If you want to learn how to program, learn how to break shit first. Some tools (git) make it easy to break. Eventually, once you break enough shit, someone who knows you can break will challenge you. Challenge you to fix something that someone else broke or address a problem that has never been solved but holds them back. Now you are ready to learn to how to program. See, in order to make the previously unmade, it helps to be able to merge bits and pieces from a disparate set of broken things back together again in novel ways. In technology we are very lucky, this is extremely cheap to do, costing mainly ones time and mind. Now you are ready for style and opinion. See, in order to make it good you have to have an opinion regarding the spectrum existing between good and bad. Now you understand how to rationalize your decisions and collect data. You believe that the data will either support or undermine your rationalization and are honest with yourself because you need accurate data and analysis to justify your style. Now, when you can do that, you are an engineer whom can create programs. Some folks will think you are a programmer but that is not quite right. When you can absorb all of the feedback, and learn from the harshest of feedback, you might be ready to level up again. I hope you can level up. It is always exciting when you see someone gain understanding of a larger world.
4/24/2014 ~ 2 min read
