Greatest thing you took from Programming...

Here's a question for you all... what is the greatest thing you got out of learning to program, in your mind? What ability makes you most proud?

To me, mine is the ability to identify why a glitch might be happening when I see them in other people's programs without even looking at the code. I can kind of diagnose what would be the cause... I love this ability and I love to show it off to non programmers when I can. I also love to feel like an ass when I end up being wrong. :)

Anyone else wanna take a try at this?

I think programming has helped me think in a way I call "more logically". lol...

Put more simply (and more intelligently), I think due to learning how to program, I've been trained to think out problems in a very ordered manner as opposed to ignoring the fine details of everyday solutions. I think this has even carried across to non-programming problems that I see.

Being able to decompile a game called Gazillionaire Deluxe using a VB3 decompiler, fix a bug that was annoying me to no end and recompile the game. :D

Thinking logically. Breaking large problems into small chunks. Making useful programs.

Getting the chicks who think IT guys are really sexy, ever since I've started programming they've been lining up to get with me, my friends ask me how -- I respond with one letter, C.

Not really :(, It's helped me mostly in maths - being more methodical in the way I work.

Pattern recognition.

The ability to switch off day to day stuff and work on something that isnt related to work

The unparalleled skill of being able site for 12+ hours in front of a computer.

I'm better at tetris for some reason.

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Originally Posted by Perspective

The unparalleled skill of being able site for 12+ hours in front of a computer.

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I second :p

I don't program anymore. I don't like the way it made
me think. I prefer a more non-structured, spacey
thought process. Programming just seems to keep my
mind on a much too literal and linear path. If that makes
sense. Which it probably doesn't. But that's the point.
If I still programmed, I probably would be making sense
right now.

I think one of the best things becomming a skilled programmer teaches you is humility:

Learn that the problem is always a bug in your code, except when it isn't.

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I love this ability and I love to show it off to non programmers when I can.

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Me too, and since I don't know anyone else in the real world that can code I always look big & clever, even when I'm wrong I just blag it. So it must be superiority, even if its all just BS who can tell? :P

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Originally Posted by Perspective

The unparalleled skill of being able site for 12+ hours in front of a computer.

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Don't forget - you're being paid to sit in front of a computer for 12+ hours.

The greatest thing I got from programming was money.
The second greatest thing I got from programming was enough money to quit doing it for money at the age of 38 and move on to more interesting and less stressful things.

You were a VB programmer, right Mario? I remember that being a real hot ticket for a while when I was much younger.

I'm with MacGyver here.
Although, there are some here that would disagree with me. :D

The greatest thing I'll probably get from programming is being employed if I fail to do anything else. But that's for the immediate future, and what I enjoy right now is the ability to supply people with what they need and help them. That got me even more friends. Especially as technology continues to become more pervasive in our lives, it's easier to meet people on a more friendly basis and get work done. Gone are the days when the only place to program was a cold lonely room not unlike a basement.

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Originally Posted by citizen

Gone are the days when the only place to program was a cold lonely room not unlike a basement.

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Much more preferable to being in a basement that is overheated thanks to the giant mainframe that you have to stand next to.

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Originally Posted by SlyMaelstrom

You were a VB programmer, right Mario? I remember that being a real hot ticket for a while when I was much younger.

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For about 10 years, yes. I was lucky enough to be on my prime during this period. What company still today can resist an energetic know-it-all on his 20s?

Good pay too. More than what they are paying these days. Granted, just 20 years ago software engineers where rocket scientists and curious kids where software developers. Today softare engineers are coffee shop waiters and curious kids are still software developers.

Good thing I quit. I'm not the smartest on the block. I'm the first to admit it. Kids today put me to shame. I was lucky enough to squeeze that cow all I could before jumping off.