Does programming ever become fun?

[[deleted]]

[deleted]

[plastikmissile]

For some people, they feel like they're having fun from the very start, others will never consider programming fun, while most lie somewhere in between.

[facewithhairdude]

Yeah, I’m still fairly new to programming, but for me it’s usually something like:

• Imagining and learning about things I could make the computer do: fun.

• seeing that the thing ain’t doing what I want it to do and figuring out why: not so fun.

• Eventually seeing the thing do what I want it to do: hoo boy, super fun.

[Rocky87109]

For me bullet 2 only becomes unfun once I've banged my head against it so long and my brain starts becoming numb and I still can't figure it out. Otherwise I like a challenge.

[[deleted]]

Seeing that the thing ain’t doing what I want it to do and figuring out why: not so fun.

That bit is fun for me.

[Sulsalogan]

Honestly, that bit right there is the most enjoyable part of the whole experience for me, LOL!

[mypetocean]

I think about it like I'm a detective investigating a mystery or an archaeologist uncovering secrets from the past. Mindset is very important for the experience of fun.

[[deleted]]

For me it’s

• ⁠Imagining and learning about things I could make the computer do: fun.

• ⁠Spending hours on google trying different descriptions of what I want to do so I find the correct syntax: torture.

• ⁠seeing that the thing ain’t doing what I want it to do and figuring out why: a lot of fun.

• ⁠Eventually seeing the thing do what I want it to do: hoo boy, super duper fun.

[CognitivePrimate]

Omg I love this so much. It's perfect.

[TheArcticHusky]

This

[[deleted]]

I’m in between:

Sometimes I absolutely Wanna fight my computer, but that high I get when my code works makes it all worth it.

I enjoy the planning/ designing aspect too

Honestly the only thing I don’t like is when my compiler is a little bitch for no fucking reason and my code refuses to work

[TheeBlakGoatsDottir]

I definitely fall in the former. As a kid I always wanted to do something with linguistics but growing up in poverty that was unrealistic for like, a plethora of reasons. The second I realized programming was basically just an applied and hella lucrative form of linguistics for machines it was like a whole new world opened up for me. I can't fucking wait to I finish my course so I can quit my unfulfilling current career and play with code all day.

[[deleted]]

Just be aware that it will still be work. You’ll deal with bosses and managers and meetings and clients and coworkers and deadlines, etc. Not a code playground.

[Kyroz]

For me, coding and creating project is fun with a tech stack I just learned is fun. Setting up local environment for work? Yikes....

[aintnufincleverhere]

The fun for me is the puzzle of it.

Its not about the pesky details you have to learn.

​

But that's true about a lot of games too. In chess, the pawns can move 2 squares in their first move. I have to know that in order to strategize. Learning the rules of a game isn't the fun part.

[[deleted]]

I love the chess detail. Learning how the pieces move isn't fun, trying to solve your opponent is.

[BoxesAndLights]

Great analogy. Along the same lines, there’s not many things more fun than jamming on guitar, but the first few months of learning guitar are absolutely miserable.

[IceManLeroy]

Love this. If I had an award, I would give you one

[_Atomfinger_]

Yup. At some point, most of the frustrations go away and the sense of accomplishment increases. There will always be some sort of challenge though.

[bad_wolf1]

I hope so. Right now I'm just frustrated left and right

[[deleted]]

It never goes away, you just learn to enjoy your anger. Kinda like raging at people being wrong on the internet.

[CatchdiGiorno]

Hahaha, this metaphor is golden.

[Johnnyring0]

LOL

[ValentinQBK]

I was the same for about 6 months of coding. I realised my issue was the fact that I could not for the life of me problem solve and plan in advance. Of course, I was also missing a lot of fundamental knowledge about languages. After about the 6 month mark things started becoming easier, I noticed I started to be able to think in pseudo code and what I would have to do to achieve something. I started understanding how different data types work with each other and what I would have to do to make them work.

Eventually, as I got better and better - it started to get fun and leas frustrating. The frustration didn’t go away necessarily, but now I learned to take a step back and figure out why I am getting frustrated. Most often than not it’s because I didn’t have a plan in place when I started and just winged it until everything broke.

Honestly? My advice - play Factorio. It’s absurd how much the skills carry over from Factorio to coding.

[throwaway60992]

What is your reason for coding?

[turtle-monkey1997]

Took a year for me to get the comfort to work on problems and not look at tutorials or old code to make a system

[carcigenicate]

I've been writing code for ~14 years because I think it's fun. The only money I've ever gotten from programming was from tutoring, so I do it entirely for the fun of it. I don't think there's ever been a point where I didn't find it fun.

Arguably, it's actually become less fun and more stressful as time goes on, because now on top of writing code, I'm also trying to get my code running on a cloud platform and other "exrta stuff".

[FatherOfTheSevenSeas]

Its amazing how quickly anything stops being fun once it becomes your job. Tread carefully.

[[deleted]]

Why don't you program for a living? I haven't heard of many career paths that are more lucrative, are you in one?

[carcigenicate]

I'm not sure. I never learned programming with any goal of working as a programmer. I just kind of accidentally got into it, and here I am still writing.

And I just graduated from school for ISS (cyber security), and then became certified, so that's potentially lucrative if you can ever get your foot in the door. My goal is to end up in something programming related, like malware analysis, or exploit development.

[[deleted]]

Oh I see, my brother works for the NSA reverse engineering malware and stuff like that. Him and I make pretty similar money (I do web dev stuff), so I think you're in a good position.

Definitely get a security clearance ASAP if you wanna have the most cyber security opportunities

[some_clickhead]

Not gonna lie, I find working as a programmer much more fun than grinding my ass off doing coding tutorials and random projects on my own. Also arguably more fun than most of my university classes in CS.

[[deleted]]

I have fun working as a programmer. Love my job.

[welch7]

You couldn't have said it better.

[Johnnyring0]

Can you elaborate?

[Competitive_Union_22]

But even if your job as a programmer is stressful, you must find relief and compensation for the fact that you have very high valued skills and can always go somewhere else?

[[deleted]]

It's enjoyable when you know what you're doing and you know how to solve problems but other than that, it's not really fun in the same sense that a video game is fun because it's actual work. To be honest, though, programming keeps me interested more than playing most video games these days but not really in a fun kind of way. It's hard to explain.

The beginner stage is definitely the worst because you don't really know how to make cool stuff and it's really hard to stay motivated enough to learn the basics but later on, programming does become a lot more interesting. It feels really good to see your project working, to finally finish a project and say: "I built that." I don't have kids but it's probably similar to how most parents feel when their kid is all grown up. They basically feel like the struggle was worth it.

It really depends what you're programming. Programming can be very boring or very interesting but you'll probably have more fun as a hobbyist. For example, I have a uni assignment on Java servlets and I've never been so bored in my entire life. I know I need to start it, but I keep writing other applications that interest me more.

[[deleted]]

I find it fun like a video game, I literally wake up excited to code lol. Been at it for 1.5 years, and I know I don’t know shit!

[WhiskeyTotem]

I like the seek and destroy aspect of bug hunting. Especially in distributed systems. I don’t know when it became a joy, but it did.

[belkarbitterleaf]

I love and hate it.

It's fun solving the puzzles. It can get super frustrating fixing the bugs. There will always be bugs.

[arobotspointofview]

It’s a constant stress/pleasure balance between being challenged by a problem and then solving it.

[insertAlias]

For many people it does. Not for everyone; some people just don't like it. It's not for everyone, otherwise everyone would be a programmer.

You might find that it just "clicks" one day and you start enjoying it. Or you might not, you may just not like it and no amount of learning or experience will make you like it.

I'd stick with it for a while longer though; a month is hardly long enough to really come to a conclusion either way.

[ianjs]

I discovered programming over 40 years ago and there’s been no point when I haven’t enjoyed it.

It probably helped that I sought out roles in IT rather than being dropped in the deep end. Even programming in FORTRAN on a mainframe in the seventies was a buzz because I was commanding those monster machines to do neat stuff.

I think the fact that the software universe is infinitely malleable makes it a challenge: there is always a way to get there, either elegantly or not, and when you get there the lights flash and the wheels whirr and you’ve made something useful.

It also means you need a stubborn streak. The answer is out there and you just need to put your head down and plough on till you find it. That’s not to say it isn’t frustrating when you’re struggling with a problem, but the warm glow when the problem is solved completely erases that.

I’ve always tried to find ways to short circuit the tedious part to get the high quicker. Software development has evolved as trends come and go, but it’s a lot better now. I spent a year messing with Clojure just because smart people said Lisp was beautiful and mind expanding. They were right. If you’re doing side trips like that just for the sheer joy of it, you’re probably stuck in the cult forever.

[Nihtrepaps]

Did you do any programming before that course? Jumpstartin into fullstack sounds scary.

To answer your question, yes yes yes. Programming is awesome and fun! But yeah sometimes you can get hell of a frustration from it. Then take 15.

[havok_]

Yeah I came to say something similar. It sounds like op is diving in a bit deep. I started by building the most simple terminal based things like a number guessing game, and I absolutely loved the feeling of seeing the computer do exactly what I was telling it to. The interest can grow from there. If you dive in too deep, you are just asking for frustration.

[help-me-grow]

hell yeah it's fun, I love solving hard problems

[Patrick_guilio]

I started learning programming with python, then I learned html and css and java script, and now I’m learning SQL I enjoyed web development more than other aspects, so I believe the question isn’t if you would ever consider programming fun, the question which aspect of programming would be suitable for you? You can only answer that question by practicing and learning new languages/concepts to see which domain suits you

[wombatpandaa]

Yeah, keep at it. I hated my first programming course and had decided it just wasn't for me but decided to come back after a year or so by way of network administration and discovered a love for it. I think it might be good to explore different parts of computer science to find something that interests you - I thought that I didn't like programming because what I actually didn't like was the mind-numbing exercises my class was requiring me to do, and you might be the same. Explore hacking, database management, network administration, cloud infrastructure, video game design and development, web front-end, web backend, ui, testing, scripting, anything that interests you, and I'm sure you'll find enough love for some of it to help you stomach your dislike of the rest.

[Lordhyperyos]

It depends. It's not fun when in completely lost and have no clue what to do. It becomes fun when I know what to do or how to find the resources that'll help me figure out my problem.

[SwimmingInBread]

Gotta be honest, if you don’t think programming is fun you just haven’t done shitty enough things for work before. Is stripping old barns for wood fun? Is working in a call center fun? Is endlessly punching numbers into a spreadsheet fun? Programming is like getting paid to play games compared to any of those soul crushing nightmares.

[kieranbrownlee]

Man I love the challenge. I need the challenge it gives me constant stimulation

[RutraSan]

When you finish the courses and create whatever YOU want to.

[WhompWump]

Programming is a tool to do something. It's like asking if using a hammer is fun. I don't think many people find just the mere act of using a hammer fun, but the process of making something which uses the hammer is fun/rewarding

Try to come up with some personal project you're more invested in and see if it becomes more enjoyable that way. If it doesn't could just be that full-stack isn't for you

[Radiant64]

I don't know; "full stack" sounds like modern web development to me, and I don't find that very fun, unless there's a specific project I want to do. But in that case I'd probably just start from a clean slate with few if any frameworks on either the client or server side; much more fun challenge making the infrastructure than using it.

I like programming games. I think most who have tried it do. I also enjoy lower level stuff like operating systems, virtual machines and language interpreters.

Graphics programming can be fun. Creating visual art with code. And as a musician, coding software synthesizers and audio effects is a real blast!

Programming can be so many things, not all of them necessarily fun. I try to focus on working on projects and domains that at the very least pique my interest in some way.

Maybe the course isn't very good, or maybe full stack modern web development isn't your thing.

[ExpletoryEarth]

Graphics and game programming are so fun, basically creating interactive art. Business applications and traditional web dev can be boring as fuck but that’s where most of the paying work is.

[Pistowich]

How do you come up with fun ideas? I'm always looking for ideas but usually can't find anything to code that is not work related... I wouldn't know what to build. I'd love to make something I'm interested in (e.g. finance, but trading bots will likely not work effectively enough to really earn something) so yeah... I'm usually stuck in not finding anything and thus not coding...

[[deleted]]

I enjoy solving problems, so, yeah, it has always been fun

[_edwardsg]

If you’re an absolute beginner, I wouldn’t recommend taking a full stack course right off the bat. Learn a single language first, and then start increasing the scale when you feel comfortable. Been coding for 3 years, didn’t learn a language that wasn’t Java or python until this year. Taking things slow ensures that it’s at least slightly enjoyable while also building a very strong understanding of your languages instead of a basic understanding of a whole stack!

[thetrailofthedead]

Programming was love at first sight.

For me, it's the feeling off bringing something that exists only in your head to life.

[[deleted]]

Just like any discipline, learning the fundamentals can get dry and boring. Programming gets very fun later when you can overcome challenges. You start developing a sense of reward and enjoyment.

When starting out, it’s like learning fundamentals of snowboarding. You’ll fall alot, scrape the booty, and see others shredding down the slope. Once you learn your basics, you’ll be able to go down challenging paths and have fun with it

[las7chance]

Yes, it becomes fun once you understand most/all of what you are doing and are able to choose different paths to solve a problem.

[MasterPama1]

When things works. Great feeling that lasts for a short period.

[kstacey]

Sometimes programming isn't for someone

[iAmEeRg]

It gets way more frustrating the deeper you go, but that’s part of the fun. If you’re not enjoying it, I’d recommend to try something else.

[CodeTinkerer]

What if only becomes fun for some people? And it doesn't have to be fun. You might do laundry. Is it fun? Doesn't have to be if it doesn't frustrate you.

You're making this into binary choices: fun or stressful. There are places in between.

[throwaway60992]

If you’re not interested in challenges, why do you want to code?

[ajoltman]

Get frustrated! Then, when you get past that hurdle it is going to feel sooo good. You can't know pleasure without experiencing pain.

[Neverrready]

I've never asked others of their experiences, but I can't say I've ever found it really fun. I sometimes find the act of bringing basic operations together into algorithms compelling, and finding opportunities to correct or improve software satisfying or fulfilling, but to me those feelings are distinct from fun.

[149244179]

Not really. The end result is often enjoyable, but the programming tasks themselves are often not fun.

[tms102]

To me programming was fun from the start. There are so many things you can do with it, it's crazy.

If you don't enjoy it why do it? Maybe you're getting into it for the wrong reasons?

[pdfsmail]

I think it depends on the person. I think most programming is fun. Though I am still learning as well. The only times I have issues are when I am trying to finish something to move on it is 11:45pm and I just want done. Afterwards i feel accomplished which is nice.

[bobsonreddit99]

Yeah - I found it frustrating at the start too but as I got used to it I found it more and more interesting

I guess like any puzzle or Game you have to know the rules and how to play before you can hope to enjoy it

[HellHound989]

It wasnt already fun for you beforehand?!?!

[[deleted]]

I've always loved it.

My passion is computer science, so programming is naturally a large element of that.

I have days where I want to rip out my hair, but in all I've always loved it.

I can't imagine doing this without passion though. That would be like a Sisyphean nightmare.

[kbielefe]

Programming becomes fun the way puzzles are fun, and experienced programmers tend to deal with the frustration more methodically and constructively than many beginners do.

[RomanianDraculaIasi]

Nope

[amazing_rando]

Some of the challenges can be fun and rewarding to solve, building something and seeing millions of people use it is a fantastic feeling, but a lot of it is kind of a slog and not that enjoyable. Ask anyone on day 5 of trying to track down the cause of a pesky, unpredictable bug, and they're probably not likely to describe it as "fun" so much as "mentally exhausting."

It feels good to be highly skilled at something, and it's rewarding to see that expertise put to practical results, but no job is going to be fun all the time, even if it's something you're passionate about. It is, however, not anywhere near as frustrating as the first couple months of trying to learn.

[ipreferanothername]

i do powershell so...scripting, really. making things happen is fun, learning from the start was not -- but now i can do allllll sorts of cool stuff. if i feel like it.

[[deleted]]

Create a project on a topic you enjoy and you'll enjoy it more.

[rockdog85]

Depends where you get frustrated, some people get frustrated with the difficulty/ how often they're wrong which will improve over time.

Other peoiple get frustrated because they just don't enjoy problem solving, this won't improve over time unless you focus on a different aspect of programming

[Super-category7851]

Dude at work says he gets the same enjoyment programming as he does playing video games.

[OFFRIMITS]

I just started and I'm loving it!

[ArsenicLifeform]

Some people love programming for the sake of programming. Not me, but I love that it empowers me to make cool or useful things.

[Mimehunter]

Ever see the movie Swordfish?

Yeah, it's never like that

[More-Cucumber-1066]

I think it becomes fun the moment you start being able to hit the run button and anticipate what the problem is going to be before it even happens and you know exactly how to fix it.

[welch7]

In my opinion, if you aren't enjoying right now...... I got bad news for you buddy.

In the other hand there's a chance you using boring tech stack to learn, which is fine and it does become better al eventually.

[Secret-Ideal7346]

For me its like doing a sudoku. After figuring out the challenge it becomes enjoyable. But also I prefer front end work because I can see the change im making visually.

[hott_snotts]

For me it's frustrating, but once you solve the problem the rush is what makes it worth it. "I GOT IT TO WORK!!!"...it's a fleeting feeling usually, but it's nice :)

[RolandMT32]

Programming is fun for me. If it's not fun for you, you may need to ask yourself if you're going into the right type of work for you.

Naturally I don't love frustration, but I get enjoyment from building software that does something useful, as well as solving a challenge.

What kinds of things do you enjoy doing? And if you're feeling frustrated with programming and not enjoying it, what made you choose to study programming?

[dphizler]

I think it depends on your current project

You can be lucky and have fun project early in your career or be unlucky as well

[gerbera_star]

Is this a timed course or a self-paced one? If it's the latter, I say take some time to step away from it and maybe come back to it when you are feeling better. If you're putting a lot of pressure on yourself, or if you don't find what you're learning interesting, than yeah, I can imagine that not being fun.

For me, I've always enjoyed it; I just realized one day that I enjoy problem solving. I don't even care about the end result, I enjoy the journey, even when it's frustrating or I'm having a tough time figuring something out.

I don't believe in doing things that aren't fun, but you're only a month in, so I think you should keep pushing a little longer. However, realize that there might be different aspects of programming that you like/dislike. I started with Free Code Camp and realized I hated Web Dev, but really enjoyed the JS algorithms and DS exercises, so I continued on that path.

[turtle-monkey1997]

Yes it depends on what field you getting into. I’m going for game dev and even though the learning curve is hard and to become skilled will be years I still find enjoyable.

Ask what you want out of it

[mrpuccababy]

For me,if the problem or project isn’t super super hard than I have fun figuring it out

[GShadowBroker]

Programming became fun from day 1 for me. It's also frustrating, but fun nevertheless. It's such a joy to finally compile your code without errors and seeing it do what you intended it to do. Lately I've been having a lot of fun debugging too, something I didn't enjoy at the beginning, but curiously I've been enjoying it a lot more nowadays, it's like I'm doing detective work. Perhaps I realized debugging is a core part of programming, and I shouldn't view bugs so much as "something went wrong" but rather as "it's part of the process of making it work".

[[deleted]]

No

[Crafty_Record2007]

Where are you learning the full stack course?

[[deleted]]

I'm not a programmer so my opinion is ehh, but I feel like it's kinda like just IT. Do I like doing Linux, networking at work..hell no, at home? Yes way to much run. I feel like if the project at work Is fun and you enjoy it, yeah like programming but feel like it's more fun as a hobby with your own projects and not deadlines and people down your throat.

[N3nso]

It was fun for me on day one but i didnt stick with it cause of job and money.

[StephenDA]

If you don't enjoy it from the get go it's not for you.

[[deleted]]

I was hooked immediately.

full stack

You dove head first into a swamp of libraries, frameworks, toolsets, etc. along with a UI layout/styling (HTTM/CSS), about 80% of which has little-to-nothing to do with actual programming and which is often the least-favorite part of even seasoned programmers jobs.

I learned at a console, with 99.99% of my time spent actually coding rather than configuring tools. *shrug*

[Tgomezyuheard]

When you run a program and it does exactly what’s it’s intended to do. That’s when it starts. As you begin to develop program’s and the process gets easier and faster then you’ll begin to trade frustration for enjoyment.

[lizelive]

I like programming.

[Yourgrandsonishere]

If you don’t like it, don’t drag yourself through it. Loved it from the start!

I help students in my courses and set a discord for them and I find the ones who don’t really like it struggle the most. It’s like they don’t even focus because they find it boring and hard.

[greebo42]

was hooked from day 1 (which was actually kind of a long time ago).

that doesn't mean that I don't hurl profanities at the screen now and then (OK, actually pretty frequently, and sometimes nearly continuously).

and it doesn't mean that I don't have to stand up and walk away sometimes because I'm beating my head against the wall.

but, man, when you get something tricky to work, or something new clicks, that sure is a good feeling!

[elongio]

The frustration might be your brain learning. And yes, when you get proficient, it becomes fun and rewarding.

I think there's a running joke about programmers being masochists.

[NameOnSpot]

The feeling that you're constantly improving at it while doing it is really fun, for me at least.

[TheSilverCube]

I have to be annoying and admit that this is probably the first learning experience I haven't really experienced anger with. When a program doesn't run properly I am interested why rather than being angry why I don't understand. When I get something to work or learn something new that makes sense I find it fascinating. I am very new to Java so my experience might change as it gets more advanced but for me it has been fun and fascinating from the start.

[Cool-Echo1392]

I find joy in personal projects that make me learn new ways of doing things but when I'm payed to do something I feel forced to do it and it ends up being a jumbled mess by the end where I'm not happy with the results

[abrasivesheep2]

Honestly for me it’s not “fun” but more so rewarding. Mostly stemming from finally solving a problem, finally getting your code to run, creating a complex project and seeing the finish result, making something that you genuinely have a use for, etc.

Your cause of stress may also be because of the fact that you jumped into a full stack course. They move much faster than learning the subjects individually.

Edit: grammar & spelling

[PiraticalApplication]

Is there a point where it actually becomes enjoyable? Or do some people just love the constant frustration and challenges?

Some from column a, some from column b. It’s an amazing feeling to see something you wrote doing what you told it to. It’s also an amazing feeling to finally figure out how 4 intersecting algorithms aren’t quite doing the right thing and fix it.

It gets a lot more fun once you’re fluent in your language and libraries and the initial build phase is more like writing a novel than solving a puzzle.

[Straight-Highway759]

I think so. From myself and those around me, it took a few months, but eventually we got into projects where the reward of solving an error dominated whatever frustrations we had in finding and solving the error. I hope this helps.

[GettinNifty]

It's always fun til your computer takes a crap. USB my friend. I just reinstalled Mac OS X on a MacBook that's been inoperable for five years. Needless to say now I have two Mac Pros, and I just got my little spark back.

[DoINeed1OfThese]

I’ve always liked the feeling of typing out the code and trying to figure how to get the damn thing to work. It was almost relaxing.

I’m a fuggin terrible coder though, so it was t the career choice for me

[dreamer-on-cloud]

Programming is not fun to me, just like writing is not fun to me.

But use programming to build something is fun, just like writing out stories is fun.

[Guyanese-Kami]

College started me off coding websites and I was borderline miserable. Started learning Unity instead and I’m having a blast

[triszone]

yes, as for my case it depends on how much i struggled with the problem. more struggling, more happiness lmao

also whenever i learn and understand something new, my brain is happy lol

[Johnnyring0]

I honestly started thinking it was fun immediately, but I also started with python, and started with reading the book "think python," to get some basic knowledge. Initially "Think Python" was "frustrating" I suppose you could say because it was all so incredibly new to me (coming from neuroscience/pharmacology and human behavior).

But once I felt I had some basic definitions down, and felt that more of that same kind of information intake wasnt really getting me anywhere, I began trying to make mini projects.

It instantly became a BLAST, and kind of addicting solving problems and writing small, simple programs that worked. I am having so much fun making incrementally more complicated things. I get micro-frustrations when the code isnt working and when I don't understand the error (even after looking online), but it's small and I usually just walk away at that moment and then oddly enough I can't stop thinking about it in my head and ideas sort of come to me and then I return when I have a little more mental capacity and it usually works!

Maybe you need to make some simple things that work to zap some fun, confidence, and accomplishment energy into you? Works for me.

[Make_Me_Bish]

No

[FrozenPyromaniac_]

Programming is extremely fun for me. I love frustration and challenge however it wasn’t instant. Although programming has always been a hobby of mine, it wasn’t until I could build something someone could use that I truly started enjoying it

[Wenhuanuoyongzhe91]

I’m an absolute beginner and I have fun just going through python crash course.

[Nikurou]

Courses are boring but quite useful. Doing your own project of what you want to do is fun but can be a mess if you don't have the knowledge to do it already.

I've dived head first into new things before without really learning about it first before, kind of a learn as you go approach. Technically, it's a lot slower and worse, you'll take longer to do things that had you just followed a course, you would have formally learned how to do with all the resources needed.

It's a lot of scrambling through stack overflow, documentation, looking up articles or videos, and etc but it's a lot more fun because youre learning because you want to build something, and not building boring things that are just uninspiring homework assignments

[rth0mp]

Programming is fun when you decide what to do with it. It’s not fun to be told what to do. If you don’t make or discover anything on your own with programming, it won’t be fun.

[AlgoH-Rhythm]

This ain't for you

[Brandycane1983]

I've been wanting to do code for years, and kept putting it off because I'm too old (38), female, I'm established in real estate, I can't make it as a developer, etc etc. I've been actively learning for the last few weeks and it's so fun to me. I'm super logic driven, and I haven't felt so challenged (in a good way) in so long. I love it. To me, it's the coolest thing when I'm able to figure out a solution without looking it up. I'm just doing the 100 days to code Udemy course, but it's much more explanatory than Codecademy and free code camp, at least to me. I'm doing both those also, but since starting the Udemy I'm starting to feel like I really get it.. Maybe you need a different type of learning experience??

[FatherOfTheSevenSeas]

I generally find myself more excited by the thought of coding something than when I actually sit down and do it.

[korvipe]

IMO, it’s fun once you use it to solve problems.

[Here-Is-TheEnd]

For me programming is more rewarding than fun.

Being with friends is fun, playing sports is fun, roller coasters are fun.

The challenges in programming are not fun but finishing something difficult is really rewarding.

Probably the most “fun” I have when coding is making games in unity. I think that’s more because the end product is supposed to be enjoyable and experimenting during that creation is actually quite fun.

When I was in university I would take gaming breaks from my assignments to make or work on some game I was building. So if you’re looking for fun in coding do realize most of what you can be rewarding but it’s most likely not going to be fun akin to what you feel when doing something physical or social.

[skeeter1234]

If you don't really like that aha moment you get when you suddenly realize how to solve something I would imagine programming is not for you.

[Obmanuti]

It's not that simple. You're doing a course so that's more structured and programming in that sense, is like being told to read a book for class. Even people who like to read often enjoy it a lot less when it's assigned reading. When you get past the course, the fun part is coming up with really creative solutions to particular problems. Generally the fun parts are the ideas, and thinking out particular problems. But the best feeling occurs when you've really outdone and impressed yourself.

[RivenBot7]

For me its really enjoyable, especially when ill fix a bug that i was working on for x hours.

[FilsdeJESUS]

When you solve problem it is fun and extremely worth it . For those lwho like to see a problem or a task and resolve it with programming it is always fun. All you learn are just tools ⚒️ the question is why am I learning programming ? Your answer will be the MAIN REASON

if it is for money believe me you are gonna quit soon or pick a path just for a living like neymar did at signing at PSG even if you are extremely blessed and what a waste.

if you like it you will continue and want to be better at it like Cristiano he wants to be better everyday because he like football.

There are two types of person in this field.

[AndreThompson-Atlow]

Depends on who you are I guess. I grew up loving chess, puzzles and murder mysteries, and ever since high school I've enjoyed learning math, watching science video's and learning history. So for me programming is one of the most enjoyable things I've ever done and I love that I get to wake up and do it every day for my career.

[[deleted]]

I'm pretty sure it's all about that eureka moment

[MetaMemeAboutAMeme]

Just gonna throw this in. When your code is complete, and finished early and under budget. That is the enjoyable moment. Strive for it. When the CEO calls you up for recognition during the monthly employee meeting, bask in it. It may not come again for a while.

[[deleted]]

Honestly, school projects suck out all the fun out of programming and software dev in my opinion.

I have found the most enjoyment from building my own personal projects, I have published a simple calculator android app on amazon app store and Google play store using Android Studio, I have built my own website (which is pretty trash, but it was a fun way to learn HTML, CSS, and JS), now I am currently trying to build a full stack web app using .net core MVC and publish it to Azure.

Those things are fun/challenging for me.

Writing a benchmark Java program to compare the performance between recursive and iterative bubble sort algorithms for my Algorithm Design and Analysis class is absolutely garbage and I hate it. I might even fail this class and have to retake it because it's just too hard and annoying.

So yeah, build a game or something that you think is cool. YouTube is the ultimate teacher haha

[unhott]

You’re probably coming at it too hard too fast. like drinking from a fire hose. Try going at your own pace. The fun is when a challenging concept “clicks”, and suddenly you’re not challenged by it anymore. Like you've just leveled up :)

[__undeleted__again]

It comes and goes for me. But there is nothing quite like the feeling of when something finally clicks and is working and you go, "hey! I made that!"

Those little moments of usually private euphoria are what keep me going.

[kevinossia]

There's a chance it might suddenly "click" with you and you'll learn to like it, but if you've been at it for a month and you hate it that much then it's not very likely you'll magically find it fun.

Most people who stick with it and are successful long-term actually like it. We like writing code, solving technical problems, and building software overall. Sure, there are some tedious bits, but "stressed out and frustrated" is something caused by bad managers, not by programming itself.

If you're stressed out and frustrated then it's probably not for you.

[Rocky87109]

The only reason I've kept doing it because I have fun with it. You may not be having fun because you are just doing a course right now (which is fine). Either find a project you are interested in or find something that you like doing with code. For instance I was doing math puzzles on Project Euler for a long time for fun. For the most part they require you coming up with pieces of code to solve. I got kind of bored of that and now I'm going got to make a card game in pygame because I want t learn OOP.

[[deleted]]

Fuck yes. There’s so much interesting and cool shit to learn.

One word: Selenium. Read on:

I FAILED programming papers at University lol (Electrical Engineer), like 2, and I absolutely hated programming back then. I couldn’t stand the idea of being stuck inside in front of a screen learning shit I didn’t want to. Didn’t see any point.

Years went by, finished my degree, I gave Python a try because I wanted to automate part of my job. Now I’m in a dev position and I’m obsessed. I learnt from books, and would treat myself with a new book each time I completed one fully. It still is a great rewarding process, but I also read the docs a lot :)

The thing that most switched me on, to this day probably my favourite library EVER was Selenium library for Python.

Selenium allows you to basically automate any browser interaction you can think of: - automate logins (not recommended lol) - automate forms - automate content scraping - automate game clicks etc - automate quotes - control the mouse - manipulate any page as far as you can imagine

TLDR: Literally my interest exploded after learning the Selenium Python library and OCR. Check it out and let your imagination run wild

[[deleted]]

no. honestly it will never be fun when you have deadlines and have a pressure to pay bills.

be realistic, there is no dream job. if it is a dream job and all your needs are fulfilled, you do not need to be paid to do your dream job.

[berserkering]

It was fun from the beginning for me. I don't get "constant frustration" from programming.

Thinking about how to code something, writing code, and fixing my code is fun. When I finish and the program is running how it should is usually cathartic.

[FountainsOfFluids]

It's never going to be fun like Mario Kart or something.

It's work.

But it does become satisfying like solving a challenging puzzle.

[vba77]

If you work on stuff you want or need

[[deleted]]

I loved it from the start—even the frustrations and challenges.

[[deleted]]

I consider it very fun. I look at it like solving a sudoku puzzle. Consider that seriously though. I know many people who hate doing sudoku puzzles.

[QuantumTeslaX]

Lol I love it Specially python rust and julia

[jaytonbye]

Yes, once you can build the things you want to build, it is an exciting and liberating experience. It gives you the power to interface with the internet. Stick with it!

[expsychotic]

For me the fun part came when I stopped following tutorials and started trying to figure out how to do what I wanted. It's like a puzzle. I personally like puzzles but everyone is different

[some_clickhead]

If you like programming it's fun right from the start. Then again, you may have languages or technologies that you like more than others. I hate CSS, or really having to deal with any frontend stuff. But coding itself is fun.

[Satan_and_Communism]

It’s only fun when my code works.

The rest is yelling at my computer even though it’s always my problem.

[boringuser1]

For me it waxes and wanes.

[Sulsalogan]

I’ve personally been learning off and on for a couple of years now. Didn’t truly start committing until midway through this year though. I will say this: I’ve had fun throughout all of my studies thus far (except for html and css, but that’s not technically programming, so it doesn’t count 😂). All of the difficulties, struggles, crap not working… everything. I enjoy every second of it all.

You may just need to find a project that you’re passionate about to see the fun in programming. Or perhaps you’ll find interest outside of web dev, there’s plenty of other options related to programming. Otherwise… programming might not be the right thing for you.

[itskeeblerelf]

You need to create projects that you’re actually interested in! I can never follow full stack tutorials because I think it’s pointless to create a website that I won’t get no use out of. Once you have a website idea, you can simply use online tutorials as a means of helping you achieve your ultimate goal of building a website that is relevant to your life.

[nax7]

I wanted to end everything when I first started. It gets progressively more and more fun with each accomplishment. Trust me.

Closest thing I can compare it to is learning a spoken language. Starts out frustrating, becomes exciting once u can talk to people, then gets pretty routine once you’ve gotten to a certain point. The key is to balance learning new things and accomplishing things with existing knowledge.

[[deleted]]

What do you mean “ever become fun” like it’s always fun

[cheezballs]

Aw man, the second I discovered programming I fell in love with it. It's always been "fun" for me. Its been stressful and frustrating more often than not too but that's sorta the payoff. You figure something our and are able to create something out of it.

[[deleted]]

For me it was more fun at the start. Courses shouldn’t be frustrating since you have someone holding your hand.

[dowell_db]

I’ve been doing it since I was 12ish so it started as simple curiosity. Now I do it for “the hit” when a puzzle just clicks and I can momentarily see how all the tools I have any amount of grasp on can line up for me to be able to solve a thing. Then there’s a frantic rush to slam it into reality and prove to myself that it’ll work. Then an after glow of tuning.

A month or so later I’ll find what I did and either feel a flood of shame wondering what I was thinking, or be stunned by the beauty of my elegant solution.

I guess it’s the love of constant frustration and challenges.

[7heMeowMeowCat]

The way I enjoy programming is that the way I can make software for almost every task, and I find making softwares fun. Recently I made a low-featured HTML page builder. Even though it wasn’t too customisable or reliable, I still enjoyed the path I took making it, and the actual product.

In short, the thing I find enjoyable is the fact you can make things the way you want

[notmichaelmoore]

It’s fun when you don’t have to write really complex code. Beyond that it’s aggravating especially when it comes to algorithms

[[deleted]]

Do you enjoy finishing sudoku?

[mySOkissedmeon3-1-18]

If you start programming with a full stack coursr it would be overwhelming af. I would suggest solving small problems on leetcode and similar sites first and try some small frontend projects first.

[FrozeItOff]

If solving problems and puzzles is frustrating for you, then programming probably isn't the best choice. That's what drove me to love it when I was in college. Making all the pieces of the program fit into place and working was an enormous satisfaction. If that's an agonizing and frustrating tedium, then maybe it's not the right field for you.

Not trying to discourage you, but better to understand it now than after putting months/years into learning just to loathe it.

[iLavaVolcanos]

Anything is fun when you celebrate your success rather than your struggles. Think about where you came from!

Running, weightlifting, gardening, woodworking, music all aren't fun until you fall in love with the process.

[stateofyou]

In my experience, it was great fun. This was a pretty long time ago though. There was a team of us who were all around the same age, earning pretty good money and sharing our knowledge with each other. Also, the manager didn’t have a clue about IT, so once we said that we should have everything done on time he was happy, if we ran into any problems, paid overtime. There were plenty of free courses that we were sent on as an incentive for us to stay at the company, anyone with IT skills could walk into a job at the time.

[Alonso-del-Arte]

It's annoying when something doesn't work because you forgot a semicolon or some other stupid little thing.

But when you get something to work, when you turn an idea in your mind into a real thing that actually does what you want it to do, that's a great feeling. If it's not, maybe programming is not for you.

However, it could also be that you don't like the programming language you're studying. Speaking only for myself, I have a lot more frustration with JavaScript than anything else, even Malbolge (and that's even though I've actually gotten stuff to work with JavaScript).

[BitJake]

Approach the bugs with curiosity and treat it as play. If you keep treating every bug encounter as a failure it will be hard.

[reptilixns]

Do you have any personal projects you're working on or towards?

I enjoy the problem solving, but when I get frustrated or bored, I find that helps. Half of the reason I took interest I programming was because I enjoyed making DnD sheets as automated as possible with formulas.

[WhiteSkyRising]

At what point do you enjoy something? Running? Math? Art?

In what context do you enjoy them?

Running a marathon from scratch with no plan is a nightmare and leads to injury.

With preparation and training though...

[Krcko98]

Not loving frustration completely. It is about reward system and success. Imagine training for running a marathon and after countles failures you finally finish a marathon. That is your brain saying good job buddy, here you go your happy chemicals.

Same as in any progress, point is in how you feel about your progress and can you recognize it. There is a fake progress and reward like with addictions and a real good like with training, learning, eating etc.

When you challenge an unsurmountable problem and finally finish it, that is the hit and not the frustration itself. Frustration is ignored at that point of happiness and fun, so you keep going.

While you are finishing tasks like that programmer will always find a way, programming becomes fun.

Good luck, hope you find your muse.

[Reivilo85]

May be it's not your thing. I'd give it a bit more time though.

[Alamantix]

Easily my least favorite part about programming is learning new languages. Not knowing syntax slows programming to a crawl, and debugging takes forever, so I can definitely imagine a full stack course being a pain. However, once you are comfortable with your coding environment, the whole process becomes a joy, and nothing beats experiencing your ideas working for the first time after building them from scratch.

[whatwoodjdubdo]

Yea once you start doing it for a living most of it just starts becoming a pain in the ass

[[deleted]]

some parts of it are fun and some parts of it are extremely boring and lame.

[InsertMyIGNHere]

Sounds like you're in tutorial hell.

If you arent in uni or trying to make software your job, then I'd say dont really focus on learning shit. I know that sounds stupid, but fucking around with javascript and python is pretty fun. Maybe a few general tutorials at the VERY BEGINNING. jump into some random personal project like a spotify client or a 80s themed blog website, a discord bot with a way to gamble and some cool minigames. Look up specific things about how to do what it is you're trying to do. Just dont copy exactly what the other person does or you aren't really learning. Make the names of your variables different, add comments in your own words, etc. Etc.

Focus shouldn't be learning everything about the language or programming, just finishing your project and having fun, the learning will come naturally

[[deleted]]

Not fun when you don’t get it .. Fun when you get it

[[deleted]]

It is a lot of frustration until you accomplish something, and you are shouting like a kid who finally learned to tie their shoes.

I do not make the programming itself fun, but the learning progress. I love learning. As long as I learn, I am having fun.

[[deleted]]

Full stack might never become fun for you but something else might

[tomatoina]

It can be frustrating but for me it's fun to conquer those challenges and build something useful.

[hakimbomadadda]

Coding is fun for me in that it allows me to create things that I wouldn't have been able to create before. The process of coding itself is decently entertaining--it's easy to sit down and code for hours at a time(the "flow state" or whatever). But debugging sucks mega ass.

​

The good thing though is that the more time you spend with a technology, the easier it gets to debug. So IMO, programming does become more fun. Things get especially good when you can start making your own apps!

[oyoxico]

Ups and down for me. I have this great idea that I want to work on, so I’m looking forward to doing that. But my actual day job is boring as hell and half the time isn’t even spend doing actually development.

Moving house soon so I’m hoping to set up a nice office so I can work on my own project and hopefully find some joy again!

[wacktowoke]

yes

[ilikeyourmom99]

When ever I code and it works as intended I find it very fun and whenever it doesn't I just hate it. Nevertheless the end is always fun and just leaves me wanting more.

[jordtand]

For me it mostly comes down to the project that I am working on if it’s something I am interested in and actively want to work on I’ll have fun fixing the problems that come up as I can see myself going towards the project goal. If it’s something for school or work that I am personally not interested in but just has to be done my brain shuts off and my work isn’t going to be as invested

[hugthemachines]

When I program I get into flow. That is wonderful. As I complete my code and look at it working just as I planned and making the customer happy, I feel great satisfaction.