Why do you like programming?

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I'm new to this forum and curious: why do you like programming (assuming you do)?

To me I think it's that it's a tool allowing me to completely control the environment of my computer. It allows me to make logical conclusions about what will happen and, unlike real life, these will hold assuming I didn't miss some detail, and I can use this to make it do anything I can possibly figure out how to do.

1. It requires some cleverness.
2. It is logical
3. You can get very quick feedback on whether you did well or not.
4. It is definite, well defined and no B.S. Unlike religion and politics.

Math, science and software is for humans. Politics and religion is for sub-humans.

ruveyn

i like programming because programming languages are easy for me to understand, and i can craft answers to seriously difficult questions i have by executing my logical question/solution map 100,000 times faster than my brain could do so.

many lives of exploration can be lived within the span of one simple lifespan (my lifespan) if the power of intelligence in execution of design is explored at almost the speed of light.

many things can be ejected as flotsam/jetsam, and many things can take their place in the queue for my eventual investigation if i consider their summary merits at almost the speed of light.

i think my words are becoming cryptic because i am quite tired. i believe in what i say always, but i see that my ability to carefully communicate what i think diminishes as i get more tired, and i have little judgement as to when i should stop talking.


it takes little judgement to know i should stop talking now.

"The magic of myth and legend has come true in our time. One types the correct incantation on a keyboard, and a display screen comes to life, showing things that never were nor could be." --Fred Brooks

"The process of preparing programs for a digital computer is especially attractive, not only because it can be economically and scientifically rewarding, but also because it can be an aesthetic experience much like composing poetry or music." --Donald Knuth

^^ This, especially. It's an art-form of the most intricate and detailed type.

I like listening to people saying "it cannot be done", then proving them wrong.

I just started my road to programming =). I like it so far. I am learning objective-c and visual basic. I dont want to learn visual basic but my college major is forcing me to =(.

Hadn't though about it that way but I do feel that that is certainly one of the most charming parts.


Oooh, I like these quotes, I think I'll write them down somewhere.


Don't be deterred , visual basic isn't my favourite language either but as you gain more knowledge and stop thinking about the syntax I think you'll find that it doesn't really matter much what language code is written in (beyond convenience and personal preferences). Despite what people in general seem to think about VB it's not actually that bad and you can do *a lot* of interesting stuff using the .NET libraries.

I'd say the most important part is personal experimentation. Don't stick to just doing what school tells you to! Do what *you* want to do, programming is meant to be a tool for you to use, have fun with it.

Good luck and happy programming

I mainly like the puzzle of it.

I like it because it is fun, challenging and I am good at it. Mostly I do game programming so on that level It is watching my crazy and weird mind come to life.

Because it requires you to be thoughtful, and it also allows a lot of innovation. Programming to me really is an art and science, but not really freeform art in the strict sense. It's both logical and extremely interesting.

"People in general" - That usually translates to miscellaneous crap programmers with a uni degree that have been trained to think by some looser teacher which haven't touched anything but C++ and even despise Java - which is like C++ - but isn't C++.

Most of these ret*ds actually thought hat VB (6 and earlier) had no object orientation, no class system and it was impossible to access the win32 API just because there were no MFC's. It's just as pathetic and ignorant as saying that "Linux does not support a graphics environment because all the books i've read about linux were about the commandline stuff".

If i'm in a position to hire a programmer any time in my life, and they make claims like that, i'll throw them out - head first.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I meant but I like being subtle

I've only coded in 6502 assembly. The good ole days of what is now retro computing. I enjoyed what little I did mainly because it allowed me to unleash the potential of the hardware. It's rarely done now, the computer you have is capable of more than what most people code for just because it's easier, and raw CPU power can compensate.

I also liked learning new techniques. Good programming is not only logical, GOOD programming is also clever.

I know, but someone had to say it.

People in suits that have never done any serious coding or exploration in computer programming on their own, and blabber on about theoretical knowledge which they got from a Uni - not because they love programming, but only as a means to make money - deserve negative respect.

I read a similar thread in another forum where someone posted about the same things on certifications, another useless piece of paper i keep near the bathroom.




...And it can save money by not requiring you to run a badly coded Java applet on a $150K server.

nothing like the satisfaction of presenting work well done,
that said most of what i do program has no real purpose, except for the learning and the fun.