What It Takes to Code

One year ago, almost to the day, I received my first programming book. It was an intro to Python and I previously had zero knowledge of coding or how to program. Now one year later, almost two months worth of treehouse, five more books, and my first app soon to be pushed to my Github account, I think I've figured out what it takes to code. Note this is not about how to find a job as a developer or web designer nor what I think is the best way to go about learning how to code. But rather this is what I think is the most necessary quality of a programmer.

The 25 words or less version:

The insatiable desire to solve a problem no matter how long it takes and you will not give up until the void is satisfied.

The longer version:

Recently I have found closure to a bane in my life that has come and gone for the past six years. It is a completely different subject but I feel the situation is rather illustrative of my recent coding experiences. The situation was not a pressing problem, I couldn't change it, I didn't think about it 24/7, but sometimes it would still come to mind. Last weekend I was at a wedding and it is remarkable the change a 10 minute conversation can effect.

How does this relate to programming? I am still putting the finishing touches on the app I've been writing and as I said I will soon put it to Github once I clean it up slightly. I didn't think about the app 24/7. When I wasn't at my computer I couldn't code. However the problem was still there. Questions such as "Why can't I access this variable from other class? How can I send a list to another activity? How do parcelables work? etc." were going through my mind. When I couldn't figure something out and at the same time had to go to work and do other necessary daily things, the problem was still in the back of my mind and eating away at my sanity. I often thought of this xkcd comic as it seemed to apply to everything I was trying to do. I often thought I would never figure things out. Then somehow I would write a line of code, change a variable type, or change a method. Then, excelsior! it would run without errors! Thus providing closure to the coding issue I was trying to solve. So to revisit the illustration and apply it to coding: It is remarkable the change a 10 minute Google search or line of code or just some sort of coding "magic" can effect on my program, and uncoincidentally my subsequent emotional state.

This is less of a post about how to program and more about what your mindset should be when programming. I have been listening to the Code Newbie podcast and have been loving the fact that at this stage of my learning I am not alone in feeling I can't program or should quit and do something else. Other people learning to code have had the same issues and feelings that I have on a regular basis. But after all the work, late nights, and frustration the feeling of finally figuring out a problem, writing code that runs without errors, and seeing my app on a phone and working the way it should makes me want to get up and dance! (which I sometimes will do when I've spent too long a certain bug)

I've also been rather impatient lately and want to see if I can explain concepts, instructions, and stories in 25 words or less, as sometimes my attention span doesn't last too long. I don't know if it will always be possible to do so but I will try to provide a short and long version of what I want to put in this programming story. I find certain explanations of how some method should work are wordy and unclear and maybe I can do my part to solve that as I go so I can more easily understand them later.

Hope to have my app on Github by next week. Upward not northward!

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