Bob's Gift

So, why did Bob's teaching make such an impact? In part, it was Bob himself...he was relaxed, easy to talk to, funny, and had an aura of competence. I have seen (something like) these attributes in most of the really excellent programmers I have known. I suppose it's possible that someone could be a top-drawer guru but have a burr in his boxers 24/7, but I doubt it. The only way to become a real expert in this field (IMHO) is to learn as many different things as possible, internalize as many viewpoints as possible, and find a consistent framework for all of it. It's very hard to do that except by talking to, and working with, other people and, to do that, you need to be the kind of person they want to talk and work with.

Aside from the personal traits, Bob taught me how to think logically and algorithmically. He demonstrated specific ways to deal with problems: either top-down (taking a big problem and breaking it into smaller and smaller chunks until it becomes trivial to solve each chunk) or bottom up (building tiny little pieces that are trivial to write and test, then combining them to do more and more until the problem is solved).

The epiphany, of course, came when I realized that these techniques don't just apply to computer programs, they apply to everything. Need to build a house? I'd start top-down; figure out what all the necessary tasks are, then decompose each task until it's trivial, then execute. Trying to fix a problem in your love-life? I'd start bottom-up; do something small, right now (offer a compliment, spend 30 minutes together, give a card), then do more and more small things until the problem is resolved.

I also learned, perhaps not directly from Bob but certainly because of him, that programming is a lot of fun. Even when the code won't compile and you swear the computer is laughing at you, it's still fun. You get to be creative and logical at the same time and you have the satisfaction of knowing that there is always more to learn, always room to improve, and it's always going to be new. You can top out in a lot of jobs, become as good as it's possible to be--after that, it's just boring. Or you end up doing the same thing, day after day. With programming, that doesn't happen.

The final thing that Bob showed me--and I doubt he remembers this--is the poetry of programming. As I said at the top, before I came to his class I wanted to be a writer. I loved the fact that English has so many nuances, so many connotations, so many shades of meaning. Programming sounded cold and rigid by comparison. And then, one day, Bob casually demonstrated that a for and while loop were interchangeable with just a little revision. I think that was the moment of my epiphany, the moment I said "I'm going to do this for the rest of my life." Such a small thing, to have such an impact; so obvious to me now, after a decade of experience, but fresh and wondrous then. The part I like best about programming is that I keep having those moments--which I guess ties back to that "always more to learn" thing.

The real problem, of course, lies in not expecting the rest of humanity to behave as logically as a computer. I'm still working on that.