

Ask HN: Does programming make you happy? - mlLK

Does programming make you happy?
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IsaacSchlueter
I believe there's a quote somewhere in _Stranger in a Strange Land_ , where
Jubal Harshaw comments that an author doesn't write because he can, or likes
to, or because it's the best way to pay the bills–many can't, few do, and it
usually isn't. It's just something that must be done, like breathing or
defecating, and it's about as glamorous.

It's hard to say whether programming makes me happy, per se. I do know that I
can't escape it. I can avoid putting my fingers on a keyboard for a while. But
the brain, it keeps going. It's how I'm built, and you may as well ask me if I
like having two hands instead of 4 or one head instead of 7; but it's the
shape of the brain we're talking about. I find it hard to imagine what life
would be like.

I program to pay the bills, and it keeps me comfortable. I also program
because I have ideas for programs that don't exist, and it's the only way to
make them exist. I program because I want my computer to do something that it
doesn't already know how to do. I program because it's more engaging than
television and less pointless than video games.

Sometimes, it's frustrating or challenging. Sometimes it feels like a lot of
effort for hardly any reward. Sometimes huge amounts of work have to be
scrapped because it's just wrong.

But other times, things click, and it's perfect, like a symphony. And in those
moments, "happy" seems like an understatement.

No, programming doesn't make me happy. But programming is part of what makes
me me; and, in general, I'm happy about that.

~~~
divia
>I believe there's a quote somewhere in Stranger in a Strange Land, where
Jubal Harshaw comments that an author doesn't write because he can, or likes
to, or because it's the best way to pay the bills–many can't, few do, and it
usually isn't. It's just something that must be done, like breathing or
defecating, and it's about as glamorous.

I'd be interested to know which passage you mean. I've read that book many
more times than is really necessary and I can't remember Jubal saying that.
The closest I can think of is a passage where he says "I want praise from the
customer, given in cash because I've reached him--or I don't want anything."

~~~
IsaacSchlueter
I could be thinking of one of Heinlein's other books, or even just something
he said randomly. I've read a lot of his stuff, and it all starts to blur
together.

If I come across it, I'll make a note of it.

~~~
mct
The protagonist in Heinlein's _The_ _Cat_ _Who_ _Walks_ _Through_ _Walls_ says
something very similar near the beginning of the novel.

~~~
divia
Ah, yes. This:

>"Yes, dear. Richard, do you enjoy writing?"

>"No one enjoys writing."

>[...]

>"But you don't enjoy it and we don't need the money. Truly we don't!"

>"Thank you, my love. But I did not explain to you the other insidious aspect
of writing. There is no way to stop. Writers go on writing long after it
becomes financially unnecessary...because it hurts less to write than it does
not to write."

Thanks!

~~~
IsaacSchlueter
Thanks, indeed! That's exactly the one I was thinking of.

------
mct
Looking over the responses thus far, I'm surprised no one has posted an
unequivocal "yes".

Yes, the act of programming itself makes me happy. I've always loved building
things, and programming is yet another outlet for that energy. Additionally, I
love the thrill of bending a computer to my will, teaching it to do what I
want to produce the output I need. Shortly after finishing an extended
programming project, often times I feel a sense of loss, and a drive to seek
out the next interesting thing I'll get to tackle.

Are you asking because you feel like you should be enjoying it more than you
do? Did you used to get more enjoyment from it than you currently do, or have
you always felt this way? If you're second guessing yourself, I think
mechanical_fish's suggestion of giving it a break for a while is a great one.

------
helveticaman
No. I'm hoping it grows on me, but I've had a lot of shitty experiences so
far, and not a lot to show for them. Think spending six months trying to
install Lisp on a mac, or spending 50 hours installing Linux on a PC. SICP was
also quite awful. Finally, I have this nagging feeling of obligation to
program. So no, I wish I did, but I don't like programming. I hope your
mileage varies.

------
mechanical_fish
Sometimes. Other times it's a tedious obligation. Then there are the times
when you're not sure if it makes you happy or not, but you can't stop doing
it.

If you're wondering if you enjoy programming, try giving it up for a while and
see if you keep coming back to it.

~~~
helveticaman
Thanks for the tip. I'll take a vacation.

------
gaius
_Getting stuff done_ makes me happy. Programming is a means, not an end.

~~~
rodrigo
In a short story of JL Borges (and in a lot of other places, im sure): "the
road is the goal" (veeery loosely translated from spanish)

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izaidi
For me it's 99% frustration, but the other 1% is the moments when the thing
that used to be an idea in my head becomes a part of reality, and those
moments feel so good I'm willing to put up with the frustrating ones.

------
draco
I had a number of other jobs before I got to programming in my thirties. The
big difference is, you keep coming up against totally novel problems for which
there are no ready-made solutions. It's very challenging, and it places
programming as a job in a league of its own in terms of creative problem-
solving. It doesn't make me happy, but it makes me look forward to my work
every day, and that's saying a lot. It's also given me the liberty to change
job and even business sector as often as I please (typically every couple of
years) which again is unusual and refreshing.

------
trapper
If I couldn't work on things that I love every day I would hate it. I don't
know how there are so many todo lists, chat apps, crm and accounting packages
out there, I couldn't stand it!

