...if you add up the number of hours that I've spent in conversation with editors, compilers and debuggers over the years...
I'm afraid to do that. I would probably be shocked by the number, and then would quickly calculate my lifetime rate, which would probably be about 28 cents per hour. This is the thing non-programmers never understand; programming takes a lot of time.
It's like a drug.
Great analogy! For me, there's no bigger high than the exact moment of the conclusion of this process:
That process, the act of programming is something that I need to do.
Sometimes I think this is the difficult-to-define missing requirement for software success. Some call it "passion". Some call it "determination". I call it "I can't imagine doing anything else".
but it has all the components of a 'real' program, input, computation, output.
Don't forget storage. That was the killer feature that got me hooked. You could write a simple program, store the result (on a disk!), come back later and build upon that result. Before disk storage, computers were toys. After disk storage, they changed the world.
there is nothing that can't be learned.
I've never had a tatoo, but if I did, this probably would be it (backward, on my forehead).
...all you need to be is a little bit better than you were yesterday and to keep doing that for a long time.
This advice:
1. is excellent. Maybe the best you'll ever read here.
2. is not intuitive. Most people don't get it. Like compound interest, it's hard to wrap a human brain around it.
3. is universal. It applies to almost anything you can do.
4. is very difficult to teach. As soon as you think people get it, they don't. They stop measuring their own deltas and resume comparing to perfection. Grrrrr.
5. the single most important thing I've ever programmed in business turn-arounds. The best dashboards and report writers I've ever written are time-phased; they clearly show improvement over time, which is almost always more important than any snapshot:
Losing + Improvement + Time = Winning
Beware of that bug though, once it bites you, you'll be hooked for life.
To this day, whenever I need something for myself and can't find it in 5 minutes, I build it. It may not be the most effective way, but I just can't help myself. There must be a (3)(2)(2) program for people like me.
I'm afraid to do that. I would probably be shocked by the number, and then would quickly calculate my lifetime rate, which would probably be about 28 cents per hour. This is the thing non-programmers never understand; programming takes a lot of time.
It's like a drug.
Great analogy! For me, there's no bigger high than the exact moment of the conclusion of this process:
NothingThere + IDidSomething = SomethingThereForTheFirstTimeEver!
That process, the act of programming is something that I need to do.
Sometimes I think this is the difficult-to-define missing requirement for software success. Some call it "passion". Some call it "determination". I call it "I can't imagine doing anything else".
but it has all the components of a 'real' program, input, computation, output.
Don't forget storage. That was the killer feature that got me hooked. You could write a simple program, store the result (on a disk!), come back later and build upon that result. Before disk storage, computers were toys. After disk storage, they changed the world.
there is nothing that can't be learned.
I've never had a tatoo, but if I did, this probably would be it (backward, on my forehead).
...all you need to be is a little bit better than you were yesterday and to keep doing that for a long time.
This advice:
1. is excellent. Maybe the best you'll ever read here.
2. is not intuitive. Most people don't get it. Like compound interest, it's hard to wrap a human brain around it.
3. is universal. It applies to almost anything you can do.
4. is very difficult to teach. As soon as you think people get it, they don't. They stop measuring their own deltas and resume comparing to perfection. Grrrrr.
5. the single most important thing I've ever programmed in business turn-arounds. The best dashboards and report writers I've ever written are time-phased; they clearly show improvement over time, which is almost always more important than any snapshot:
Losing + Improvement + Time = Winning
Beware of that bug though, once it bites you, you'll be hooked for life.
To this day, whenever I need something for myself and can't find it in 5 minutes, I build it. It may not be the most effective way, but I just can't help myself. There must be a (3)(2)(2) program for people like me.