Afr0
Well-Known Member
There's been a recent influx (if I can even call it that) of users wanting to learn programming to help out.
This has me somewhat worried. First of all, I do not (and I'm sure Rhys would agree) believe that wanting to help out the project is a good motivation for learning to program. You should be learning it because you want to. Period. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't be trying to learn, but if you end up stuck in some way or other (which you will, trust me) and you find yourself unable/unwilling to carry on, that is most likely a good sign that you don't have what it takes.
Here's the thing: Programming is an obsession. Rhys burned out halfway through the Monogame port, which made him take a break from PD. But did he quit programming? No!
Personally, there's been so many times when I've wanted to quit and do something more productive, like learning to play the guitar (thankfully (?) I don't have the physical agility required), hike around Europe or spend more time learning to draw. But programming is very much like learning to play a musical instrument: the learning curve is so steep that to get good at it, you have to be obsessive. Otherwise you're just not going to find the time. And it's not just about finding (prioritizing) the time, either. It's about having the stamina to persevere. As any half decent musician can tell you, there's been many times where he's wanted to throw his guitar out the window, but couldn't (because he's obsessed, but he might leave out that part).
Secondly, not everyone can learn to program. If you're among the lucky few who can, you should pursue it - but only if you'd rather not do anything else.
This has me somewhat worried. First of all, I do not (and I'm sure Rhys would agree) believe that wanting to help out the project is a good motivation for learning to program. You should be learning it because you want to. Period. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't be trying to learn, but if you end up stuck in some way or other (which you will, trust me) and you find yourself unable/unwilling to carry on, that is most likely a good sign that you don't have what it takes.
Here's the thing: Programming is an obsession. Rhys burned out halfway through the Monogame port, which made him take a break from PD. But did he quit programming? No!
Personally, there's been so many times when I've wanted to quit and do something more productive, like learning to play the guitar (thankfully (?) I don't have the physical agility required), hike around Europe or spend more time learning to draw. But programming is very much like learning to play a musical instrument: the learning curve is so steep that to get good at it, you have to be obsessive. Otherwise you're just not going to find the time. And it's not just about finding (prioritizing) the time, either. It's about having the stamina to persevere. As any half decent musician can tell you, there's been many times where he's wanted to throw his guitar out the window, but couldn't (because he's obsessed, but he might leave out that part).
Secondly, not everyone can learn to program. If you're among the lucky few who can, you should pursue it - but only if you'd rather not do anything else.
). It is a steep learning curve. Though, if you have patience, skill, and will, you can get anything done. I've moved away from the books finally, only using it as a reference now. They provided a great foundation and understanding of what I needed to know to move further. I realized it's about time I put my knowledge to some real world cases through pure trial and error with the help documentation. As of right now, I have moved from console/terminal applications to GUI with GTK#, slowly but surely moving myself up to more complex applications I made a big deal about so early on. Eventually, I'll be tackling MonoGame. With all that said, once you've made your up, it is very rewarding seeing all your hard work turn into something interactive and maybe even fun.