Programming isn't fun — it's much more than that
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I'm glad you brought up the leap you made into other things you might enjoy doing as well. I'm sure I'll use that insight when starting on new endeavors!
I think that telling people that they should start programming because it is fun is ultimately detrimental to the entire industry. Programming is fun in a similar way that running a marathon is fun. A marathoner isn't going to convince someone to run because running until your legs burn, you are out of breath, and feeling like you are on the brink of fatal dehydration is "fun." Marathoners believe the joy comes from seeing that time drop 3 seconds is fun: that all the hard work amounts to self-improvement and self-actualization. I used to be a long distance runner, and the reasoning is myriad and complex, but ultimately, the word "fun" in the classical sense never entered my mind and I doubt that it enters anyone's mind.
Similarly, programming isn't "fun," though it can be in a superficial way, which I consider cheap glory: writing a for loop that displays the squares of x to y, or creating a static webpage, but I don't consider this the real fun. The problem with the real fun is the same problem one finds in running long-distance: the initial accomplishments mean nothing at all. The minor piecemeal achievements make it fun, but the ultimate fun doesn't start until you get more advanced, similar to reaching a sub-five-minute mile is fun but only after a certain level of endurance and speed is attained.
The ultimate fun of programming, IMO, is learning how to use cleverness to turn a O(n^2) algorithm to a O(log n) algorithm, or seeing a pattern in a 1000 LOC program and creating the perfect abstraction that removes 300 lines, yet adds clarity, or learning a new tool that allows you to do things that were impossible one month earlier.
Another part that makes things fun for me is the amount of things I have learned but never realized. There are many small items that I have learned over the past year but only recently had the ability to implement and understand. Sure, at the moment of initial learning, there is a bit of mind-blow, but then there is another level were a correlation is made that I would have never considered 3 months ago, but once using it, I am pleased with the progress I've made in many areas, without realizing it!
The above is perhaps to esoteric for many people to understand at the beginning stages, but I think that telling people upfront about the intellectual journey, how their entire perspective on things they never thought possible and that once in a while, their mind will be expanded into idea and notions they never thought of, is the correct way to excite those that should be beginning on the journey. "Fun," to those who never programmed before, implies a non-intellectual challenge and little work to accomplish these goals. Maybe brogramming is "fun," but real programming isn't "fun" by the usual layman definition.
When writing this post, I kept coming up empty when trying to find something to compare it to (I explored other things like writing a book, creating music, painting, etc. but they never really matched up in the same way.)...
To actually see that I have to click on the Comments first and then look at the title at the top... but I usually don't even read comments on articles so I usually don't see that.