Few people are 'cut out' for programming in the traditional way

by pyeri on 4/5/2025, 3:11:09 AM with 2 comments
Nobody is truly that "cut out" for programming. We might be emotional and biological machines, but we aren't logical circuit boards. As humans, we are wired to appreciate patterns in life and relationships, not binary 1s and 0s. However, coding patterns like decision trees, loops, recursions, etc. also do feel interesting to us as long as they produce interesting and utilitarian software which feels like magic.

But when the drudgery of programming sets in and all you're seeing is just heaps and mounds of instructions that need hours to fathom their working, even the best of programmers feel like leaving the field and running away! And that's exactly why things like no-code, low-code, AI assisted development, frameworks and packages, etc. are becoming so popular increasingly. Humans aren't "natural" programmers in that sense, they're primarily story tellers and meaning seekers in life.

  • by GianFabien on 4/5/2025, 5:41:10 AM

    I see programming as a means to an end. That is, one of several tools to use in creating solutions to real problems.

    Perhaps the problem is that much of what passes for programming activity is in pursuit of addressing some trivial problem or burnishing some manager's ego.

    Of course, most of the big problems of our age cannot be solved by computer technologies alone. Solving such problems requires skills in numerous domains, most of which require deep levels of specialized expertise.

  • by yencabulator on 4/6/2025, 4:17:30 PM

    That's just like, your opinion, man.

    > However, coding patterns like decision trees, loops, recursions, etc. also do feel interesting to us as long as they produce interesting and utilitarian software which feels like magic.

    To some of us, patterns are interesting because they behave in interesting ways, not because they can be used to make a To-Do list app. Why the hell do you think people get into mathematics?