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Posted

A thing non-programmers should know about programming:

Complicated programming requires a very high focus. It's like creating and solving a complicated puzzle in your head. When a programmer is deep into developing a program (or finding and fixing a bug) a mass of variables, constants, functions, orders of those, requirements, desires, potential issues etc are all piled into their short term memory at once. As well as a plan/vision for how to put it all together.

 

Now if someone comes up to them and chats for a minute about, say, the latest GoT episode it shatters their concentration. It's like 1 of the pieces they were using to solve the puzzle, is now a Tyrion quote instead and suddenly the whole mess doesn't make sense. After a 1 minute interruption it can take 15-20 minutes for the programmer to get back to that level of focus. So if you try to talk to someone who's programming and they give some sort of vague response about talking later that's probably why :P

 

There wasn't a particular incident lately that prompted this post but I've experienced it plenty in the past.

Posted

A thing non-programmers should know about programming:

Complicated programming requires a very high focus. It's like creating and solving a complicated puzzle in your head. When a programmer is deep into developing a program (or finding and fixing a bug) a mass of variables, constants, functions, orders of those, requirements, desires, potential issues etc are all piled into their short term memory at once. As well as a plan/vision for how to put it all together.

 

Now if someone comes up to them and chats for a minute about, say, the latest GoT episode it shatters their concentration. It's like 1 of the pieces they were using to solve the puzzle, is now a Tyrion quote instead and suddenly the whole mess doesn't make sense. After a 1 minute interruption it can take 15-20 minutes for the programmer to get back to that level of focus. So if you try to talk to someone who's programming and they give some sort of vague response about talking later that's probably why :P

 

There wasn't a particular incident lately that prompted this post but I've experienced it plenty in the past.

 

Have an upvote from a fellow programmer ;)

Posted

A thing non-programmers should know about programming:

Complicated programming requires a very high focus. It's like creating and solving a complicated puzzle in your head. When a programmer is deep into developing a program (or finding and fixing a bug) a mass of variables, constants, functions, orders of those, requirements, desires, potential issues etc are all piled into their short term memory at once. As well as a plan/vision for how to put it all together.

 

Now if someone comes up to them and chats for a minute about, say, the latest GoT episode it shatters their concentration. It's like 1 of the pieces they were using to solve the puzzle, is now a Tyrion quote instead and suddenly the whole mess doesn't make sense. After a 1 minute interruption it can take 15-20 minutes for the programmer to get back to that level of focus. So if you try to talk to someone who's programming and they give some sort of vague response about talking later that's probably why :P

 

There wasn't a particular incident lately that prompted this post but I've experienced it plenty in the past.

 

On that topic, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now in my Computer Science class. I'm surrounded by programming nerds with two weeks' worth of stubble and who already know, like, seven languages. Heck! Most of my classmates just watched Youtube for the entire period! And here I am with no prior experience... Imean, the class itself is just learning C++, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to fall behind at some point in the semester.

Posted (edited)

On that topic, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now in my Computer Science class. I'm surrounded by programming nerds with two weeks' worth of stubble and who already know, like, seven languages. Heck! Most of my classmates just watched Youtube for the entire period! And here I am with no prior experience... Imean, the class itself is just learning C++, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to fall behind at some point in the semester.

 

Have you tried befriending one of them? I've found that programmers actually like programming, and enjoy helping those of us less skilled in their art.

Edited by Blaze1616
Posted

This may be relevant to your interests:

 

-snip-

 

Way too much truth...

Yeah I've seen that one before. :) I've mostly worked with small code-bases that haven't taken too long to compile. Could be considered a good thing or a bad thing depending on your perspective. Higher productivity but less sword fights :P

 

On that topic, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now in my Computer Science class. I'm surrounded by programming nerds with two weeks' worth of stubble and who already know, like, seven languages. Heck! Most of my classmates just watched Youtube for the entire period! And here I am with no prior experience... Imean, the class itself is just learning C++, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to fall behind at some point in the semester.

If you need help feel free to ask :)

Posted

On that topic, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now in my Computer Science class. I'm surrounded by programming nerds with two weeks' worth of stubble and who already know, like, seven languages. Heck! Most of my classmates just watched Youtube for the entire period! And here I am with no prior experience... Imean, the class itself is just learning C++, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to fall behind at some point in the semester.

This is may be surprising, but the fact they know seven languages is in many cases very unimpressive. Most imperative languages like C++ or Java are very similar to one another. I think that every programmer worth their salt can learn new imperative language in a matter of days and write the simplest of programs after couple of hours. (Knowing standard libraries, frameworks, good practices etc. is a whole different story, but I bet those other students don't have that kind of knowledge.) 

 

To cheer you up a bit let me tell you, that when I started to learn programming in university I didn't know anything about it either. Most of other students had already known stuff that for me was rocket science. But guess what? After one year, many of those students that seemed to know a lot didn't pass the exams. Why? Because they had bad habits, bad practices. They felt to sure of themselves and didn't pay attention to those super important details that professors were pointing out for us.

 

So don't be afraid, having no knowledge of programming might turn out to be an advantage for you in the long run!

 

Yeah I've seen that one before. :) I've mostly worked with small code-bases that haven't taken too long to compile. Could be considered a good thing or a bad thing depending on your perspective. Higher productivity but less sword fights :P

 

If you need help feel free to ask :)

 

I agree, just ask :) From what I've noticed, we have quite a number of programmers here, so I'm sure we'll be able to help :)

Posted

My favorite xkcd comic of all time:

c84b20ab487c4abfe902c9a259c18c9f.jpg

And this one about cats is mine, because I really do believe that this is what my old cat would've done if given the chance:

 

laser_pointer.png

Posted

Good luck Twi! I'd vote for the Maryland university because that's in my backyard and my father and uncle went to UMD...at least for a little while. 

 

If you could pick any of those three locations as your top choice, which would it be and why?

Posted

Good luck Twi! I'd vote for the Maryland university because that's in my backyard and my father and uncle went to UMD...at least for a little while. 

 

If you could pick any of those three locations as your top choice, which would it be and why?

 

I'm not sure. For some reason, I really like the idea of moving to Canada, though I'm definitely most passionate about working with teens. I've seen pictures of Wisconsin, and it looks beautiful, so I definitely wouldn't mind living there. On the other hand, I love research and I've been told I'm good at guiding people to good resources and helping them find the right answer without giving it to them outright, so I think I'd like the position in Maryland. 

 

Honestly, though, the job I'm hoping for most is a teen librarian position in Anchorage, AK. I've seen pictures of Alaska and it's ​gorgeous, it's a teen librarian position, and it'd be farther from home than the other jobs. Plus one of my RP characters lived in Anchorage for a while, so living where she did would be cool.

 

I'm really hoping I didn't jinx it by saying I wanted the Anchorage job most. :wacko: 

Posted

I just recently went on a vacation to Alaska and yes, it is beautiful. Large, spacious. And beautiful. Trees and mountains everywhere. Just throwing this out there.

Posted (edited)

Ummmm, are those red eyes? Coca Cola polar bears are... 

 

Stormlight Archive Spoiler

Voidbringers!

 

Steer clear of Alaska, I repeat, steer clear of Alaska!!!!

 

[Edit: added spoiler tags]

Edited by Titan Arum
Posted

... People will think the way they're raised. I've started to branch from that, but I've taken in things from the world around me. ...

Oh! Oh! Sociocultural psychology! Oh! :D

...sorry. But Psychology is one of the classes I'm taking, and we were just talking about the different branches of psychology, and I got excited, and...

Posted

Song I might be using for my animation:

I can't post too much about the content I don't think.

I don't know if this is the final song, as I'm not sure what the college's stance on using copyrighted music in a project is. I'm asking my professor tomorrow.

Posted

If I'm ever on public trial, I'll randomly blurt out "end transcript" at various points in the proceedings, just to make the official record really confusing to read.

Posted

Today has been a really good day. :D

 

I...

 

...learned that I'm a semifinalist for the National Merit Scholarship award

 

...got accepted into the Creative team at Space camp

 

and

 

...finished co-op mode for Portal 2. 

 

:lol:

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