LifeDev: Coding Creativity: 14 Ways to Learn From Creative Programmers
Jarrod - Warrior Development
· 1 year ago
Programmers rock! :D
Creating stuff, that is what I like best about being a programmer.
Got a problem, is there a program out there already to solve it? If not, I'll build it myself.
Very creative job indeed, nice write.
John Smith
· 1 year ago
Programming is as creative as you make it. Just as anything.
Kyle
· 1 year ago
Excellent article. I just recently started a job where I use PHP 8 hours a day. Two weeks ago I would have told you that programming in PHP is a wasted effort, that the language has no coherent standard, and that there are better alternatives. That still might be true, but there is beauty in using the mundane and creating something elegant.
Shoban
· 1 year ago
Excellent article!!! I started learning PHP 3 months back (even though I work with MS technologies) ... What you said is correct!!!
Thanks for the article Glen!! I am proud to be a programmer :-)
William
· 1 year ago
Great article ! To my mind you, should better talk about developper than programmer because starting from scratch require developer skills (analysis of needs, taking into account hardware limitation, etc.) But your post still fine, I'm going to flood each of my friends with that... to make them understanding my passion :-)
Qleyo
· 1 year ago
@ Kyle: Welcome to my world! I would have told you the same thing about 4 years ago...when I still had to program in C/C++ et al as well as PHP, now its just PHP...and although it sucks sometimes, it also rocks!
Love this article, I guess it also explains why we can flourish as hybrids - I happen to design and develop equally well, I think it also explains why scientists tend to be very good musicians. In all great post.
DASO
· 1 year ago
I know the basics of PHP, but I don't improve my skills and I don't practice it. today I will start practicing and do my best to be a programmer in the future. Thanks so much for this post.
Fredrik
· 1 year ago
Great post, couldn't agree more
nick
· 1 year ago
This isn't just a great article about programming. I think these tactics apply outside of programming as well. It is just great advice overall Sorry if I missed that point in the article.
Steve W
· 1 year ago
Couldn't agree more on all of those points, especially 4 and 6. Being passionalte about ones craft is the only thing keeping us programmers from going insane. It's hard work but if you love it then it can be it's own reward.
code networking
· 1 year ago
12. Don’t be afraid to build off the code of others.
great example is some of the javascript libraries out there like prototype and jquery
programming is definitely a passion of mine, and I even dream about it. I am totally grateful to the open source community for providing us with the basic building blocks with which we build bigger and better things.
Josh
· 1 year ago
I agree with #10 whole-heartedly (the others as well, but i was experiencing #10 earlier). I had been trying to pass a database object in PHP through a function, and it was just not working, so from that i assumed that passing it through to another class wouldnt work at all: wrong. I tried out, just for the hell of it, to see what sort of error message i could get, whatthehell!!? it works.
Awesome post.
Tiago Dias
· 1 year ago
Great post!
Finally someone can describ what I really feel in my life. All points describe me. I´m felt GOD when i create something beautifull.
Development are my life and my passion!
Dougx
· 1 year ago
That's correct. A programmer is a god-like being, able to create everything out of nothing (except the editor). A programmer is like the poet-mathematician, the creative problem solver, the dictator of the computer!
meti
· 1 year ago
bi bakarsin
ryan cameron
· 1 year ago
I agree with all the points and Id like to add another one:
Dont be afraid to be wrong. Embrace being wrong, its when you are wrong that you learn. Take responsibility for mistakes, deal with it and move on. Take pleasure in your fellow coders or subordinates showing you up with better solutions!
And CEO's/bosses, dont punish coders if they make mistakes or bad decisions. Help them recover and you'll have a vastly stronger coder than some ego maniac who never admits when they are wrong.
Your reference to programming being both a world of structure and a world of imagination reminded me of a quote from the old cathedral builders - "Art without Science is nothing".
temega
· 1 year ago
Great post!
Henri Tuhola
· 1 year ago
How were you able to create this sort of blog post? All of the points are pretty much correct. I've never seen them on same page, while at same time I need to agree they are the foundations to writing successful software.
Doesn't help newbies much thought, as a programmer I know one must learn or have these properties. When I started doing this, I wouldn't have understood a word about what you mentioned here. - Mindset cannot be described in a page, this blog post is barely a hint.
Shai Coggins
· 1 year ago
Dugg. Good post! :-)
Wm
· 1 year ago
I have been a programmer since 1972. I did this professionally for 8 years. It has been my hobby since. It makes for great brain food, keeping the synaps regenerating. Although I have programmed in assembler and cobol (IBM mainframe), and C and pascal (Delphi) on PCs, I usually only stick with one language. I can not see any advantage to learning new languages because it is better to continuously expand your knowledge in one language. This leads to writing more sophisticated programs. I have 32 freeware programs out on the web now.
dankclimes
· 1 year ago
Lets get the negative out of the way quickly: Start from the ground up was a mistake and you didn't quite get the whole abstraction thing . That aside, really really good article. I find there is a certain romantic allure to programming and you managed to capture a piece of it very nicely. I wish people would explore this side of programming more often because, as you stated at the beginning of the article, programming is seen as a usually technical and somewhat boring task. So here's to the hackers, code cowboys, and DIY home boys everywhere. Get out there and do what you do best, create!
ksawyer123
· 1 year ago
I dugg this article. It's really good. I am a SQL programmer and I love it! Sometimes I dabble in with other languages but my heart lies with SQL:--)
dfs
· 1 year ago
rewt
BillIsGay
· 1 year ago
You're absolutely righ ( brialliant ). I was a PHP programmer before and writing system from scratch and now I switch to WebObjects still writing and planning systems from scratch.
It is "us" developers/programmers making those ideas in to reality.
danm900
· 1 year ago
Great. But... being creative doesn't necessarily make you visually skilled, which is distictly creative yet unique from the programming role. You can be artful in your craft, but 'creative' is often reserved for certain limited-programming roles, such as user interface designer, especially in web or application development. We're featuring Life Dev at design.feeblables.com since you are creative in your writing about programming.
Kuroki Kaze
· 1 year ago
Cool article.
xavi
· 1 year ago
In most of the application development projects, the developer doesn't need to be creative... The architect or the project manager needs to be creative, but the programmers just code their wishes... .. unfortunately, i'm a programmer!
tracycai
· 1 year ago
Wiring together bussiness logic and other pieces of functionality isn't the most exciting task in the world, but it is the nuts-and-bolts work on which all companies are founded. It is the "real work" associated with development.
I think the underlying problem with software development is that building business software to solve user's problems is ultimately boring. Most of us get into computers to express our creative side, not to assemble components into work applications.
After you get functions specs from project managers, you don't have much room for your creativity side except make the best out of it, like make it faster and more user friendly. My two cents.
tracycai
· 1 year ago
Wiring together bussiness logic and other pieces of functionality isn't the most exciting task in the world, but it is the nuts-and-bolts work on which all companies are founded. It is the "real work" associated with development.
I think the underlying problem with software development is that building business software to solve user's problems is ultimately boring. Most of us get into computers to express our creative side, not to assemble components into work applications.
After you get functions specs from project managers, you don't have much room for your creativity side except make the best out of it, like make it faster and more user friendly. My two cents.
Chris OConnor
· 1 year ago
Incredible - just amazing. I've been programming for about 18 years, and remember coding on a Commodore 64 when I was 12.
Nothing I've read has "covered" our ART before as you have - and truly capture what it's about. I've always believed I was a Code Poet... :-)
And - as for passion, definately - working with a great bunch of LIKE minded folk is the best way to keep this going. I've worked with some unmovivated and "couldn't-care" programmers - and you get dragged down to the same level. As with life - hang out with "positive" people - and you'll become positve too - and good things will happen.
Thanks again - loved your article... :-)
Shamelle @ TheEnhanceLife.com
· 1 year ago
I am a programmer myself and can related well to what you've just mentioned!
Great post Shamelle
davidstern
· 1 year ago
Programming is not just creative, it's art! I am a programmer and also a musician. There are a lot more like me.
Kjartan Ólason
· 1 year ago
very very very good post
mee
· 1 year ago
4 and 6 are so true for me. sometimes i'll even find myself thinking a couple sentences in code instead of english. :)
Cybersam
· 1 year ago
very well written...great post!!!
jake
· 1 year ago
Great post! I always hated working with people who claimed "it can't be done" - my opinion has always been "it's not a matter of 'can' but 'how can' we do it?" there are always ways to creatively solve problems which has always been where I found such enjoyment in programming!
Sujoy
· 1 year ago
nice article, and yes programmers rock may the source be with you all :)
Raghava Naidu
· 1 year ago
Good article
Justin
· 1 year ago
Great article and at the age of 18 i create games and it really does take a lot of imagination to do what we do.
Ray
· 1 year ago
So great your post, I like it.
Doro
· 1 year ago
great post
Dress Up Games
· 1 year ago
really nice article i completely read
Colchones
· 1 year ago
I dugg this article. It's really good. I am a SQL programmer and I love it! Sometimes I dabble in with other languages but my heart lies with SQL:--)
HCF
· 1 year ago
Dude, you gotta learn to count from 0.
SEO
· 10 months ago
I am just wondering that how programmers after constantly building something, can spend hours of time working on fun projects for themselves.. I have never find any charm in programming, than how people play with this very smartly with their full interest..
Webhostright
· 5 months ago
Thanks very much for this, the 14 points here are a little different from the usual advice often found duplicated, i will keep these in mind.
Gavin Morrice
· 4 months ago
"The simplest way to solve a problem is often the best way to solve a problem"
... so drop PHP and use Rails instead ;)
Great post
Travis
· 2 months ago
Creating your own things is definitely a fundamental to being any sort of programmer... and like you said, often times that inner drive surrounds their entire lifestyle. A lot of programmers, myself included, are always knee-deep in some form of project or craft.
George Cauldron
· 1 year ago
Perhaps this author should eat his own words and try creating something from nothing. The limitations set by this author when writing is the number of clichés he can remember. Thanks for alienating programmers.
Glen Stansberry
· 1 year ago
How did I alienate programmers? I was trying to *debunk* these cliches.
Bobby
· 1 year ago
Awesome post! Definitely highlights some of the great aspects of being a programmer. I went from being a PHP programmer to a C# programmer and I must say, as you stated, you're always updating your skillsets and it is truly what you make of it.
I'm gonna link this post to my web site! Keep up the great job
BHAGWANT
· 1 year ago
Really great post! Thanks
smithveg
· 1 year ago
It's a Good Sharing Article. Learn from a creative coder.
All Comments
Creating stuff, that is what I like best about being a programmer.
Got a problem, is there a program out there already to solve it? If not, I'll build it myself.
Very creative job indeed, nice write.
Thanks for the article Glen!! I am proud to be a programmer :-)
To my mind you, should better talk about developper than programmer because starting from scratch require developer skills (analysis of needs, taking into account hardware limitation, etc.)
But your post still fine, I'm going to flood each of my friends with that... to make them understanding my passion :-)
Love this article, I guess it also explains why we can flourish as hybrids - I happen to design and develop equally well, I think it also explains why scientists tend to be very good musicians. In all great post.
Thanks so much for this post.
great example is some of the javascript libraries out there like prototype and jquery
programming is definitely a passion of mine, and I even dream about it. I am totally grateful to the open source community for providing us with the basic building blocks with which we build bigger and better things.
Awesome post.
Finally someone can describ what I really feel in my life. All points describe me. I´m felt GOD when i create something beautifull.
Development are my life and my passion!
Dont be afraid to be wrong. Embrace being wrong, its when you are wrong that you learn. Take responsibility for mistakes, deal with it and move on. Take pleasure in your fellow coders or subordinates showing you up with better solutions!
And CEO's/bosses, dont punish coders if they make mistakes or bad decisions. Help them recover and you'll have a vastly stronger coder than some ego maniac who never admits when they are wrong.
http://www.zeeol.com/index.php/Essay-writing/3-...
JT
www.FireMe.To/udi
Doesn't help newbies much thought, as a programmer I know one must learn or have these properties. When I started doing this, I wouldn't have understood a word about what you mentioned here. - Mindset cannot be described in a page, this blog post is barely a hint.
I was a PHP programmer before and writing system from scratch and now I switch to WebObjects still writing and planning systems from scratch.
It is "us" developers/programmers making those ideas in to reality.
The architect or the project manager needs to be creative, but the programmers just code their wishes...
.. unfortunately, i'm a programmer!
I think the underlying problem with software development is that building business software to solve user's problems is ultimately boring. Most of us get into computers to express our creative side, not to assemble components into work applications.
After you get functions specs from project managers, you don't have much room for your creativity side except make the best out of it, like make it faster and more user friendly. My two cents.
I think the underlying problem with software development is that building business software to solve user's problems is ultimately boring. Most of us get into computers to express our creative side, not to assemble components into work applications.
After you get functions specs from project managers, you don't have much room for your creativity side except make the best out of it, like make it faster and more user friendly. My two cents.
Nothing I've read has "covered" our ART before as you have - and truly capture what it's about. I've always believed I was a Code Poet... :-)
And - as for passion, definately - working with a great bunch of LIKE minded folk is the best way to keep this going. I've worked with some unmovivated and "couldn't-care" programmers - and you get dragged down to the same level. As with life - hang out with "positive" people - and you'll become positve too - and good things will happen.
Thanks again - loved your article... :-)
Great post
Shamelle
I am a programmer and also a musician. There are a lot more like me.
may the source be with you all :)
... so drop PHP and use Rails instead ;)
Great post
I'm gonna link this post to my web site! Keep up the great job