Programming is terrible; so learn to enjoy it

https://walledcity.com/supermighty/programming-is-terrible-so-learn-to-enjoy-it

by barake • 12 years ago

32 16 12 years ago

kphild• 12 years ago

However deep in shit they are, people can find "beauty" in it. It is a defence mechanism. But why not see things as they really are?

maxander• 12 years ago

Neither "beauty" nor "shittiness" are part of how things objectively are, but rather things we project onto the world by how we relate to it. Why not, when given the choice, project the former?

justinpombrio• 12 years ago

"...there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

unimpressive• 12 years ago

Agreed, this post is essentially an ode to stockholm syndrome.

ZenoArrow• 12 years ago

Neither beauty or despair is intrinsic in anything, it makes no sense to view things in terms of a single absolute. Growing up is about coming to terms with the shades of grey.

lcedp• 12 years ago

Reminded me of

Nothing is more important than that you see and love the beauty that is right in front of you, or else you will have no defense against the ugliness that will hem you in and come at you in so many ways.

vojant• 12 years ago

Programming is only a tool to create something. If the thing that we are working on is shitty - then yes, programming is terrible. These texts are related to the web programing which usually is horrible.

0xdeadbeefbabe• 12 years ago

Yep, crud doesn't just stand for create, read, update and delete.

CmonDev2• 12 years ago

"I have even come to see the beauty in the ugly that is PHP."

I recommend stopping immediately and going through a 6 month of therapeutic Scala/F#-only development.

rheide• 12 years ago

Programming can be art, but only extremely rarely is work programming also art programming. Even when you have the best of tools at your disposal, even when you're working with the best people and the most reasonable clients, you're still solving business requirements, not freeflowing into a design that just jumped into your mind a few seconds ago in a flash of inspiration. Solving business requirements should not, cannot be art. It should be robust and maintainable and boring. If you keep art programming and business programming separate then you'll inevitably find that one or the other does not agree with you.

was_hellbanned• 12 years ago

I think programming is great, it's people that are terrible.

People write horrible APIs and document them poorly (ugh, Microsoft's SetupAPI put me into burnout mode last year).

People make demands of the programmer but kick and scream about clearly documenting those demands (specifications).

People don't appreciate and thank the programmer for his hard work. Managers and owners are suspicious and resent the programmer for not being grateful simply to receive a paycheck.

Other programmers think the programmer is an idiot for asking a question, thinking that every other programmer must know everything I know.

Yeah, it's been my experience that people make programming awful. If you can surround yourself with good people and the products of good people, you'll probably be a lot happier. I can't advise on how to find that nirvana, unfortunately.

seanconaty• 12 years ago

Just because it's related and it's one of my favorites, Another rant about "real world" software developement: http://stilldrinking.org/programming-sucks

aperture• 12 years ago

Love the article. I'm a university student, bored with the lab and into coding SSRS reports as a job. Luckily, I enjoy my work, constantly fighting the SQL queries and arranging the datasets in ever complex fashions the client needs, or decide they want to change drastically.

I found though that my enjoyment in code is I like the challenges I face, not how I got there. I have tools in front of me, that may be good or may be bad, but it doesn't matter. Using these tools, learning some tricks, or asking (even helping) others is what I find enjoyable. I enjoy the code because I challenge myself. A client will give me a new task, but ultimately it's me who has accepted it. Make the best of it.

nevster• 12 years ago

Leave the world better than you found it. Amongst the madness of silly business requirements and broken APIs, there are always opportunities for your code to stand out as a small piece of beauty to your fellow developers.

hcarvalhoalves• 12 years ago

Just a small remark about the analogy with Wabi-Sabi:

"I came to know that programming (websites in particular) was not about creating an end product, a final perfect form. It is a journey of discovery and solution finding. I embraced Wabi-sabi; the idea of the imperfection and incompleteness."

It's actually very hard to achieve Wabi-Sabi in craft - it takes skill and observation to make it look genuine.

So it's not imperfect in the sense of "let's wing it"; but more about imperfection being the ultimate aesthetic because that's the nature of things.

CmonDev2• 12 years ago

After reading and based on my experience: "Web programming is terrible; so learn to avoid it. Focus on a nice server-side language (not PHP)."

Programming is terrible; so learn to enjoy it

Related Stories