That’s not why I did it

Re:That’s not why I did it by 3pt14159 on Wednesday November 25, 2020 @12:59PM (#25212079)

This is one of my favourite posts on Hacker News of all time. There are so many obvious lessons for the very definition of a programmer of any skill level to learn in this metaphor that it feels hollow in comparison to how beautiful the story is to life itself; even though that secondary comparison is quite valid in its own right.

Thanks for sharing.

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Re:That’s not why I did it by exmadscientist on Wednesday November 25, 2020 @01:30PM (#25212520)

And for anyone who doesn't realize why your mention of "programmer" is completely appropriate here in discussing an article about weaving, I can only suggest a link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacquard_machine

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Re:That’s not why I did it by rektide on Wednesday November 25, 2020 @01:50PM (#25212775)

Mariko Kasako had a lovely talk on weaving, punch cards, & her own neat DIY work. Fun talk, some good history there too, with a bit of the modern too. The Jacquard loom is featured!

https://youtu.be/e7wwuZnnM9k

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Re:That’s not why I did it by tworingsoft on Wednesday November 25, 2020 @07:28PM (#25215796)

Shameless plug for an essay [0] I wrote a while back comparing looms and computers (which also has some of the best other videos I could find on looms, for those who want to learn more about them specifically). Wish I had seen this video back then, thanks for sharing! I find this comparison so fascinating to contemplate.

[0]: https://tworingsoft.com/blog/2017/08/29/looms-and-computers....

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Re:That’s not why I did it by greenyoda on Wednesday November 25, 2020 @01:40PM (#25212635)

In particular, this passage about asserting control over chaos resonated with me, as a software developer:

> I sort of think that it has to do with creating calm in chaos. There is so little in the world that we have any control over. But what happens at our looms, that thing, we have control over. And if what happens on our looms becomes total chaos, then patience, tenacity, and time will make it work. That’s why I did it.

Also, here are explanations of some of the weaving terms used in the article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weaving#Process_and_terminolog...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warp_and_weft

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Re:That’s not why I did it by aceBacker on Monday November 30, 2020 @03:30AM (#25251819)

I've never been able to articulate why I got good at coding when I was very young. Growing up in a chaotic household coding gave me an area of life that I could control. This seems obvious to me now.

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