Programming: Keeping the fire

[dee-u]

These past few weeks I've been busy procrastinating, not touching my laptop for my programming tasks (side jobs), its as if I've lost the desire to code anymore, is this normal? Have you experienced the same? H

[Nightwalker83]

Yes, I experienced it! There was a period of my time while I have been a member here at VBF when I did not browse the forum nor code for almost two years because I was tired of coding.

[namrekka]

Its always good to have a time out. And start again with a clear mind.

[Shaggy Hiker]

It all depends on having something worth writing. Coding is ultimately a creative act. If you have something to say, then you will say it. If you have nothing to say, then you aren't going to say it. I can't get excited about writing programs that are technically boring, but can work for excessive time on projects that are technically interesting.

[Gruff]

I get burnt out occasionally.

What gets me up in the morning is working on a project that saves someone time or makes their job easier.

I also have a few on going apps used by my company that over fifty people rely on to do their jobs. These are loaded with feature creep as all those individuals want them to do more and more. Keeping an interest in these projects is more difficult. I have taken to keeping a history of all the requests so I do not waste time investigating the bug or improvement yet again.

I also find that learning something new can ignite the imagination.

[FunkyDexter]

I frequently go through periods when I lose interest. I don't let it bother me. I still go to work to pay the bills (obviously) but my home projects just sit on hold for a month or so until the passion comes back. If the passion for a particular project never comes back then it gets shelved indefinitely, which is a shame, but I find the passion always comes back for something.

[homer13j]

A steady paycheck is all the incentive I need.

[dilettante]

A steady paycheck is all the incentive I need.

Sad to say that's what drives me too. I end up having to study new stuff the market wants rather than stuff I find fun to play with.

Not a fan of JavaScript, but far too many projects want Node.js or Vert.x now as they dump IIS as a back-end technology to move to the cloud.

[henrytrs35]

Felt that too Especially on hard to code programs. Sometimes it just crushes my will to try and code again.

[Niya]

Happens to me from time to time. Sometimes, I just don't want to see code.

[techgnome]

A steady paycheck is all the incentive I need.

Yup, that's where I'm at too, actually I think I might be past that point ... given the managment crap I've had to put up with recently, I've been questioning if even that's enough... then I look at the mortgage... and the family... sigh...

Yeah, I'm "stuck" doing this a bit longer...

-tg

[dclamp]

I suppose that is one good thing about doing this as a hobby, I don't get burnt out because I program what I want whenever I want.

I'm on the same boat. Since programming is a hobby for me as well, I can work on a project for months straight and then decide that I am bored or no longer interesting and stop. Then pick the project up in a few months (after figuring out where I left off!

I also go between PHP/HTML/CSS/Javascript to C (Arduino) to VB.NET occasionally. I have written a few VB programs to interface with my Arduino. Thats fun.

[wossname]

Yeah I get this all the time. Sometimes the fire is simply a love of "the act of programming" rather than being able to product a working result.

Sometimes the THOUGHT of having something to write is a greater reward than the actual laborious task of the work itself.

I also get the same problem with electronics. Soldering a circuit together is a very similar joy to writing code - and has the same procrastination hang-ups as coding, at least in my experience.

My only advice is this: The procrastination problem goes away completely if you really WANT the end product. If you want to code it more than you want it finished then you'll just be spinning your wheels. Find a project that has a really worthwhile result and it'll build itself before your eyes in no time.

I have about 4 long term projects that I'm procrastinating on, and one that I'm entirely absorbed by and will be finished very shortly!

Need to melt some solder...

[dclamp]

What kinda of electronics projects are you working on woss?

[SJWhiteley]

This is why programming really shouldn't be a full time vocation. You can get burned out staring at the screen for a long time.

I've told a few people now that a programmer is simply a tool: like a wrench, a socket set, or a plane. Being those tools does not make you a mechanic or a craftsman. Owning those tools (in this instance, skills in VB, C, Java, etc.) does not make one a craftsman, either.

It is the subsidiary tasks that makes you a craftsman: finding and understanding the application is where the skill lies. That takes time - a life time. Remember, the programming skills (actual coding in an IDE) will become redundant and almost useless. It is the subsidiary skills which stick with you and become valuable and timeless.

Take time to break away from the keyboard, and teach yourself, and absorb the application of the program.

[dclamp]

Wow. I actually really like that analogy.

I vote you king of VBF for the day

[techgnome]

I started programming in 82 I think it was... played with it a couple years, then set it aside... I picked it back up in 85 when I got an IBM PC at home... did hobby programming until 95, when I turned it into a career... been professionally programming ever since. I love it, I love the problem solving, I love putting code together and seeing it come to life... what I don't like is the project management crap that comes along with the job... I'd be perfectly happy if I just did code, proof of concepts, mockups, things like that... but havingt to track the hours of my devlopers, keep them fed with work... bleh... I could do with out that.


-tg

[dclamp]

You guys are old. 1982 never existed for me.

[wossname]

What kinda of electronics projects are you working on woss?

Sadly I can't talk about work stuff, which is telecomms-related custom hardware (although I would love to!).

But my home project is a very simple and cheap version of the "2048" javascript tile game. It'll be a keyring game with a few buttons running from a coin cell. I'm aiming to get it all finished within a month (firmware, PCB, etc).

It'll be open source of course.

[dclamp]

Sadly I can't talk about work stuff, which is telecomms-related custom hardware (although I would love to!).

But I promise I wont steal trade secrets and recreate cheap Chinese versions of what it is you are making....

But my home project is a very simple and cheap version of the "2048" javascript tile game. It'll be a keyring game with a few buttons running from a coin cell. I'm aiming to get it all finished within a month (firmware, PCB, etc).

It'll be open source of course.

I love that game! Once I got to 2048 I stopped playing though. Haven't been bothers to go any further (4,096)... But once its out I would buy or build a model you make.

[wossname]

It's alarmingly addictive isn't it?

Mine will be colour-based instead of numerical but the theory is entirely the same. I'll post back here when it's done. Haven't even got a name for it yet!

[dclamp]

It's alarmingly addictive isn't it?

Mine will be colour-based instead of numerical but the theory is entirely the same. I'll post back here when it's done. Haven't even got a name for it yet!

I couldn't set it down when I first downloaded it. Once you get a strategy, it makes the game more enjoyable and challenging. Cant wait to hear more about your project

[dclamp]

Brad! Im telling you, we need a maker forum here. I think we have enough people interested in technology that there would be a pretty decent flow of people..


Sidenote. I wish VBF had a feature to tag users in posts so they can read them later...

[dclamp]

Technically there are already "tags" for posts... Just not the ability to tag a person

[Shaggy Hiker]

It's alarmingly addictive isn't it?

Mine will be colour-based instead of numerical but the theory is entirely the same. I'll post back here when it's done. Haven't even got a name for it yet!

Woss the name!

[techgnome]

Brad! Im telling you, we need a maker forum here. I think we have enough people interested in technology that there would be a pretty decent flow of people..


Sidenote. I wish VBF had a feature to tag users in posts so they can read them later...

Ask and ye shall receive...
http://www.vbforums.com/forumdisplay...nd-Maker-Forum

-tg

[dclamp]

Ask and ye shall receive...
http://www.vbforums.com/forumdisplay...nd-Maker-Forum

-tg

I am excited!

[techgnome]

I am excited!

Are you so excited, that you just can't hide it? And tonight you're gonna make it happen?


-tg

[dclamp]

Are you so excited, that you just can't hide it? And tonight you're gonna make it happen?


-tg

I am about to explode.

[FunkyDexter]

a programmer is simply a tool

Hey, who are you calling a tool!

[dclamp]

[TysonLPrice]

I'm coming up on thirty years of programming. As previously mentioned paychecks are a strong incentive. I manage to keep the fire stoked. Programming has always been like soving puzzles to me and I haven't gotten tired of it. On the other hand if I won the lottery tonight I doubt I'd ever program anthing more then home devices and such again....

[techgnome]

I'm coming up on thirty years of programming. As previously mentioned paychecks are a strong incentive. I manage to keep the fire stoked. Programming has always been like soving puzzles to me and I haven't gotten tired of it. On the other hand if I won the lottery tonight I doubt I'd ever program anthing more then home devices and such again....

Yuuuup.... same here... I know my shelf life as a programmer is limited... and I don't want to end up like my inlaws, working because I have to... I want to work because I want to... and I know I don't want to do this forever... I've already started working towards an exit strategy... it starts with me making an announcement on an aircraft carrier with a "Mission Accomplished" banner in the background...

-tg

[dilettante]

Even retirement isn't retirement anymore. I "retired" four years ago, but that just meant a new career freelancing.

Sadly most of those gigs have turned into "We like your work, really. Now please train these cheap coders we smuggled across the border to do your job for less." So the time I used to spend programming from home base is now taken up writing training materials and making PowerPoints and videos.

The video thing was interesting for the first 3 months, but a ton of that was getting the home studio set up. I was almost tempted to start a vlog, but realized I don't care for the effort required enough to do it for fun.

I also didn't want to end up like Dr. Bill, hilarious as he is to watch once or twice.

[Merrion]

The secret to maintaining motivation on a long project is "chunking" and one of the best side effects of unit testing or test driven development is that is naturally breaks the long slog into manageable measureable chunks.
(That said - I'm still having writers block on Taskbazaar...)

[Nightwalker83]

Programming: Keeping the fire

Well, living in a state that has a minor IT base it is hard because there are not a lot of IT jobs and those that are out there get snapped up by other people. It is even harder if you cannot travel interstate to look for work in IT. I try to practice coding by helping out on the forums here but other than that and occasional personal projects I don't do any coding.

[henrytrs35]

Well, living in a state that has a minor IT base it is hard because there are not a lot of IT jobs and those that are out there get snapped up by other people. It is even harder if you cannot travel interstate to look for work in IT. I try to practice coding by helping out on the forums here but other than that and occasional personal projects I don't do any coding.

Good thing you still have it. Some of my friends stopped for a while for various reasons(vacation, job etc.) and after a while, it looked like they lost their edge. They easily give up on some minor frustrating problems on the way. And for me, that's the hardest thing to deal with-- the frustration.

[jayinthe813]

Sadly most of those gigs have turned into "We like your work, really. Now please train these cheap coders we smuggled across the border to do your job for less." So the time I used to spend programming from home base is now taken up writing training materials and making PowerPoints and videos.

Really? At my job they just fly them in. Any App Development we have done off-shore is always sloppy. Gotta love big business.