[~ot] why is programming so fun?

[BCS]

Reply to Gregor,

> I'm very stringent in my programming practice. I never hack systems
> together, I always spend time (often weeks or months) designing things
> in my head before I write a single line of code. That's just my
> nature. However, I still get a great thrill of accomplishment when I
> finish writing something.
> 
> A result of this mentality is that I very rarely fail to accomplish
> what I've intended to, since anything beyond my abilities or that I
> would burn out on is usually scrapped before I've even written
> anything down. By the time I'm actually writing the code, the code
> itself is a menial task.

<not_joking>It's nice to known someone does it that way</not_joking>
<joking> Has NASA tried to hire you yet? </joking>

> 
> A negative result is that I don't like maintenance :)
> 

who does?

> The point is, I get a very consistent reward from programming because
> of my more stringent programming practice, but I don't do this /for
> the reward/, I do it because it's how I think. This leads me to
> believe that the usual hack-it-together standard comes from a
> mentality, not a feedback loop.
> 

I think you are looking at a much longer loop than I am, The loop I'm thinking 
about can be as short as 30 seconds. I don't think anyone can avoid it either 
(unless you can compile code in your head). Most people don't bother catching 
every last error before they compile. And IMHO they shouldn't. A number of 
errors are just so much easier to let the compiler catch that even if you 
can, it's not worth the time.

On the other hand the stuff I really like working with is so far out on the 
edge, and in the corner cases, that you can't really design it because the 
only way to find out the "landscape" out there is to try it. After you feel 
around for a while you can go back and redesign, it but not as a first pass.

> - Gregor Richards
>