From: Craig Maloney Date: Tue, 14 May 2019 11:42:52 +0000 (-0400) Subject: Additional changes for ch. 07 X-Git-Tag: 20200112^2~71 X-Git-Url: https://jxself.org/git/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=8de46b57080060b114f736b0ea207b14a96253b4;p=themediocreprogrammer.git Additional changes for ch. 07 --- diff --git a/chapter07.md b/chapter07.md index 09ed7ba..5cf78e2 100644 --- a/chapter07.md +++ b/chapter07.md @@ -128,14 +128,14 @@ Asking for and receiving help is a skill and like any skill it needs practice. W ## Giving up -### FIXME - -Programmers don't like to think about giving up. How many times have we told others to be patient when we're trying to fix something that's not working? ("Just a few more minutes, honest!") We work on machines that have so many possibilities that we feel we should be able to make anything work on them. But sometimes we don't want to see those possibilities. Sometimes we look at the list of things we should be learning and wonder if it's all worth the effort. We look at job postings for our set of skills and find nothing but lists of meaningless work. New programmers ask us what it's like to be a programmer and we consider if we should warn them that the decisions we made led us to being unhappy and unfulfilled. The joy that sustained us while learning the craft disappears and we struggle with the fear that we will never cultivate that feeling again. +Programmers don't like to think about giving up. How many times have we asked others to be patient while we try to fix something that isn't working? ("Just a few more minutes, please. Honest!") We work on machines that feel like they have limitless possibilities, and as programmers we feel compelled to explore those possibilities. But sometimes we don't want to do that exploration. Sometimes we look at the list of things we should be learning and wonder if it's worth the effort. We look at job postings for our set of skills and find nothing but lists of meaningless work. New programmers ask us what it's like to be a programmer and we consider if we should warn them about the dangers of choosing a career that led us to being unhappy and unfulfilled. The joy that sustained us while learning the craft disappears and we struggle with the fear that we will never cultivate that feeling again. -Programming isn't for everyone. There are times when I've wondered if I should be working as a programmer. I feel as though I can't learn everything that I need to know, and wonder if what I'm learning will still be relevant by the time I'm finished. Will I be able to compete in a job market where I feel like everyone has a head start? I struggle looking at job positions that offer work that I don't think will matter six months from now, let alone 10 to 100 years from now. I feel like the computing future I was promised was corrupted and we're stuck in a world where computers are little more than levers for companies to pry open the wallets of their customers. +Programming isn't for everyone. There are times when I've wondered if I should continue working as a programmer. I'm frustrated that I can't possibly learn everything that I want to know. I worry if I'm learning will still be relevant by the time I'm finished. I'm anxious that I won't be able to compete in a job market where everyone else seems like they got a head start. I struggle looking through job positions that offer work that I don't think will be relevant six months from now, let alone 10 to 100 years from now. I feel like the computing future I was promised has been corrupted and we're stuck in a world where computers are little more than levers for companies to pry open the wallets of their customers. It's easy to become fatalistic about the practice of programming but I've realized that there's more to computing and programming than what the job market has to offer. +### FIXME + Part of the joy of programming is the curiosity. If we can continually tap into that curiosity then we have so many avenues to explore. There are always topics and ideas to discover, including areas like game development, esoteric languages, or other programming paradigms. What the job market uses is but a fraction of what is out there waiting to be explored. There's also a whole host of emulators and retro-computers available with good documentation and vibrant communities. One of the things that has intrigued me is learning how older computers work. Older computers are simple and can learned rather easily with the right mindset. They are well-understood and older programs were generally put together by one programmer. But there can also be the realization that there's no joy left for us in programming. The thought of programming no longer excites us and even the thought of trying something new fills us with dread. We no longer want to even try. What then? diff --git a/images/cover_ebook_1600x2400.png b/images/cover_ebook_1600x2400.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c7bb205 Binary files /dev/null and b/images/cover_ebook_1600x2400.png differ