Time spent programming is often time well spent

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Style Pass

2024-09-24 13:00:02

Was the time I spent writing my RSS scripts more than the time I would now spend thinking about the “best” RSS aggregator and reader? Doesn’t matter. I enjoyed writing the scripts. I learned new things and got satisfaction out of seeing them run correctly. I get nothing like that out of comparing apps and services.

I concur so strongly not only because he writes about RSS, which I’m on record as supporting and using. I enjoy rolling my own simple software in almost any domain. Simple has a lot of advantages. Under my control has a lot of advantages. But the biggest advantage echoes what Dr. Drang says: Programming is often more fun than the alternative uses of my time.

I think that there are three main reasons why time spent programming is well spent and joyful (when you are not dealing with “bugs”).

I have an endless desire to learn, and I genuinely believe that doing is the best way to learn. I’ve started many toy projects along the years just for the sake of learning. Two quick examples: long ago, I built the EmojiHomepage to learn Vue.js; yesterday, I released Alertcamp Live for the sake of learning “Phoenix LiveView” and practice my OTP knowledge.