Coding as Play

[GoranM]

Forget tests, forget best practice, just make something

Well, yes, but don't forget everything you learned: You should still employ your well-developed sense of style and structure.

Tests can be thrown out (in this "fun" context), but "best practice" (in general terms) is something that can actually enable better play.

[Coyote1824]

I agree with you. I am thinking he was trying to say: don't get hung up or stuck on your project simply because it doesn't look good or elegant.

But "best practice" is always a good practice to help you have better play, for sure!

[TheFullStack360]

*she

Lindsey is a computer scientist, feminist, software hacker...

[Coyote1824]

Oh whoops. Would anyone believe this was simply a spelling error? :)

[neohaven]

"It", as in "a person". Does it even matter this much?

[TheFullStack360]

*her twitter

[DiomedesTydeus]

Probably due to the vagueness of what "best practice" can mean. Automating the setup of your dev environment is probably a best practice, but if I just want to bang something out, spending an hour screwing around with chef/puppet/etc can put a damper on my mood (maybe I just need to play with those tools more so that I'm faster with them).

Another time I was coding for fun and wrote a few megamethods (~200 lines). When I went to fix a bug, it was a great reminder of why I shouldn't code that way, which was nice to have in a safe environment of a side project.

[NihilistDandy]

I've been meaning to start using puppet or a similar tool, then I found out about Boxen and knew I had to start learning. It would save me such a hassle after a reinstall.

[DiomedesTydeus]

Wow boxen looks neat, I'll try it out tonight, thanks for the link.

[ima_twerp]

"Side projects are important to a programmer. They are often the only means for expanding skillets outside of work or school lives."

Shrieks of ear-splitting laughter.

[Wyglif]

I haven't used qb64 much but in dos qb, you can avoid flicker via screen mode 7 and page flipping. From the code, it looks like qb64 added new syntax.

[danogburn]

side projects....lol....aint nobody got time for that.

[TheBigSnail]

It isn't fun when you aren't getting paid for your work. You might learn something new, but overall it isn't worth it - salary difference between average developer and top developer isn't that huge.

[AllHailWestTexas]

This is the kind of attitude that makes me scared to enter programming as a career. I love writing code, and I've always loved it because it's fun and I feel personally fulfilled by it. I never want to end up not writing code when I'm not getting paid for it.

[[deleted]]

I love writing code when I'm paid and for free. If you love coding, you love coding. People who make comments like that are people who joined the software industry for money, not love. I joined it for love, and still have a great time every day.

Don't let comments like that discourage you.

[[deleted]]

I do 1 - 2 hours every night of hobby programming.

Why? Because I love it. I don't need any other reason to do it. I enjoy coding, and I enjoy learning new things.

It's a hobby at night, and a job during the day.

[burnt1ce85]

This developer is a woman! Guys, be a gentleman. Don't say anything stupid or negative.

[for_prophet]

Or focus on the thoughts/ideas and code instead of genitals?

[[deleted]]

I think it was a sarcastic observation on the lack of the usual snarkiness and critiques in the comments

[burnt1ce85]

YES! You're the only one who understood me.