Saturday, February 4, 2012

Post number 0

What's the first number?  
Historically, people will count from one, raising a digit to any other answer, but computer scientists typically start from zero, because many formulas turn out more simply.  Since we're in the 21st century, let's be modern and count from zero: this is post number 0, or my zeroth post.

What's this blog for?
I've decided to return to my programming roots, and embark on an exploration of programming mainly for pleasure, and in order to make it a more reflective exercise, I'm going to blog about the process.  

I'll be drawing on problems from where-ever find them, but starting with problem-sites like Programming Praxis, CodeKata, and Project Euler.  

I'm more interested in elegance, approach, creativity and process -- the craft, if you will -- than sheer ingenuity, so I'm looking for problems that are not easy and not too hard to get going.  Hopefully, these problems will drive me (us?) towards more general principles and creative exploration.

Pleasure and Pain?
The pleasures of programming include: problem-solving, creation and invention, fixing something broken, extending one's mind, learning, control, intellectual flow, and showing off.

The pains include: frustration, getting stuck, admitting ignorance, and conceding defeat.

Part of the craft of professional programming is discovering ways to minimize the pain and maximize the pleasure.

Onwards!

Time to find out if the plan's gonna work ...

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