Programming Is Terrible, So Learn To Enjoy It

Dear new developer,

I appreciated this post which talks to people who are interested in being a developer, rather than someone who is newly a developer. I still think a lot of things apply.

This especially resonated:

…programming is terrible, so learn to enjoy it. If you are “on the net” learning about what programming is like, listening to the voices that get the most attention, you are probably getting the “Hollywood version” of what it means to work with software day in and day out. Now don’t get me wrong, I love programming. My best days are when I can take off the many other hats I wear and just focus on a development project and writing tests to go with it. But, it’s not all roses, and you should be prepared for that.

Here are some things that are terrible about programming (and counterpoint).

• The tool set is always changing. What you learned two years ago may or may not be useful to you now. But some technologies age better than others, and you always have a chance to learn something new.
• There are two modes of development that are radically different (deep thinking and communication), and you have to switch between them constantly. But you get to do deep thinking!
• Error messages don’t make sense. But Google can help with that. And so can you, by blogging about the error after you figure it out.
• With modern applications, there’s a ton of complexity and you can’t possibly understand everything. But you can put together an amazing application that would have taken a team of developers by yourself or with a small team.
• Sometimes, you may be the expert in your problem, which can make it hard to find help. I remember writhing on the floor trying to figure out one of the most difficult problems I’ve ever solved (figuring out an editing interface and rules for recurring events on a calendar with child events that needed to have different durations than the parent event) and realizing that I could ask no one about it. But, you get the chance to be an expert!

Of course, every job has its warts. And development is no different. But programming and development are in a rapid state of flux. This means that you must (and get to) learn every day.

Sincerely,

Dan