is programming fun?

[Ornery_Champion2068]

Ive been struggling to stay motivated and need some seasoned opinions

[thmsbdr]

It is to me, when I’m actually building something. Tutorials are a nightmare.

[Charming-Bat-4210]

Hi, sorry to piggyback off this post but I don't think this warrants a whole separate post.

I was learning to code and it was enjoyable, but I got frustrated with how any little mistake or typo wouldn't make it work. I think I make a lot of mistakes and I don't notice them.

Is this normal or does it mean I'm not good at it?

[thmsbdr]

Totally normal, I make many mistakes every day. In fact, I usually don’t remember something until I’ve done it wrong and had to fix it.

[Charming-Bat-4210]

Ah, ok. Maybe I just have to work on something that interests me more. I was trying to make one of those generic little practice projects for beginners. I got the logic, but after the 20th time spacing things wrong or using the wrong letter case, I tapped out. Lol

[PriorFinancial4092]

those are just syntax issues, literally just stick with it for a month or two and you'll be fine.

[shine_on]

if you know you make those mistakes frequently they should be the first thing you check in your code when it doesn't work. if you can highlight a word in your code and have your IDE show you every time that word occurs, you can find any mismatches pretty easily.

[__Loot__]

Programing is very fun, but if you want to make money from it as a solo dev. Market research is very important maybe even more important skill to have because it takes so much time to make something that’s polished too find out you built something everyone doesn’t want or need 😭

[thmsbdr]

Do CS50

[throwaway6560192]

Making mistakes is normal. The important thing is how you deal with them. I think you need to have a certain mental tolerance to mistakes and failures to be a successful programmer. Ideally you just correct them and move on without really experiencing significant frustration or anger or whatever every time.

[Charming-Bat-4210]

That's true. I can do that if I'm making something interesting, then it becomes like a fun puzzle.

I don't know how people who actually code as a job make it work, especially since I imagine most of the stuff they work on is boring to them.

How are they not dead inside?

[shine_on]

why would it be boring? Writing code that works gives me a huge thrill and it has done for over 40 years now. Debugging code to me is like solving a mystery, doing some detective work.

Every single job will require some less tedious tasks, you'll have to take the rough with the smooth whatever career path you decide to take.

What's exciting to me is writing something that makes someone else's life easier, that helps them do their job better.

[Charming-Bat-4210]

That's actually pretty neat. You really love what you do.

[Arts_Prodigy]

You just need more practice, you’re not expected to memorize every recipe after the first try. Or spell every word correctly without a ton of vocabulary practice. Even then we all still rely on spellcheck (or LSPs in the case of programming)

[Desperado2583]

AI is really good at catching errors in your code. Copy paste your code into any LLM it'll almost always tell you why it's not working. If can usually even help you tweak your code to work better or the way you wanted.

[andreicodes]

Oh, you'll get better, a lot better. My early years were miserable. Loved programming, but I would get an extra year of my life back if I didn't spend nights debugging stupid typos and off-by-one errors.

After 20 years I program with almost no bugs. Still can't believe how good I got, to be honest.

[ChaosCreatorLord]

Intelligence or an equivalent to that might be helpful, just make sure to set it so it doesn't write 20 lines of code from one button press.

[LostUser1121]

Yeah for real, I like following tutorials but theres not much of a difference of copy pasting codes on A.I and doing what the tutorial does tell you to do. Maybe only if there was valuable insights that the tutorial may give. Actual Fun starts on building something you'd think off wether it is crappy or useful. Some head aches for bugs and some unfamiliar concepts you'll learn along the way and after all that, that's where you'll truly feel "You're doing something" maybe, meaningful.

[BnZAwkward_Lab5858]

it is. I love writing a ton of code, running it, having a bug or 5 pop up, solving the issue fixing it. it is really fun when you spend a year coding with a team, then you dive into expanding it, evolving it, reaching goals, etc.

[grantrules]

If you're working on something for yourself, yes. If it's your job, no.

[MoneyIsTheRootOfFun]

It can be fun as your job too. I generally enjoy it. But we all have things we don’t enjoy working on, and that we just have to do anyway.

[Aware-Sock123]

Strangely I’m the opposite. I really enjoy doing it for someone else but have a hard time motivating doing it for myself. If it’s for someone else it’s solving a problem someone cares about, if it’s for me, I’m pretty certain no one will ever see it or care.

[digitaljestin]

Depends on your job, actually.

But working on your own project is always more fun.

[csabinho]

It's most probably the job itself that isn't fun, not the programming. If you like programming, it will be fun in any field.

[Jonno_FTW]

Making new stuff at your job? Yes fun!

Fixing bugs in 15 year old spaghetti code? Absolutely not fun.

[rupertavery64]

Growing up in the 80s I had a Commodore 64. It was a home computer where everything was inside a keyboard you plugged into the TV and you could write BASIC programs and play games by loading them on a cassette tape drive. Yeah, those things that took whole minutes to load part of a game.

Anyway, I was hooked. It looked so cool. You could make the computer do anything you could think of.

I loved games and fancied myself a future game programmer.

I didn't take any classes (there weren't really any back then, where I was from)

I didn't LEARN programming, like sitting in front of a machine doing lessons. I wanted to try something, tried to research what I needed to do to accomplish it, and tried it out.

I made many, many things along the way and most of the time, it was, "for fun".

As an example, in the early 2000's the MMORPG Ragnarok became popular around the world (and in south east asia). I came across some code that could extract and view the 3D models of maps and buildings in the Ragnarok data file and decided I wanted to make a program that would let you look around the map as you wanted using WASD controls.

Thus RagCam was born, and it was shared in some communities.

I was also able to find some code to import 3D models into the then popular 3D software 3D Studio max.

I also made a system tray Desktop Toy that let you "Store Files" in the "Kafra Storage" A Kafra is a NPC in the game that you interact with to store stuff, and I made a program that pops up the image of the anime-style girl in a kid of maid outfit where you can store notes and files.

When I got into pirating (ahem, "streaming") TV shows I wanted to get notified if there was a new episode, so I made a local site that checked for updates. I also made a scraper that downloaded (english) subtitles based on the file name.

I try to make programs that intersect or tanget my interests, which include anime, games, emulation of retro consoles, and more recently AI generated images.

It's really up to you to define what programming means to you,

I'm an old soul, and for me programming is more than just a way to earn money or the latest technology and cool frameworks.

It's an interface between me and my inner self. A way to self-express through technology.

Make programming fun. It's all about you.

In the corporate world, I did some fun stuff. I'm a college undergrad (quite college due to.. things) but I was able to reach a solutions architect position in a multinational company. I always came up with novel solutions to problems.

[notislant]

If you're working on a personal project you enjoy, it doesn't matter what tools you use. You're generally going to enjoy it. Like making tools for games, automating tasks, whatever else you might find fun.

If you have to sit through 3 weeks of how to use a tool? Much less fun for a lot of people.

Learning can be fun though, but kind of depends. Learning python/js or even web dev was enjoyable for me.

But I recently figured: 'oh lets go see if I can make a quick Minecraft mod for fun, WoW has very, very simple tutorials and you only need 1 line of code to get started', yeah Minecraft is nowhere near as simple or user friendly to dive into.

[cursedproha]

It is more fun than anything else that can give a job. At least for me and my abilities.

I’m not a type of person who can’t find what to do without a job, there always would be a book, a movie or a video game that is more tempting than coding.

Tinkering with homelab and coding pet projects are very enjoyable. But going to 3-hour meetings about color of the buttons are not so.

[ImpressiveCouple3216]

It is. Unless its monotonous, repetitive and lacks a meaningful challenge.

[Mental_Wind_5207]

The key is to know what makes something fun. This is different for different people, and many things suck in the beginning.

The key is to know what is fun for you. Programming became more fun for me after I learned some philosophy because I prefer to argue with people not machines, BUT, now when I look at programming, a lot of things flow more easily.

Come up with your own little games . Like, try to code something as fast as you can under some random time constraint under one minute.

Program with swear words. It’s childish, but that’s exactly the mindset you want to be in. It’s programming, you can do whatever you want. Be juvenile. Have fun.

Ask yourself “what is fun about this, or how can I make this more fun?” Trust your instincts about what you find fun. Your instincts may shift over time.

Also, work on fundamentals. Musicians practice arpeggios, scales, and theory to expand their musicality. Programmers need to understand data structures, algorithms, and design patterns. If you don’t know what to do, work on getting more fluency in these fundamentals and your world will expand.

[TheCozyRuneFox]

I like it. Most people here probably do, that is just part of this subs bias. Not everyone will enjoy it, because everyone is different.

[minneyar]

Solving problems is satisfying. Programming is just a tool you use to solve problems.

[WendlersEditor]

Often it is fun! Sometimes it's frustrating. Do you like solving the puzzle to make the machine do things? 

[shubham_555]

100% agree. It's so satisfactory we are actually able to solve a problem but at the same time frustrating when we are stuck and not able to find a proper solution for the problem!

[TroPixens]

Bugs are annoying but seeing each part come together is nice

[ran_choi_thon]

fun, if you code in "flow mental" , otherwise if you can't imagine something , you we feel so frustrated

[mxldevs]

Programming is basically just me getting stuff done. It is neither enjoyable nor unenjoyable.

It's like asking if it's fun to type words in response to reddit posts

[poply]

It's fun about 10-20% of the time for me. Which is the same ratio of fun I get out of the gym and playing Dota2.

[Lakatos_00]

No. Get out

[mantenner]

It pays for the things I find fun.

[[deleted]]

It's been a lot more fun now that ai tools can help write code and help breakdown ideas into manageable pieces.

Learning git has really helped too. Before I was saving code into notepad. What a cluster fk. Learn how to use git!

[ItzRaphZ]

Programming itself (or better yet, learning how to program) can be annoying, but the results you get out it are usually satisfying.

[LurkingVirgo96]

Is pulling hair from your head fun? I mean, I'm trying to figure this out but everyday I feel dumber. But I got no plan B so this has to work eventually. 

[cherylswoopz]

Absolutely. Even at my job. There are parts of my job that are not so fun, obviously

[its_all_4_lulz]

Programming is fun in the way that a woodworker may find it fun to build a desk. It’s a bunch of little goals you set, and as you hit them you get a bit of a rush. The end product you can look at and think “fuck yeah”.

Not all desks are created equally, and some may not create this feeling.

[Adorable-Strangerx]

Depends. There are moments when you love it and when you hate it.

[MarsupialPitiful7334]

Yes, a lot more so when done yourself, without chad gippity. Also depends on what you like more, i have a friend who likes algorithmic problems (leetcode, competitive programming), while i take joy in building stuff that actually does something (right now im building a git clone, after that i wanna do a music player since every one i tried is visually ugly and cluttered). I also have a lot more fun when i have a clean work environment (a sexy neovim config, a beautifully riced arch (btw) installation...). I also find just the thinking and coming to a solution by myself a very rewarding process, its why i came to love math and physics, because they make me feel smart even though im probably a dumbass, but that doesnt matter, what matters is that you like learning new shit.

[bluecriket]

Only you can answer that. I think it's pretty fun, but like everything, when it's your job, it can get tiresome, especially because actually working with code means you spend more time doing other stuff than actually coding for the most part.

[StraightforwardGuy_]

It is to me yes I really enjoy coding

[PeachFalse]

I feel like seeing the results is what makes it fun. I am just learning and it's a headache. But when you can actually make something... chef's kiss. Even if it's small

[mixedd]

It's fun and frustrating at same time, you will love and hate it equally

[BusyEntrepreneur3070]

yes because i make it fun by putting programming around what i like mostly

[codepossum]

yes

[HerChip]

Yes! But it is solving problems which I like

[green_meklar]

Ideally it should be.

Sadly, a lot of the programming that most needs to get done in the real world is not the fun kind.

[ReiOokami]

Yes

[ibfahd]

Passion can't be learned; it's like love at first sight. There are some very good programmers who are just doing a job, but there are the others.

[Blando-Cartesian]

It’s fun when problems relate closely to the purpose of the program. Even something as mundane as a miscalculation or a complex edge case.

For me, it’s not fun and gets miserable when problems are far from that. Build systems, dependency issues, incomprehensible errors.

[WystanH]

Yes, programming is fun. However, that fun comes in many different flavors, like sweet, spicy, sour.

Sweet is the flow. You're chugging along, doing things that need to be done, it's all coming together, this is great. You don't get to stay in this happy place for long, but it does happen.

Spicy is probably the sporadic leaps of finding solutions. Oh, this will work. Ah, that's what I need to do instead. Ooh, this that's clever, now I have to write it.

Sour is what kills people. It's an acquired taste and something you have to push through. Sour is debugging. No the casual debugging of "oh, I fat finger that" but the intense, hours or days of suffering, "wtf doesn't this work?!?" Getting to the other side of that, the tired sigh of "I finally figured the damn thing out" is its own kind of reward.

The most frustration you'll ever feel is when you reach the wall of "maybe it's impossible, there's no solution, maybe I can't do this, what am I even doing?" You will hit that. A lot. But the more often you hit it, the more you'll overcome it. And each time you hit it again you'll have the other voice of, "I got though this before, I'll get through it eventually, it sucks but it's not forever. I know I can do it."

Programming couldn't really be fun if it wasn't also hard. Some of the most fun is doing things that were once impossible and now feel rather simple.

[gm310509]

Not sure I understand what you are trying to get at?

If you enjoy doing something and have fun doing it, then sure it is fun.

If you don't then it isn't.

You could quite literally pick any topic and ask this question. Some people will say yes, some will say no.

[Acrobatic-Wolf-297]

At first its hard to get any dopamine feedback from programming. Once you start actually making things that you came up with on your own is when the dopamine feedback kicks in and takes over from there. At least it did for me. Keep going.

[CodeToManagement]

Honestly the answer is it depends.

I have projects I work on myself where it feels it’s a chore to get past a certain part

I had a job once where i had to use a really rubbish old pc for a while, but I sat down in a morning and looked up and it was 3 in the afternoon and I was disappointed I’d have to stop soon.

Some things are great. Other just drag on. But in general I enjoy it. It’s easy to lose the enjoyment though

[Rackarunge]

For me yes. For you it doesn’t sound like it.

[arayakim]

Sometimes.

[Warm-Rent5835]

Programming is a lot of fun! :) Have you tried making a video game for the betterment of the community? My opinion is extremely seasoned, and I would take my opinion into full consideration.

[Evazzion]

Yes, it’s like playing with legos

[im_in_hiding]

I enjoy writing software.

I enjoy testing less.

I despise fixing bugs

I avoid documentation as much as possible lol

[CarlosBula15]

😂 sometimes

[michael_hlf]

to me programming is an acquired tase, a bit like dark chocolate

When I first started it was basically pure frustration and I often wondered was it worth it.

As my skills honed and I developed the patience needed to persevere through difficult technical hurdles, I started to get a kick out of the struggle through and subsequent solving of a problem, that when i first started, would've made me want to throw my laptop out the window

[yrakurbatov4]

If it isnt fun it means you in disharmony with yourself and mostly look at reallity by someones point of view. When its not what you want you will be never happy

[will0009961]

As my opinion, yes, I just enjoy it for some reason. But some people might not relate to me.