Thread: What do you enjoy most about programming?

  1. 05-19-2016 #1
    Epy
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    What do you enjoy most about programming?

    I was thinking about this earlier, and realized what really draws me to programming is my OCD basically. I enjoy thinking about how to make a program more compact, more efficient, more standards compliant, faster, etc. I once spent like a week optimizing a set of Fortran programs for partial LU decomposition. I don't really use them at all now, but I enjoyed iteratively making the programs better and better.

    I also enjoy the automation aspect of it, i.e. how can I make things easier for the user/me? What all tasks can be done automatically for the information given?
  2. 05-19-2016 #2
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    I think it's the automation aspect for me, not to save me or others effort, but more out of curiosity. The idea of creating something which – without further intervention – works (more or less) on its own. I imagine the creation of strong AI would be the peak experience in this respect.

    I wonder... since programming is a novel activity on evolutionary timescales, what older instincts does it tap into. Why do some of us like it so much?
  3. 05-19-2016 #3
    Epy
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    There's also the satisfaction in knowing a lot of people can't get farther than a print statement with programming. </smug>
  4. 05-20-2016 #4
    manasij7479
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    I have realized that I really like the sudden 'Aha' moments once a day(/few days) when I come to a *really* nice solution or figure out what was causing a difficult to track bug.
    I also like to make/play with interfaces that fit together perfectly! That might be the OCD part..

    Other than that programming can get pretty close to what I imagine an accountant/librarian does all day.
    Last edited by manasij7479; 05-20-2016 at 03:43 AM.
  5. 05-20-2016 #5
    Elkvis
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    My favorite part of programming is the learning aspect. It seems more than once a week, I discover something new, that will make my code smaller, faster, and better. I've been working my way through all the CppCon 2015 sessions, and I'm learning a ton.
    What can this strange device be?
    When I touch it, it gives forth a sound
    It's got wires that vibrate and give music
    What can this thing be that I found?
  6. 05-24-2016 #6
    Mario F.
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    The thing I like most about programming is debugging. Which probably means the thing I like most about building houses is fixing the plumbing.

    edit: Seriously though, I'm a debugger nut. Give me code to fix over code to write, any day.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.
  7. 05-24-2016 #7
    algorism
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mario F. View Post
    The thing I like most about programming is debugging.
    I love debugging, too. Strangely, I always feel a kind of let-down when I finally solve a difficult bug.
  8. 05-25-2016 #8
    megafiddle
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    I always enjoyed building my own things. Programming offers a means to do that in the software realm.

    So one thing I enjoy is the actual creation of a program (or application).

    I also enjoy programming for reasons very similar to those already mentioned by the others above.

    My first exposure to a programming language was in an engineering lab in a company I worked for as a technician. Some of the programs I had to use were written by electrical engineers (not software engineers) in BASIC.

    The programs had bugs, and in the interest of making the program easier to use myself, I started to learn the language and try to fix them. Turns out I had a knack for it. And I still enjoy debugging.

    I also like tiny, fast code. I enjoy the challenge of making it both tiny and fast.

    I especially enjoy the "aha" moments mentioned by manasij7479.
    There have been occasions (and far too few) where it was what I can only describe as a transcendental experience.

    -
    Last edited by megafiddle; 05-25-2016 at 04:09 AM.
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