Prev: translating
Next: Survey about 'The view of the IT staff on open source software'
From: Mensanator on 14 Mar 2010 13:25
On Mar 14, 11:23�am, brang...(a)cix.co.uk (Dave Harris) wrote:
> cdal...(a)gmail.com (Chad) wrote (abridged):
>
> > Am I right to assume that the reason why most people take up
> > programming is because they like programming? I'm just curious
> > because the reason I took up programming was because it seemed
> > like a safe outlet to escape my ongoing battles with alcoholism
> > and depression. Over time, I learned to express my hate and
> > anger through computer code.
>
> > To this day, I still code with hate. I'm just sort of curious if
> > this is normal or healthy.
>
> Quite a lot of code seems to be written by programmers who hate their
> users. And some seems to be written by people who hate their fellow
> programmers, too (especially those who have to maintain it). Sometimes
> they seem to want to torture the machine. So I guess you're not alone.

Just because it's normal doesn't make i healthy.

>
> -- Dave Harris, Nottingham, UK.

From: BGB / cr88192 on 14 Mar 2010 13:51

"Chad" <cdalten(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
news:f4591625-1249-4b45-803c-ead78c40aff0(a)x19g2000pro.googlegroups.com...
> Am I right to assume that the reason why most people take up
> programming is because they like programming? I'm just curious because
> the reason I took up programming was because it seemed like a safe
> outlet to escape my ongoing battles with alcoholism and depression.
> Over time, I learned to express my hate and anger through computer
> code.
>
> To this day, I still code with hate. I'm just sort of curious if this
> is normal or healthy.

I think my case was more because I wanted some aspect of reality where I was
the one who could control and decide things, and where I actually mattered
for something.

this is in contrast to an external reality where nothing is under my
control, and where one is faced with being almost entirely irrelevant and
useless...

the problem is that this aspect of the external reality is difficult to
avoid, and it may be an issue to maintain an "inner world" with a sense of
existence and value in the presence of ones' external existence, in a world
of decay and worthlessness...


sometimes, it can be difficult to sort out ones' internal and external
realities though, as one may find (due some to feedback from the outside
world) that they are very different from how they had seemed to
themselves...

it doesn't help so much that sometimes what is right is wrong and what is
wrong is right, sometimes one really doesn't know anymore, ...



From: Ashton K on 14 Mar 2010 17:11
Frederick Williams <frederick.williams2(a)tesco.net> wrote:
> Chad wrote:
>>
>> Am I right to assume that the reason why most people take up
>> programming is because they like programming?
>
> Not me, I took up programming because I needed to earn a living.

You really must have missed out on doing something else you would've loved.

>> I'm just curious because
>> the reason I took up programming was because it seemed like a safe
>> outlet to escape my ongoing battles with alcoholism and depression.
>> Over time, I learned to express my hate and anger through computer
>> code.
>>
>> To this day, I still code with hate. I'm just sort of curious if this
>> is normal or healthy.

Healthy? Dunno, who doesn't have their issues?

Normal? I think not.

Although at times I get frustrated at my users (mostly because
they make fantastically stupid decisions from time to time),
I don't really hate them, although I do make jokes to that end.

I guess I got into programming because I was curious. To the same
degree about how I try and disassemble anything within my reach.
I want to know how it all works.

Still haven't figured out the computer completely. That's probably
a good thing. God knows what I'd do with myself once I knew it all.
Everyone needs a mystery they can't solve.

--Ashton
From: Daniel Pitts on 15 Mar 2010 15:11
On 3/14/2010 2:11 PM, Ashton K wrote:
> Frederick Williams<frederick.williams2(a)tesco.net> wrote:
>> Chad wrote:
>>>
>>> Am I right to assume that the reason why most people take up
>>> programming is because they like programming?
>>
>> Not me, I took up programming because I needed to earn a living.
>
> You really must have missed out on doing something else you would've loved.
Fredrick should have become a Doctor, or an Executive instead ;-)
>
>>> I'm just curious because
>>> the reason I took up programming was because it seemed like a safe
>>> outlet to escape my ongoing battles with alcoholism and depression.
>>> Over time, I learned to express my hate and anger through computer
>>> code.
>>>
>>> To this day, I still code with hate. I'm just sort of curious if this
>>> is normal or healthy.
>
> Healthy? Dunno, who doesn't have their issues?
>
> Normal? I think not.
It may be common, but it is frustrating to deal with anger-filled code.
If you pour anger into any art, the art will pour the anger back into
anyone experiencing it. Doubly so for having to work with and modify
said art.
>
> Although at times I get frustrated at my users (mostly because
> they make fantastically stupid decisions from time to time),
> I don't really hate them, although I do make jokes to that end.
While this is a frustrating part of software design, it is often a
problem with the programmer not fully abstracting the problem-space away
from the users. Unless they request a truly contradictory feature, then
the decisions aren't necessary stupid, but poorly addressed. Users
shouldn't have to care whether your system supports their "minor" change
request. It should be easy to make those changes, and to change them
back when the users decide so. Granted, not all "minor" changes are
that easy, but the majority of them should be.
>
> I guess I got into programming because I was curious. To the same
> degree about how I try and disassemble anything within my reach.
> I want to know how it all works.
I got into programming (when I was 8) because it was fun to solve
problems, and it also appealed to my desire to exert control. I
continued to program because I enjoyed solving problems, and was good at
what I did.
>
> Still haven't figured out the computer completely. That's probably
> a good thing. God knows what I'd do with myself once I knew it all.
> Everyone needs a mystery they can't solve.
No one knows everything. No one will ever no everything as long as
there are two or more entities in existence.

--
Daniel Pitts' Tech Blog: <http://virtualinfinity.net/wordpress/>
From: Ashton K on 16 Mar 2010 02:25
Daniel Pitts <newsgroup.spamfilter(a)virtualinfinity.net> wrote:

<snip>

>> Although at times I get frustrated at my users (mostly because
>> they make fantastically stupid decisions from time to time),
>> I don't really hate them, although I do make jokes to that end.
> While this is a frustrating part of software design, it is often a
> problem with the programmer not fully abstracting the problem-space away
> from the users. Unless they request a truly contradictory feature, then
> the decisions aren't necessary stupid, but poorly addressed. Users
> shouldn't have to care whether your system supports their "minor" change
> request. It should be easy to make those changes, and to change them
> back when the users decide so. Granted, not all "minor" changes are
> that easy, but the majority of them should be.
>>
>> I guess I got into programming because I was curious. To the same
>> degree about how I try and disassemble anything within my reach.
>> I want to know how it all works.
> I got into programming (when I was 8) because it was fun to solve
> problems, and it also appealed to my desire to exert control. I
> continued to program because I enjoyed solving problems, and was good at
> what I did.
>>
>> Still haven't figured out the computer completely. That's probably
>> a good thing. God knows what I'd do with myself once I knew it all.
>> Everyone needs a mystery they can't solve.
> No one knows everything. No one will ever no everything as long as
> there are two or more entities in existence.
>


Sorry, I should've clarified. I meant stupid stuff like asking to delete
element 4 in a 3 element linked list, etc. I understand why it's necessary,
and I've found out the hard way once or twice what happens without it, but
it's still kind of annoying.

--Ashton
First  |  Prev  |  Next  |  Last
Pages: 1 2 3
Prev: translating
Next: Survey about 'The view of the IT staff on open source software'