Why is Programming Fun?

Serious question…. Why do you find programming / coding fun?

I was sitting at work today, doing the usual, coding non-stop for hours. … and I was thinking… Why do I enjoy this?!

Don't get me wrong, I love coding. Great fun and I really enjoy it.

But I couldn't figure out why.

My obvious answer was "because i get to create something from scratch and i control how and what it does and can completely control it and make it work all by myself"… but that can't be the answer can it? I dunno.

So let me hear what you guys think.

I like it for 2 main reasons. firstly, like you said i get to create something and control it. i get to use a bit of creativity. secondly, i think very logically, but the world isnt logical. programming is one of the few places where logic reigns.

I think because it is like an enhancement. Yes, you can create anything you want from the ground up; you can also be that creative else where. I think the deciding factor is that it is like an upgrade, like it gives you more power.

For example: if you were told to find the 20 th prime number, you could use a pen and paper - or even your head - to calculate the answer. However if you were told to calculate the 1001 th prime number, you could easily find the answer by coding a program. This example is just a small piece of the bigger picture.

Also, code is what makes a computer, a computer. Without programs, OSs and such, there would be no computer to use. Essentially, by programming, you are helping to develop what you enjoy to use.

The satisfaction of seeing your code in action.

I belive one is happy mastering new things. Programing is so vast and so much to learn we have rare times to be idle. making a program mastering it and finding it to be useful all leads to basic human nature of discovery and invention

1 - The creating; 2 - The fact you can create something, with which you can let the computer do (usually) exactly what you want; 3 - I think etc.; 4 - And etc! 5 - ^^

– Edit: Indeed, it's also the mastering of a new skill that's really satisfactory.

imo in addition to all that has been said, it's because you can create a perfect piece, something that it is impossible in real world. all that matters is the code and if everything is in place, you will see the results your expecting even if it is against God's will. So pricise that is independent from concepts such as luck …. and so unbounded that almost feels like a lucid dream…

because you can look at other people's face's when they go: "how did you do that??" not really but thats always some sort of satisfaction.. i do it just because there's always a way to do stuff with computers that you cant do with anything else. and just looking at the finished code always gives me this feeling of accomplishment that i dont get with anything else.

Because it isn't easy.

spyware wrote: Because it isn't easy.

Speak for yourself.

And I think its for a variety of different reasons.

There is the obvious power trip idea, "I can have total control over this computer"

There is the satisfaction idea "I like seeing it work"

There is the creativity aspect

There is the intellectual challenge aspect

There are millions of reasons, but I expect everyone is different, so bleh

Well idk i mean i remember i liked computers, and i didn't know why. But truthfully i think it was b.c i liked the flashing lights inside the tower. :D But now i got into programming i think it's because

You can make it your own.

Everything is Logical, yeah like someone else said i think logical too.

Programming is different the usual baseball player, basketball and so on.

I don't know i guess that's kind of what i like it for :)

There is the creativity aspect

There is the intellectual challenge aspect

Creativity and intellect weren't made to "be" easy, if they are you aren't being creative or intellectual enough. :ninja:

its what separates us from animals, to enjoy activities of the mind instead of just bodily activities like food and sex and sleep.

Programming is all about making something the way you want concretly. Most people love it because it's also all about finding a way to do something that is complex. It's like a puzzle.

I think it's because you get to tell the computer what to do, instead of just surfing, office work and gaming. In some way you get to know more about the computer and the internal processes. (my college teaches a lot of cool stuff on my new semester)

The second part is the networking as you can ask anyone who is more skilled than you to assist.

The final reason (personal opinion) is that it's a skill anyone can pick up and learn. Some may be slower and not as good than the others, but almost everyone i know has at least tried programming.

experimentation and challenge in my view

fuser wrote: The final reason (personal opinion) is that it's a skill anyone can pick up and learn. Some may be slower and not as good than the others, but almost everyone i know has at least tried programming.

i know what you're saying, but i know a few people who just plain suck with computers. you could tell them that in order to change the desktop background you have to open the monitor and put a new picture in and they would believe you. sorry, just felt i had to say something.

"The programmer, like the poet, works only slightly removed from pure thought-stuff. He builds his castles in the air, from air, creating by exertion of the imagination. Few media of creation are so flexible, so easy to polish and rework, so readily capable of realizing grand conceptual structures."

**Frederick P. Brooks, Jr. ** The structure and logic in programming appeals to me. It's useful poetry. =)

A programmer is a living organism that can convert large quantities of caffeine into lines of source code.

Apart from that i think programming is fun for the unlimited ways of making a machine obey you.

Arto_8000 wrote: Programming is all about making something the way you want concretely. Most people love it because it's also all about finding a way to do something that is complex. It's like a puzzle.

This was my answer as well.

I found computer (generally), interesting from first time I sat on a computer!

Programming is like drawing something; You've the brush (your knowledge of the code syntax), the paper (computer), and the thoughts (your ability to think on how to solve a problem/code a program). You can reach with your code to an ultimate state, extremely enjoyment when you feel that you're not controlled by something/somebody, freedom is good, a programmer(hacker) doesn't want to feel limited, in short, he's a naturally anti-authoritarian.

You can draw something, and draw it badly, due to lack of thoughts, but if you've thoughts, so you're capable of writing the code. Creativity and free-flowing take part in this. Programming (hacking) is fun, but fun needs effort, it grows your brain up, makes you feel that you did a nice thing. Just as sport, the players feel a pleasure when they see their bodies in a fine state. A hacker feels joy during solving problems.

Maybe I drifted off the topic a little, so: The fun "I" find in programming is I love solving problems, not programming for killing time! I love to understand everything(I know no one can, but…) generally.

Before I learned how to program, I hated to hear someone says something I don't know, then I found programming is interesting, because no code can disagree on what I'm telling him to do.

And for Spyware:

Not everything not easy, is enjoyable! If I told you to write your name 10,000,000 times with letters backwarded, this is hard, but does it seem enjoyable? or even acceptable?!