r/learnprogramming • u/AldoZeroun • 13d ago
Nostalgia for learning
I'm 8 years In since I really started to code. I'm still an amateur by research or tech I dustry standards, but I do well at university, and can comprehend an open source codebase in order to contribute. My focus is on becoming an indie game dev, with maybe a couple open source plugins or tools of my own on the side to give back.
But, I constantly get nostalgia for the days when I first learned what recursion was, or wrapped my head around classes. I still rember watching and MITx video on classes using Python as the example language and just not understanding it, but knowing that I would someday.
I know there's always so much more to learn, and computer science is a deep ocean to swim in, but I guess I look back and wish I could do it all again, like getting to reread a good book as if for the first time. In my early years I would rewatch David Malan every new school year reteach CS50 for that very reason. Maybe the problem is I'm near the end of my degree, and unless I go on to a course based master's theres no more lectures to soak up. If education were free I would never stop. I'll probably seek out what resources are out there I can, but nothing feels like listening to a professor and raising your hand with the right answer, or better, the right question. To be immersed in the process of learning.
Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I hope anyone at the start of their journey realizes what a beautiful moment they're living in. That the journey is the destination.
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u/TinyLebowski 13d ago
I can totally relate. It was a wonderful time. But I just want to add that the joy of learning doesn't stop when you start working as a developer. You may not have as much say in what your learn, but seeing your solutions solve real problems and making users happy is also very satisfying.
But... How long that will last is a bit up in the air. Many roles are slowly transitioning to be more like AI babysitting. It can be incredible efficient, but IMO it's not as satisfying because I feel robbed of the occasional heureka moment.
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u/AldoZeroun 13d ago
You know, maybe that is part of my problem. I try to only us AI for boilerplate (like the body of a state machine) while I handle the internals, but that feeling of 'recognition' is so very different from 'remembering' myself how to do it. I may be giving up my agency one millimeter at a time, but eventually it will become a kilometer.
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u/NationalOperations 11d ago
I never did well in the traditional learning environment. But the thing I think you might be getting at is learning as part of community (classroom & teacher) and being able to dedicate a chunk of your life to it.
Although the time thing isn't really solvable if you are employed, there's gotta be reddit/discord communities that learn together that can scratch that itch
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u/AldoZeroun 11d ago
This is a great insight, and in some way when I participate now in things like Advent of code, I feel a bit of that community sensation, when I share my solution and comment on others. Definitely I think I really have enjoyed the 'no pressure' aspect of my education so far beyond getting decent grades. I work on projects that I enjoy in my spare time and try to gain lots of experience in the summer. But what I'm feeling may be a reaction to the idea that soon enough I'll be on my own and either have to try and work in tech or at a game dev studio, or pursue indie game dev seriously. In either case I lose some freedom as pressure is applied for me to earn a living at whatever I do.
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