Too thick to be a programmer...

**gingerjedi** · 4 December 2009, 08:24

I'm too thick to grasp the bits you do know.

**threaded** · 4 December 2009, 08:44

Originally posted by DieScum View Post

... but enjoy hacking about a bit anyway.

I'm not very good at coding but can make a bit of headway.

I work in the infrastructure/security side. So I can write SQL scripts to pull stuff out a database, or vbscripts to do something on clients, or I can read through disassembled .NET code and say this isn't working due to this line of code when making support calls, I can write little GUI apps which gather data from the registry and INI files.

I enjoy that but when it comes to stuff like understanding pointers or object orientation it just took me too long to get those concepts at uni.

So if you are a non-programmer how much programming can you do/understand?

Don't put yourself down lad. You sound more able than an awful lot of the dross that goes by the name of programmer round here, or even senior programmer at this client.

Hmm, I feel a new thread coming on.

**VectraMan** · 4 December 2009, 09:23

Originally posted by DieScum View Post

I enjoy that but when it comes to stuff like understanding pointers or object orientation it just took me too long to get those concepts at uni.

Have you thought about become a senior Java developer?

**DaveB** · 4 December 2009, 09:30

Originally posted by DieScum View Post

... but enjoy hacking about a bit anyway.

I'm not very good at coding but can make a bit of headway.

I work in the infrastructure/security side. So I can write SQL scripts to pull stuff out a database, or vbscripts to do something on clients, or I can read through disassembled .NET code and say this isn't working due to this line of code when making support calls, I can write little GUI apps which gather data from the registry and INI files.

I enjoy that but when it comes to stuff like understanding pointers or object orientation it just took me too long to get those concepts at uni.

So if you are a non-programmer how much programming can you do/understand?

Are you me?

Sounds pretty much identical. Not done are proper coding since Uni but can still cobble together perl scripts, a bit of VB, some shell scripting etc. Less so since I stopped doing SysAdmin for a living. I did spend a couple of years using a C like OO language to write code for a MUD as a hobby, but I never got the hang of pointers either.

**chicane** · 4 December 2009, 09:33

Originally posted by threaded View Post

Don't put yourself down lad. You sound more able than an awful lot of the dross that goes by the name of programmer round here, or even senior programmer at this client.

WHS. Perhaps not at this client but certainly many others.

**Churchill** · 4 December 2009, 10:03

What's to know about pointers? They do what it says on the tin.

They point to memory - this "pointed to" memory will contain something that is of use to you, even other pointers.

Now, zero page indexed addressing, that can be confusing!

**Mich the Tester** · 4 December 2009, 10:15

Simples. Become a tester.

It's the best fun you can have in IT; you don't have to solve the problems, just find them. Very few people want to test, and of those who do want to, very few can do it well. Therefore, when the market's good you can earn a tulipload of money with much less stress than PM's or development leads.

**DieScum** · 4 December 2009, 11:52

What's to know about pointers? They do what it says on the tin.

They point to memory - this "pointed to" memory will contain something that is of use to you, even other pointers.

Now, zero page indexed addressing, that can be confusing!

Well you see I understand them now... it's just that it was hard, had to be pummelled in and didn't come intuitively.

I think it's the kind of thing that good programmers just get.

I was working through the stanford online learning stuff recently and did the exercise to make a breakout clone. It was fun... but it took me a long time to do.

Too thick to be a programmer...