Programming: More than Just Writing Code

Many years ago as a kid or even as a teenager whenever I thought about programming or programmers, I imagined that it is just a guy in a dark room writing code on a black screen to do impossible things while typing at unbelievable speeds. My personal research has shown that I am not alone in that thought as there are many people out there who have similar views about programming and programmers in general thanks in part to Hollywood movies. 

More than Coding

From the aforementioned perception, a lot of people see programming as a very abstract endeavour with no clear job description and as such they avoid it and while that has largely changed in recent times, there are still a lot of folks out there with this opinion which is one of the reasons the industry prefers the term “engineer” now because programming is way more than that now.

What is Programming?

Ok, fine programming is more than just writing code tirelessly because you already committed all the syntax of your language of choice to memory. So what is it then and what is it really about? Let’s take a look at the somewhat non-technical aspect of programming.

Problem Solving

Programming is basically about problem-solving and that is why those with a knack for solving problems excel in the field. Every project you work on no matter what is all about problem-solving problems and each feature you implement will pose a new challenge.
One thing I have personally learnt in programming is that every problem no matter how big it is can be solved by breaking it down into smaller easier to solve pieces.

Research

Researching is a valuable tool in the arsenal of programmers as it makes it easy to do the main thing a programmer does which is problem-solving. I had to learn this one in my beginner days. The main tool for research as a programmer is the internet which is filled with solutions to both common and uncommon problems. This also means that contrary to popular belief, programmers don’t and can’t commit everything to memory because it is basically an impossible task. So, the ability to find solutions to problems comes in handy.

Patience

Given the fact that programming is a time consuming and mentally tasking endeavour, patience becomes a very important virtue as it will help you overcome the numerous frustrations that will be thrown your way regularly which requires a person with a lot of patience to handle. Some problems can take days, weeks or even months to solve so an impatient person will likely give up and move on to something else and that is not how you get the job done.

Conclusion

Programming is about a lot more than the points mentioned in this article but these three mentioned here are what it basically entails if you want to talk about the not so technical definition or aspects of the field. I have learnt quite a lot about the usefulness of all three so far and that includes its application in other aspects of life.
 

Written by Sumaila Bello