Reading, and a comment on a post.

I hate not being able to be formal on anything I write on the Internet, almost like my formality drifts out of me when I touch the keyboard. But, today, I’m going to force myself to be formal, because, unlike last time, this stuff is important.

So, I’ve had a bit of an epiphany today, one which I’ve realised describes what I want to a perfection I can’t seem to get across to other people. What I want, is the ‘don’t have to do anything with myself’ ability that so many of my friendly society members have, even people my own age can simply walk away from things that they do not want to do. The thing with this philosophy is that I care too much about things like school work, kindness, and other things that get in the way.

To illustrate my point, I’ve started reading SICP, and basically, all I want to do right now is read it, working through the examples. Yet, things still manage to get in my way, namely stupid things I, for some stupid reason have to do. School has a place, and every class can have an application but why do we have to prove ourselves to people? Some of the homework, excluding Indonesian and  Maths, I’ve done in previous years for my own amusement. Why do I have to do it again? In regards to SICP, how am I going to be a better programmer if I don’t get to program? I sometimes physically struggle to do work I’ve done before, and by that token, procrastinate uncontrollably. I want the life of freedom so many people like me have had the privilege of having, where I can pursue what I want in the twenty-four hours given to me in every day.

I didn’t post here to complain, however. I actually have something worthwhile to say, in fact a sort of discussion on a post I’ve read recently: As Simple As Possible on programming musings.

So, I’ll think I will start with my little introduction to this gem. Basically, what the post starts of with is a quote from a widely read and reviewed post Lisp is a Sin, one which the author vehemently disagrees with, maintaining that dumbing down computer science is what is keeping the computer science winter cold. The author wishes to make a point that not everybody can be a programmer, in fact, quoted, it’s rather enlightening.

The (trivial) point i’m [sic] trying to make is that not everybody has what it takes to be a programmer. Just as not everybody can be a singer or a painter (as an aside, i [sic] tend to agree with the opinions that link programming and art). As a matter of fact, good programmers are rare and need a quite peculiar combination of skills and talents.

Ironically, even the enlightenment can have a flaw, it feels like an attack on newbies to their (the wizards) community. I’m going to question the motives, and go right out and ask who, if anybody can become a programmer”? What are the requirements to call yourself a hacker (excluding public labelling, because sometimes there are closet hackers)? What do people who wish to become programmer, and what are the steps needed to make it fun?

Regardless of my wiseness, or my lack of experience, I’m going to try and cut down to a basic level of who can become a programmer. Anybody who is a fast learner can learn the syntax of a programming language in a short time, with a decent book at their disposal. That means that anybody can know what a certain type is, or even how to read a bit of source code. Writing source code is another story. What is required is enjoyment; you need to enjoy the creativity form to achieve anything worthwhile. Why paint if you hate to paint?

It is quite possible to learn a complicated subject with hard work, taking as long as the human being in particular has enough time, and enjoys it. They are the three requirements that brings us programmers; hard work, long times, and enjoyment.