I mostly find programming fun, I’ve been doing it most of my life, but I will admit that engineering can be pretty agonizing. I enjoy the stuff, I enjoy the algorithmic stuff, and I enjoy implementing the math and algorithms, but that’s only about half of any programming job I have had.

I derive zero enjoyment from Kubernetes configs, or Terraform, or fucking around with log settings, or screwing around with all the knobs for Kafka. That stuff is agonizing.

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NichoPaolucci 34 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Yeah - those are two very different roles and are separate job functions at a lot of places (depending on org size). I do both at my company.

I've never had that specific heads-down "programming" role where I can just read specs and write PRs all day, it's always been full-stack for me - which I personally enjoy... But the config / plumbing has always felt like a bit of drudgery.

At the end of the day that feels like the stuff that we do IN ORDER TO write code, so it doesn't really feel like the main event — so to speak.

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skydhash 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> I derive zero enjoyment from Kubernetes configs, or Terraform, or fucking around with log settings, or screwing around with all the knobs for Kafka. That stuff is agonizing.

The click for me was thinking in terms of outcomes and system dynamics. So I make sure to get a good understanding of the final state. Tweaking without a goal is just playing around, or joyless work if you do not enjoy the process.

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tombert 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I suppose.

I guess programming to me was always an excuse to do math, not necessarily to build products.

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BadBadJellyBean 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

For me it's the exact opposite. I don't like math. I have very little intuition for it. Programming is not math for me even though people try to tell me that it is.

Programming is my way to create something. It's like drawing or woodworking. It is creative and logical. That's why I don't mind or even like sysadmin stuff. But I know a lot of coworkers that don't like ops and in my company you don't have to do that. We have teams for that.

	▲	z500 31 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I've never really been a math person, either, which is why I thought I was going to hate discrete math in college. I mean, it wasn't always the easiest thing ever, but it was a lot more intuitive to me than continuous math. And that's all programming is, materialized discrete math.
	▲	skydhash 5 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I like math. I’ve done engineering in college which included a fair share of it and pursue it for fun. Programming is also not math for me. It’s formal notation where you’re manipulating things encoded as numbers. Just like music sheets are notation for sound encoded as some symbols. Yes, there is math involved (because numbers) but there’s often a more concrete reason for such manipulation.

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mr_mitm 31 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I take it you aren't programming business CRUD apps? I almost never have to do any math. It would be a delight if I did.

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DenisM 43 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

How do you know what you built is good? That was the pivot for me - I defined it for myself as it’s something that makes a positive contribution to my users.

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r17n 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I love this comment. I never looked at it that way before. I wasn't able to articulate it but "an excuse to do math" is perfect. This resonates with me.