in reply to Why do we like to program?

There are many reasons why I like programming. Among them:

The last item was inspired by a great talk (video here). Some people, which we call "geeks" or "nerds" (and I count myself among them) like to think in systems. In well-defined, understandable but usually non-trivial systems.

When I write a program, I explore such a system (one or several programming languages) to built another system. I don't think everybody understands that, but I find great joy in it, even if it's not useful in any way.

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Re^2: Why do we like to program?
by mpeever (Friar) on Nov 09, 2008 at 21:10 UTC

    One reason Perl resonates with me is, it's a language I can explore, even more than a language to master. Scheme is the same way: it feels like a language that's more about discovery than about churning out code. And ironically, I find it easier to get a working product in both Perl and Scheme than in ``flat'' languages like Java. I was a professional Java developer for some time, and never really felt passionate about it.

    This is all highly subjective.

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Re^2: Why do we like to program?
by missingthepoint (Friar) on Nov 11, 2008 at 04:30 UTC

    I second all those points. They sum up my reasons for programming well, but I'd perhaps add a fifth:

    • I'm compulsive

    ...by which I mean my brain will happily stay in a code-run-debug loop for long periods. I feel compelled to figure out the next thing! Programming is one task that rewards that particular character trait.

    Rands is funny. (Update: hehe, I guess TimToady was in the crowd... and then Rands borked the 'fixed' regex)

    Life is denied by lack of attention,
    whether it be to cleaning windows
    or trying to write a masterpiece...
    -- Nadia Boulanger
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