We deal with complex systems on a regular basis and companies literally pay us to solve problems.
Sometimes I find myself trying to optimize some aspects of my personal life and it makes me wonder if being a programmer sorta leaks into everything we do.
I'm curious about the community's thoughts on that, what do you think?
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I cringe when I hear my friends talk about the excel spreadsheets they use for work looking at all those cells makes my head spin. I prefer a database but to each their own. :)
Haha, excellent question, one I'd answer differently after ~25 years writing lines of code (than I would have had 10 or 20 years ago).
I came to programming in part owing to a very inductive / self driven approach to doing things. Where programming lets you engage concretely, as opposed to say, putting people in motion towards a goal (aka management). Yea sure that is not the whole story (or I might be a potter, or a cook, also very direct).
Guess what? Managing and connecting is often the faster, better way to get things done; Henry IV will agree. Another thing: the myth of reuse. The whole computing thing changes fast enough that, reuse often is not in the code - even languages do have a shelf life.
Took me perhaps a couple of decades to get out of the life optimizing mood. Enhancing life through programming... well it's not for me now. I find more enlightenment in mind practices vs mechanizing our relationship with the world.
Overall a day without coding is not a good day for me. But I also think more about, okay. What is this piece of code doing? Good code is about removing. Removing hassle. Removing unused APIs. Removing worries. The best is stable code that liberates us from... machines and a taylorized life style. Closing, let's pick a counter-example: automated recommendations. That is terrible code. It is removing choice, narrowing perspective, mechanizing preference. Not the programmer's fault, mind.
Loved your take, Tea. I relate to a lot of what you said, this one is my favorite bit:
Having had some experience with management, I agree that nothing in tech is faster than a capable and motivated group of people.
I personally get frustrated with others when they complain about bugs/issues/problems on websites and get mad at the people behind the site. Learning to not take it so personally. That aside I find my science degree influences my world view far more than my coding does. Perhaps I code because of my science mind, it is a very different way to see the world. Analysing things, figuring out how things work, poking and prodding stuff continuously.
I think it goes both ways. Since I was a kid I always loved Legos, K'Nex, and making practical things like a home-made adjustable standing desk. Programming just felt like a natural extension of those hobby projects.
Working in software full time has taught me that I can solve nearly any problem so long as the time and effort to learn a new skill is cheaper than the cost of having someone else do it. I've attempted some terrifying car and home repairs on my own to save some money and try to learn some new skills. Being a professional problem solver has been incredibly valuable.
I believe there's a solution to everything now.
I Want To Change My Views About This, It's Like A Hell In Our Community I Really Need Someone That Can Cheer Me Up.
My Community Hates You For No Reason I Miss My Game's LifeπThat Time I Don't Care About Nothing Just Free Mind.
I discovered coding passion very late on my life.
I discovered how I learned more efficiently, in my case. FAILING.
And I started learn new things losing my fear on failure.
I discovered a new hobby. Roller skating, and I fail (and fall) a lot.
And I enjoy, so so much.
I used to stop doing things because I thought I will never learn, now I usually say...
Well, I'll fail first one thousand times, and let's see later
I tend to try and solve life problems the same way I solve programming problems. Like, when I need to plan a schedule, I find myself making ANSI flowcharts.
Flowcharts are great! Sometimes I use needlessly complicated programming tools for more mundane tasks. Whenever I need to edit a piece of text that is slightly complex I do it in VS Code due to my familiarity with the keyboard shortcuts
Yeah, I get that.
Since I started developing games, playing video games feels very different. I find myself trying to dissect how a certain game mechanism might be coded instead of just enjoying the games. I had to learn how to turn it off again to relax.
Haha, yes! A "how did they do that???" is very common for me as well π
I cant stop optimizing code and workflows. Imagine my world view with all those chaotic governments with the worst workflows of all and way to much bureaucracy.