Thread: Latest project, W&B 6/8 with Bloodwood scales.

I know I am late getting to this thread but that was some awesome work. I think worth more than what you got. I would have paid more. Again Nice work !!!

Originally Posted by vladsch

I hope you guys that want a box have a snipe bid set on a box. Since I am starting a full time job where I will make more in one 8 hour day programming than I can make in a 60 hour week making boxes. So I don't think I will be making any to list on e-bay.
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Just curious. What type of programming do you do and/or enjoy doing the most?

Originally Posted by pitbulls20

I know I am late getting to this thread but that was some awesome work. I think worth more than what you got. I would have paid more. Again Nice work !!!

Thank you. It is feedback like this that makes it all worth while.

The auctions prices, although quite high as far as razor prices are concerned, don't quite compensate for the work involved.

Feedback like this and the results motivate me to do it again. I do enjoy the results too, especially once I distance myself from the effort.

Originally Posted by ToxIk

Just curious. What type of programming do you do and/or enjoy doing the most?

Jason, I started programming professionally, full time when I was 16. That was in telecommunications in 1979 as a Z80 assembly language programmer.

Since then I've done myriads of languages: C/C++, Java, C#, VB, Perl, Fortran, Pascal, Assembly: 8086, TMS9900, 6805, Pic, PSoC, Z80, 68000, systems: Windows, Embedded, Unix(es), Telecom, Engineering Simulation, Army Training Simulation, Project Management, Text Editor (my own), Language compilers and Databases: MS SQL, DB2, Oracle; Middleware: IIS, Lotus Notes.

I enjoy a challenge of solving problems elegantly and learning new skills in the process. Doesn't really matter to me what application, language or system. It is all the same. There is a problem and available tools/materials. The rest is just a matter of figuring out how to take what is available and to put it together to get the desired results.

Same as razor restoration and boxes. Except with these when you screw up you have to start over. In programming you just need to fix your code and continue. Programming is much easier in that respect but the results of programming cannot be appreciated except by a select few. It takes deep understanding of programming and access to the source code to be able to appreciate anyone else's work. Most of my programming masterpieces went unnoticed.

In this respect the restoration and box work is more rewarding. Even my five year old can appreciate a nice box. She got one of the first boxes I made because she wanted her daddy to make her one.

Wewf, with all those languages and technologies, you must have quite the resume!

I'm still in (a crap) school for programming, but have been doing it on and off since I was 14 or 15. I completely understand the joy of finding that elegant solution to a problem, which is one allure that coding certainly posseses. Computers being the marvels of technology that they are, I just love that fact that, with programming, you can make them do virtually anything you want, in any way you want.

About a year ago, one of my profs turned me on to OpenGL & 3D programming. It's definitely been some of the most satisfying coding I've done. I love the math and complexity of it. So much better than writing validation scripts for web forms :\ That and the results are all 3D and cool looking and I've barely scratched the surface.

I wanted to get into woodworking myself but I could never seem to pull together the money needed to get the electrical work done to support the machine or buy the machines. I wanted to do more furniture making though. Maybe one day I will get a chance to get into but can't now for the military and wherever I go with it.

I started to learn Visual Bacis 6 ( I think thats the name) and made a calculator hehe. Didn't stick with it long enough though but I know what you mean by appreciating the code because I have seen some code that goes on for days.

I was lucky enough to start early at 13 when I had plenty of time. Took me another 15 years to understand what I was doing.

Programming is not a spectator sport. You really have to work on real projects to get good. If I had to start later in life I doubt I would have the necessary time to devote to it.

I'll agree with Vlad. I've been programming since I was 14, that's 26 years now for those in the cheap seats. I program in dozens of different languages and have a few patents as well. Elegant code is like beautiful music or a fine meal... it has nuances and depth and layers to it that speak to your soul.

That being said, I'm pretty tired of slinging code all day, mainly because people don't really appreciate elegant solutions anymore. They just throw more clock cycles and more processor power at a problem to make it go away. I'm seriously contemplating getting completely out of IT because it no longer feeds my soul (although it does feed my family heh).

Best advice I can give new programmers (and something I repeat all the time for those I mentor) is to learn as many languages and styles as you can. Learn a symbolic language like Scheme or LISP, learn a procedural language... learn OOP, learn ladder programming. Learn everything you can and never marry yourself to one technology, one language or one way of solving a problem. Learn the underneath "why" of how things work and learn what the operating system abstracts for you, how and when and why it does it. Learn Unix, learn Windows, learn MacOS, learn Cocoa and C# and java and ASP and... you get the idea. Draw from as many different strengths as you can, that will move you from a wage worker to a master artisan in your work and your results.

Most of all, learn to learn and never stop learning.

-- Gary F.

Originally Posted by gfoster

They just throw more clock cycles and more processor power at a problem to make it go away.

They have a word for that, it's "Microsoft"