"If you give someone a program, 
      you will frustrate them for a day; 
   if you teach them how to program, 
      you will frustrate them for a lifetime."

Found this on a newsgroup this morning, chuckled, and then began pondering the significance of it.

Is it just me, or does it seem that programmers like being frustrated? Bear with me on this...

Regardless of your OS and/or language experience or preferences, you have a favorite. You've invested a great deal of time trying to master these and you may have had to use others. I would wager, though, that these weren't the first favorites you've had. There have been others. In the future, there may be others again.

We're not happy with our current levels of knowledge. We are always seeking news subtleties, new challenges, or new ways to broaden our knowledge. In doing so, we often become frustrated and struggle to scramble up the learning curve until we've reached some form of plateau. From here, we diverge. Some continue up the mountain, others look for different ones. The understood becomes boring; we're fascinated by what we don't know.

So, we consistently place ourselves in positions where we don't know what we're doing. And we like it that way.

Hm...

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Maybe it's just the coffee talking...still working on the first cup...

In reply to Bad coffee? by footpad

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