From: Craig Maloney Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2018 15:44:06 +0000 (-0400) Subject: Discussing giving up X-Git-Tag: 0.4.0^2~5 X-Git-Url: https://jxself.org/git/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=ff8624cd63a25656c7da8a4dcb94f3a73831cac9;p=themediocreprogrammer.git Discussing giving up --- diff --git a/chapter07.md b/chapter07.md index 8970c8a..16e4d3d 100644 --- a/chapter07.md +++ b/chapter07.md @@ -113,4 +113,12 @@ Programming isn't for everyone. There are times when I've wondered if I should b 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 I see in the job market. -(Discuss the world of computer science, and curiosity) +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. From game programming to some of the more esoteric languages there are always topics and ideas to discover. What the job market uses is but a fraction of what is out there. There's also a whole host of emulators and retro-computers available with good documentation. One of the things that I'm curious about is how older computers work. But there are also newer, lower-powered machines out there in the embedded space that are fascinating to look at and understand. + +But there can also be the realization that there's no joy left 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? + +If we no longer find joy in programming then we need to understand why we feel that way. Perhaps we're tired and have been through a project that drained all of the fun and excitement of programming. Or we found that the communities in our area and online are hostile and unwelcoming. Maybe we thought programming would be fun but every time we start we wish we were doing something / anything else instead. + +Programming is not for everyone. I strongly feel that programming is something that is best when you really want to do it. But if you're stuck in a situation where you don't want to do this anymore then it's perfectly reasonable to step away from it and give up. There's no shame in this at all - many programmers have decided they lost the spark and the desire and have gone into other fields. Stepping away from the computer is perfectly fine. + +(Discuss more about giving up and saying "so long, for now" or "so long, this is our final goodbye")