Python is killing me.
My enthusiasm of two months ago is drying up and all the things I thought I was going to love about Python, I now hate. I miss JavaScript. The comforting closure of the semi-colons. Those curly brackets were always more fun than I gave them credit for. They told you where things went. They provided structure, style and whimsy.
Python is all empty space. And while the basic logic is still there, why do all computer languages have to do things differently?
Mostly, I guess I just resent that it’s hard. Which is probably a life problem, not a Python problem. Why do we always think that life is going to get easier? I’ve been baby stepping my way through, but I’m falling behind. I was on track to finish Code Year on time, and every week my percentage of completion is getting a tiny bit lower. I feel like a marathon runner who’s fading in the last mile.
Must. Get. The. Passion. Back.
Yesterday I was thinking about the programming satori experience that got this blog rolling. I remember how I felt after I got through the Snake Eyes challenge. The world took on this complex, computational beauty that I never would have seen If I’d given up . For the week after that challenge I was thinking in code. I felt enlightened, stronger.
I’m sure Python has something to teach me too. I just have to be willing to re-commit and set a challenge to make up the ground I’ve lost.
One of the advantages of being the mother of a twelve year old is that I have many inspirational Hollywood movies to choose from in this mission. A scene from the Karate Kid remake comes to mind. The one where they visit the Taoist monastery and Jaden Smith learns that the snake is not controlling the nun. By copying its movements the nun is controlling the snake!
There is some profound metaphor in there that I don’t quite understand yet. But I will find some way to make that allegory work.
Because if I’ve learned one thing from a year of learning to program, it’s that it’s usually right at the point when nothing makes any sense that the magic is about to happen.
familyCoding 