Thinking back on taking programming programming classes in school, java and c++, I couldn’t have been more bored. I had no reason to care about flipping the order of characters or determining how long a string was. It all meant nothing to me. The tiny little details that at the end of a semester added up to .. nothing.
Then I found myself working with linux and learning about bash, and now .. I can actually do something with code. I can write cronjobs that execute when I need them to, I can write scripts that execute when the server starts up. I can ensure that services are running .. I could do real work.
I have appreciation for the people who enjoy the tiny details, but I could never stay interested enough to stay around to the point where I could do anything of personal value.
In the last couple of years I’ve been able to work with puppet and that’s been just great. With code, I can set up servers exactly how they need to be and if someone mucks around with them, the servers bounce back to their original settings. This is the kind of coding I enjoy, I can see results immediately and more importantly, I can see value immediately.
I am trying to go back and re-learn some things about code that I’ve long forgotten and have never used, but it’s work, and it’s not fulfilling work. It’s digging out parts of my brain that I’ve never used, it must be the former catholic part of me that thinks suffering is necessary.