did you ever feel like quitting?
Author
I''ve been in a slump for like a month. I haven''t programmed, visited this site, or anything program related. I''m a senior in high school, and I thought I would continue programming as my career. Now I''m getting second thoughts. I''ve read people post here saying stuff like, "I program as soon as I wake up" or "I''ve made a 3D engine in my first year of programming", and all of this type of stuff got me thinking maybe I''m not cut out to be a programmer or maybe this wasn''t what I was meant to do. And what if I do continue programming and I can''t find a job either because I''m not good enough or by then programming want be such a big deal job? Has anyone thought like this before? just confused
It takes a while to get the grasp of programming.don''t worry about what ohter people say,just learn at your own pace.
99% of programming jobs require you have a CS OR SE degree.
hope that helps!
p.s. I''m in the 9th grade
99% of programming jobs require you have a CS OR SE degree.
hope that helps!
p.s. I''m in the 9th grade
you know, your a teenager, its your right to get confused. at this time of your life its pointless to do something if you dont take pleasure in it, your only your age once and if you dont make the most of it you''ll regret it. have fun while you can. really start to worry about things if your a senior in college and you have no idea what you want to do.
When I was a high school senior I had no clue how to make a 3d engine - and now 8 years later I''m a professional game developer making commercial games - and I still don''t have any idea where to start on that 3d engine. I had no idea I wanted to get into games - I studied my CS degree because I thought I wanted to make electronic music using computers
About your fear of programming losing its status; even when I am most pessimist I don''t see this happening. To me programming is "giving formal well-defined instructions" to a machine not only on a desktop computer but on a PDA or any electronic device, or even biological entities. In this sense, programming loses its meaning and is a very vague definition that almost all people satisfy almost every day. The important part is when you decide *what* you will be programming - whether it be games, business applications, or little nano-bots swimming around curing cancer.
Hope this makes sense my writing skills suck.
Oh and also the programmers who start when they wake up and stop when they go to sleep need professional help - it is just not healthy - and they say the best developers are those who have outside interests from which they can channel energy and ideas.
I''ve been programming ever since i can remember... when i first started learning to read i started working with qbasic... i didn''t even know what the hell i was doing... i was just writing stuff... as time went on i began to play with VB. when i get to about 12-13 i got intrested in C, i tried coding but at the time i couldn''t get none of the shit. I am now 16 and i am starting to get good at C++ and COM based programming... also... between 14 and 16 i had a long break from proramming where i felt like it wasn''t the thing for me... now that i''m back at it i''m feeling pretty good and i think i''m liking this. What you gotta do is step back a bit... take in what you have been doing, think about what you wanna do next, and then dive back in and start programming. If you keep doing the same thing yuou won''t get anywhere and you''lll get bored. Also, i have not yet been able to program a 3D engine. All i can do is just follow the tutorials and just stop at the end... what i have found out is that i can only take in so much at a time. What i''m doing right now is making little projects to practice C++/class oriented programing and when i feel i''m very fimiliar with classes i will try to make my first Direct3D engine. If you don''t see progress you will feel that you are wasting your time... and i don''t think it''s possible to make an engine in the first month, unless you spend 16 hours a day for 31 days in a row and only eat/sleep to keep you in focus. I can''t stress it that you must go at your own pace... concentrate on a small peice of code from a tutorial and really see what it does... don''t just skim it over... read it 10 times, code it 20 times, test it 30 times. and then it''ll feel like you''ve known it since you were born! also... read about assembly a bit... Programming isn''t all about C++... if you get to know assembly you''ll see how simple programming really is, it''s all about memorizing and then putting it all togheter!
and also.. i''ve found out i get my best ideas when not at the computer... when at work i love to think about what i''m gonna do. If you spend 16 hours a day coding you WILL get bored. What you gotta do is hae some fun in between... make yourself want to get back on the computer. Right now when i wake first thing i do is turn on the computer, and then goto the bathroom and by the time it''s ready i''m out of the bathroom. combined, i get about 6-8 hours a day of programming on non-school-days and about 3-4 on school days. Whenever i''m home i feel like programming. for example, last night i got home from work at 7... took a shower.. got on the computer... couldn''t stop coding till 1am, went to sleep, wokeup at 8, and got on the computer and i''m still coding! i''m gonna be going to work in a couple of hours and i can''t wait to get back on!
quote:Original post by krakrazor
If you spend 16 hours a day coding you WILL get bored.
Not exactly true at all... maybe for some people where development isn''t their passion.
I work in professional C# development for 8 hours a day, and up to 20 hours a day at crunch times on projects.
Now on normal days where I work 8 hours, I will go to the gym after work for an hour or two, and then come home and code for 6 hours or so in C# or C++.
So sure it''s not the 16 hours you stated, but 14 hours is damn close enough. Plus the fact that some days I will actually code longer than 16 hours.
Maybe it helps that my girlfriend works in development as well and we work on projects together, who knows =]
romanMagyar, I''m in the exact same situation as you. Except my slump has been quite a bit longer. Everytime I try to program, something goes wrong and I feel like quitting because I really have nobody that I can talk to about it. I wish I could make a 2d engine! I wish I could set up DirectX properly! lol Right now my program is hanging and I have no clue why.
If anyone is a newbie, and are in the same position of me, contact me:
AIM: True Edge 1
MSN: batmanobile@hotmail.com
I''m sure we could help each other.
If anyone is a newbie, and are in the same position of me, contact me:
AIM: True Edge 1
MSN: batmanobile@hotmail.com
I''m sure we could help each other.
let me tell you all though, it DOES get better ...
ALL the time we are learning, so i can''t say "i remember back when i was learning c" or anything .. but i can say, "I can remember back when pointers confused the hell out of me" and "i can remember when i never used to refactor my code and it turned into spagetti and I lost track of every significant project I worked on" .. and "i can remember when getting trying to get ALT-TAB to work with directx pissed me off so bad, i just didn''t do it"
But as I get more and more experienced, I find that every year I have less of the headaches related to stupid things not working, because those are no longer the issues after a few years ... then the issues become, finding your motivation and a project that meets these criteria:
1. Challenging / New enough to be interesting
2. Significant enough to make you feel good when done
3. Small enough to be finishable
4. In a domain which you''d like to get better at
For example I have MANY little bity things I''d like to write, but I don''t do most of them - cause they are all just about a week longer than the interest I have in them
But I am still slowing making progress on my turn based strategy game (and all the libraries I''m writing as part of the project) ... slowly ... while keeping a job programming too, and having a relationship, and playing games ...
Programming can be a passion, or it can be just a job, but for most people it''s something in between ... something you like, something you are interested in, something that can be rewarding at times and frustrating at others ... that is what programming is to most of the people who actually do it for a living (in my opinion at least) ...
some weeks we neglect life to program, others we ignore programming to live.
And by the way, don''t worry about your interests shifting around at 18 ... or even 40 for that matter ... life is not meant to follow a simple predictable path from birth to school to work to the grave ... you have enough years to explore many things. And remember this, you can be a programmer without it being your primary job ... and there are programming skills that are usefull and fun that don''t require the kind of dedication and time that writing things like 3D Engines in C do ... for one, the newer technologies like Java and C#.NET really privide a lot of tools to simply weave together into a usefull little app ... and database technologyies, and things like web servers, php/javascript/perl/python/ruby ... these things are absolutely wonderfull aids for hobbiest programmers ... try one, you may like it ...
And once you learn somthing simple like connecting to a database with PHP on a sever (and making web pages from them) .. then there are so many little things you can do, that are USEFULL by themselves ... and sellable as contract jobs too ...
don''t ever limit your horizon to just one view ... PLAY with things, EXPLORE possibilities ... then which ever don''t get left behind and forgotten ARE your future ... no need to stree over it ...
just like girlfriends .. some are just flings and fond memories, others stay with you and form lasting freindships, relasionships, or just lasting life-changing impressions on you.
good luck
ALL the time we are learning, so i can''t say "i remember back when i was learning c" or anything .. but i can say, "I can remember back when pointers confused the hell out of me" and "i can remember when i never used to refactor my code and it turned into spagetti and I lost track of every significant project I worked on" .. and "i can remember when getting trying to get ALT-TAB to work with directx pissed me off so bad, i just didn''t do it"
But as I get more and more experienced, I find that every year I have less of the headaches related to stupid things not working, because those are no longer the issues after a few years ... then the issues become, finding your motivation and a project that meets these criteria:
1. Challenging / New enough to be interesting
2. Significant enough to make you feel good when done
3. Small enough to be finishable
4. In a domain which you''d like to get better at
For example I have MANY little bity things I''d like to write, but I don''t do most of them - cause they are all just about a week longer than the interest I have in them
But I am still slowing making progress on my turn based strategy game (and all the libraries I''m writing as part of the project) ... slowly ... while keeping a job programming too, and having a relationship, and playing games ...
Programming can be a passion, or it can be just a job, but for most people it''s something in between ... something you like, something you are interested in, something that can be rewarding at times and frustrating at others ... that is what programming is to most of the people who actually do it for a living (in my opinion at least) ...
some weeks we neglect life to program, others we ignore programming to live.
And by the way, don''t worry about your interests shifting around at 18 ... or even 40 for that matter ... life is not meant to follow a simple predictable path from birth to school to work to the grave ... you have enough years to explore many things. And remember this, you can be a programmer without it being your primary job ... and there are programming skills that are usefull and fun that don''t require the kind of dedication and time that writing things like 3D Engines in C do ... for one, the newer technologies like Java and C#.NET really privide a lot of tools to simply weave together into a usefull little app ... and database technologyies, and things like web servers, php/javascript/perl/python/ruby ... these things are absolutely wonderfull aids for hobbiest programmers ... try one, you may like it ...
And once you learn somthing simple like connecting to a database with PHP on a sever (and making web pages from them) .. then there are so many little things you can do, that are USEFULL by themselves ... and sellable as contract jobs too ...
don''t ever limit your horizon to just one view ... PLAY with things, EXPLORE possibilities ... then which ever don''t get left behind and forgotten ARE your future ... no need to stree over it ...
just like girlfriends .. some are just flings and fond memories, others stay with you and form lasting freindships, relasionships, or just lasting life-changing impressions on you.
good luck
Don''t let yourself get discouraged. You must remember this very important point: most humans are not born with an innate talent in any particular field, at least not one that they can immediately put to use. They can only hope to train, learn and adapt to become fit. Remember this point, it is very important.
You see, that is how humans over the centuries have come to hold dominion over the very earth! Not through some innate skill, and certainly not through luck. We had within ourselves a desire to learn, to grow, and to create in order to aid our growth. So we have built ourselves - this species of no outwardly apparent adaptations - into the rulers and inheritors of the earth with the one adaptation that made all of the difference: the will to learn.
And so every man and woman must make the same decision, and reach the same conclusion in order to break through the hard times. Man was never born to program computers, nor was he born to think logically. It is a skill we train within ourselves, with sweat and hard work and frustration. Anyone who says that they can do this stuff effortlessly is either lying or has already payed that sweat and frustration long ago. (now, granted, there are exceptions - such as people who DO have innate intelligence... but these are a very rare exception. The odds of coming across people like that are very slim indeed, and you should not stress yourself by comparing your accomplishments to theirs)
Anyways, what I''m trying to say is don''t let your frustrations get the better of you. Don''t let it defeat you. I have thought the same thoughts that you have: I have wondered why it didn''t come easily. But it was only very recently that I learned that these things don''t come easily because they''re not SUPPOSED to come easily. We just weren''t made for them. We have to learn them through laborous study, training, and practice.
So when you start telling yourself that you''re not good enough, and when you start wondering why it takes so much effort, always remember that you ARE good enough. The ability is within you, because the ability is nothing more than the application of desire. When you feel that effort, when you feel like it is difficult, it is at that moment that you are using that desire, that is the moment that you are applying it. Remember that it is that desire that makes your potential LIMITLESS, and you will defeat it.
I hope this made some sense. It''s what I tell myself whenever I feel the way that you do (and believe me, I have). And, based on my observations of others and myself, the theory I have stated proves to be true. So believe in yourself, and know that you are limited only by what you percieve that you cannot do and what you do not attempt. Remove the false perception. Engage in the attempt, and treat temporary failed attempts as just that: temporary, a learning lesson in your steps to success. You will succeed, as man has succeeded throughout time.
You see, that is how humans over the centuries have come to hold dominion over the very earth! Not through some innate skill, and certainly not through luck. We had within ourselves a desire to learn, to grow, and to create in order to aid our growth. So we have built ourselves - this species of no outwardly apparent adaptations - into the rulers and inheritors of the earth with the one adaptation that made all of the difference: the will to learn.
And so every man and woman must make the same decision, and reach the same conclusion in order to break through the hard times. Man was never born to program computers, nor was he born to think logically. It is a skill we train within ourselves, with sweat and hard work and frustration. Anyone who says that they can do this stuff effortlessly is either lying or has already payed that sweat and frustration long ago. (now, granted, there are exceptions - such as people who DO have innate intelligence... but these are a very rare exception. The odds of coming across people like that are very slim indeed, and you should not stress yourself by comparing your accomplishments to theirs)
Anyways, what I''m trying to say is don''t let your frustrations get the better of you. Don''t let it defeat you. I have thought the same thoughts that you have: I have wondered why it didn''t come easily. But it was only very recently that I learned that these things don''t come easily because they''re not SUPPOSED to come easily. We just weren''t made for them. We have to learn them through laborous study, training, and practice.
So when you start telling yourself that you''re not good enough, and when you start wondering why it takes so much effort, always remember that you ARE good enough. The ability is within you, because the ability is nothing more than the application of desire. When you feel that effort, when you feel like it is difficult, it is at that moment that you are using that desire, that is the moment that you are applying it. Remember that it is that desire that makes your potential LIMITLESS, and you will defeat it.
I hope this made some sense. It''s what I tell myself whenever I feel the way that you do (and believe me, I have). And, based on my observations of others and myself, the theory I have stated proves to be true. So believe in yourself, and know that you are limited only by what you percieve that you cannot do and what you do not attempt. Remove the false perception. Engage in the attempt, and treat temporary failed attempts as just that: temporary, a learning lesson in your steps to success. You will succeed, as man has succeeded throughout time.
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