The conversation

Lessons learnedExperience excerpt · English

Honestly, the text looks like it was written by someone who does not understand hobbyist programming

Honestly, the text looks like it was written by someone who does not understand hobbyist programming. It's not fun. The activity is not an enjoyable act of entertainment. It's stressful, time consuming and miserable. The result is what matters. You did something. Learned something. For you, not because it was in some work planning. It provides catharsis. That sort of catharsis does not exist in some work related environment. It never will, unless stars align magically, which they almost never do. I am highly skeptic of this "code is fun" perspective. Always was. That's why "all your base belong to us" kind of contracts in which stuff made outside work COULD become property of the hiring company makes otherwise happy developers into depressive under-productive nightmares. Let them code the toy thing unharmed in their spare time, for fucks sake. Let it be the real thing. Stop this nonsense fairytale. It is for your own good. It prevents companies from hiring con men, it prevents young folk from being drawn to a career they will despise, it prevents massive loss of investment. …

Original discussionI just want to code (2023)172 source comments · at import
2

Community replies 0

No community replies yet. Add your perspective.

Replies from the source 2

Direct replies available in this import. Original-language excerpts.

BI

> Honestly, the text looks like it was written by someone who does not understand hobbyist programming. I don't think that at all. I think he just has a different perspective on it than you do. Whilst your perspective is valid, some people actually do enjoy the work of coding, especially if they can do so in an environment where they can immediately check intermediate results and use those to shape their coding trajectory as they work, creating a tight OODA loop. (Hi, Lisp!) > That's why "all your base belong to us" kind of contracts in which stuff made outside work COULD become property of the hiring company makes otherwise happy developers into depressive under-productive nightmares. Let them code the toy thing unharmed in their spare time, for fucks sake. > Let it be the real thing. Stop this nonsense fairytale. On this we can agree. I think that for programming to be fun it has to be…

Full original
FL

I don't find knitting fun, which is why I don't do it. Even if in theory I like the idea of creating custom clothing on the cheap, and whatnot. Maybe that's what programming is to you.

Full original
Continue on Hacker News

Respect different perspectives. Share concrete experiences.

Sign in to post, reply, repost, and quote.