience. I heard that Gen Z call it a lazy girl job (I'm a guy, but I'm told it doesn't matter), also I like learning and always had a knack for all things STEM.

Programming has just been a minor interest of mine (and a job) for a few years, but not more important than comic books or video games. UNTIL NOW! I guess it's part of a wider pattern of my behavior, where I don't fully commit to things until it's very late. I'm working on that, and this is a part of the process.

And just to be clear, I read Clean Code a year or two ago (which apparently was a mistake, but the general concepts are still pretty good and better than nothing) and have been visiting this cool blog for Java people from time to time. Like I said: it was a minor interest and I like learning.

What's next?

Oh, I'm here to stay! I'm going to have less and less time for my other minor interests, but that's life. Some of my goals are long-term, some are shorter and I don't really have to achieve any of them. They do, however, give me a direction, at least for now. I'm finally having fun coding, and I wish the same to all of you!