Rory asks, Why do I code?

Why do I code?  Because I can't cook, or change my own oil, or mow lawns.  Because I lettered in drama in High School but I never got discovered walking an L.A. mall.  Because I never made any money doing standup.  Because, God help me, if I wasn't coding the only think I'd be good at would be selling cars.  (I'm REALLY good at selling cars.  Seriously.)

For real, I code because I like solving problems that are decidedly solvable.  I mean, I hear the problem, I think for a moment, I figure it's "possible" and then I try to figure how to solve it in a way that feels good.  Because I dig physics.  Because the end of the Carl Sagan's "Contact" was UNSPEAKABLY cool.  I code because of that feeling I've gotten 5 or 6 times when I just NAILED a problem and (while alone) raised my arms high in victory the same way that rapid sports fans do.  Except I look at them with a worried disdain when they do it, but secretly I wish I felt like that more often.

I code because coding, at its best, is art and literature and math and physics all at the same time.


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09/11/2003 10:33:35 (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)  Comments [2] | Trackback 

09/12/2003 02:36:55
Hey I can understand that feeling! The adrenalin rush of writing code and solving problems... But no one else would, no one else understands why I code.. during work, at home, or anywhere I can prop up my notebook.

09/24/2003 12:49:18
Coding is Cognitive Poetry
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