With the start of the semester, it is once again time to start up my blog post again! This semester will be filled with mostly patters from “Apprenticeship Patterns – Guidance for the apprising software craftsman”
In particular, I have read over the first chapter as well as the introductions for the remaining chapters, and I was honestly surprised by how abstract it was. Fully expecting a more concrete, “Here is how you do things,” I was instead met with philosophical concepts and an exceptional push to strive forward that reminds me, or more aptly, is identical to improvements within the various artforms. These chapters and introductions were starkly reminiscent of the advice I received when I started to learn how to write and draw, and right away, I realized that coding allows the same avenue of creativity and expression that painting or writing a story allows.
It fully changed my outlook on coding and programming! For one reason or another, it is much easier to hand wave programming as “work” or even something that needs to be done, but now I understand that is now the case. The break up into apprentice, journeyman, and master was something that resonated quickly. It almost seems obvious after the fact, and it makes complete sense. Along with the break up, I really enjoyed the short story of the Zen master and the young philosopher. It was very similar to something that I have encountered before.
When I was first learning how to draw, it was very easy for me to question everything because of my curiosity and thirst for improvement, but in doing so, I would slow things down. Rather than focusing on the true task of drawing, I would instead procrastinate by searching for more references, or other things that I “needed.” By the time I was really ready to start drawing and actually improving, an hour would have passed and I’d maybe get only a handful of lines on my paper. If I had pushed ahead and tried to fill up my paper, I’d have done so much more, but I instead wasted my time with unnecessary things.
This isn’t identical to the story of the Zen Master and the Young Philosopher, but to me, it I get the same thoughts reading it. The Young Philosopher was never properly able to learn from the Zen Master since he was blinded by his own ideas, and in the same vein, I never truly improved since I was so busy preparing things that I “needed.”
Bored Coding 