> Persistence in the face of frustrations along with an actual enjoyment of creating things with code is what got me through.
I want to say that this is essentially what "the knack" is for a lot of engineering/programming types. It's the willingness to beat your head against a wall dealing with something unfamiliar until it works and you understand it a little more. Some people can't stand it - for others the dopamine hit of finally figuring it out makes all the frustration worthwhile.
That dopamine hit is so delicious when you're learning to code and a bunch of frustrating puzzle pieces finally fit together.
Re:I self-learned to code at 30
by Leparamour on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @12:16PM
(#26493219)
>That dopamine hit is so delicious when you're learning to code
I think you meant 'endorphins'...
Great that you're getting that positive feeling but many people just don't. Just like with the infamous 'runner's high', which I never get. I feel shitty before, during and after running and exercise.
Persistence in the face of frustrations along with an actual enjoyment of creating things with code is what got me through.
Programming seems like it would be a dreadful job for someone who didn't get some satisfaction out of typing code and then watching as your code does stuff. Definitely not for everyone.
In my case, I didn't start out wanting to learn programming. I wanted to create a web site for a business idea I had. To do that, I started learning javascript and python. Pretty soon I realized that I was much more interested in learning more about programming and web development than I was about my business idea and that I'd rather get paid by someone else with a business idea to write some code.