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in reply to Programming is more like:

I picked carpentry....

Really in my mind it is more like cabinetry making or boat building. In my mind to be a success at those you first have to build up your jigs and tools.

Programming is sorta the same thing. Once you have your templates and tools in place and set up you can begin. Like boat building and cabinetry a good plan before you start can be a big help but in some really talented cases is not necessary.

My grandfather for instance, who was a bricklayer and mason by trade, decided to build a boat one fine day. He cut down some Maine oaks, hew the timbers, stacked and dried them. When he felt the wood was ready he and my mother laid the frames for the boat out on my grandmother's kitchen floor. My grandmother wasn't amused by that but she knew better than try and stop my grandfather.

Out of that came an 18 foot cabin cruiser that was never finished because my grandfather always had a better idea of how he wanted it configured. He built the boat without any plans.


Peter L. Berghold -- Unix Professional
Peter -at- Berghold -dot- Net; AOL IM redcowdawg Yahoo IM: blue_cowdawg

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Re^2: Programming is more like:
by Gavin (Archbishop) on Sep 11, 2008 at 10:02 UTC

    I hope you or someone else finished building the boat it deserved to be completed after all that hard work.

      By the time I was old enough to do such things, my Uncle (my grandfather's only son) had unfortunately neglected the boat to the point it rotted away. Neither of my grandfather's daughters or sons-in-law were interested in the boat at all.

      Something that to this day saddens me greatly. I caught my first fish on that boat (a five pound tautog at that) so the boat meant a lot to me. All the adults around me told me not to fuss about it.


      Peter L. Berghold -- Unix Professional
      Peter -at- Berghold -dot- Net; AOL IM redcowdawg Yahoo IM: blue_cowdawg