When I was a fresher in the polytechnic, I wrote a full scale arithmetic engine called MULTRIX in BASIC on a P3 IBM PC. If you were interested in computers and programming back early 2000's, I bet you did the same something similar. When I was in my finals, I wrote a logic-driven Library Manager in Java which won a National Award as best Object oriented software design. By the time I was out of school, I was already writing enterprise applications for individuals and businesses. I was in touch with guys from my software team in school, and we were going to develop an adventure game and other cool stuff like that — and to some degree, we did. We sent each other our in-progress code, complained about each other’s programming-language designs, and laughed at how inefficient each others’ completely poor implementation of memory management. Most of our graphics will run, but will barely display do not RAM overload (laughs)

But, that was then.

Today, developers mostly paste libraries together. So do you, most likely, if you work in software. Doesn’t that seem anticlimactic? We did all those courses on LR grammars and concurrent software and referentially transparent functional languages. We messed about with Java, Assembly language, C and C++. We studied invariants and formal preconditions and operating system theory. Now how much of that do we use? A huge part of the job these days seems to be impedence-matching between big opaque chunks of library software that sort of do most of what a program is meant to achieve, but don’t quite work right together so I have to, I don’t know, download and include jar files, (or OCX depending on your development platform), and pray to God that I have the brilliance to use the API without disrupting other plugin I have already added. Is that programming? Really? Yes, it takes taste and discernment and experience to do well; but it doesn’t require brilliance and it doesn’t excite. It’s not what we dreamed of as freshers in school and trained for all these years. It doesn’t get the juices flowing. It’s not creation, it is so cheap.


If you don’t believe my analysis, will you believe Don Knuth? Here are a couple of extracts from his excellent interview in Peter Siebel’s book Coders at Work (which, yes, I have now finished reading):


“There’s the change that I’m really worried about: that the way a lot of programming goes today isn’t any fun because it’s just plugging in magic incantations — combine somebody else’s software and start it up. It doesn’t have much creativity. I’m worried that it’s becoming too boring because you don’t have a chance to do anything much new. Your kick comes out of seeing fun results coming out of the machine, but not the kind of kick that I always got by creating something new. The kick now is after you’ve done your boring work then all of a sudden you get a great image. But the work didn’t used to be boring.” (page 594)


“The problem is that coding isn’t fun if all you can do is call things out of a library, if you can’t write the library yourself. If the job of coding is just to be finding the right combination of parameters, that does fairly obvious things, then who’d want to go into that as a career?” (page 581)

For those of you who don't know Don Knuth - [b]Donald Ervin Knuth [/b]is an American computer scientist, mathematician, and professor emeritus at Stanford University. He is the author of the multi-volume work The Art of Computer Programming. So, are you gonna argue with Knuth? Huh? Are you? Didn’t think so.

For me, there is always a big difference between egbe and egbe (Kite and gun, as the Igbos would say). Why do big IT firms like Facebook, Twitter, Google etc go all out to create their custom tools and API when they need. Why didn't Google just use the JQuery Photo Slider plugin developed by Facebook since Facebook already has it. The answer my people is very simple: Pride of Ownership, and Joy of Creation; something we seem to have forgotten everything about. We have to go back to fundamentalism. Don't just be a consumer-developer, become a creator.

I want to make things, not just glue things together. When people ask me what I like about my job, I always say the same thing: that its the thrill of starting with nothing and making something. That, for me, is the essence of programming, and it hurts that there isn’t as much of it about as there used to be.

We all know that the most enjoyable part of a programming project is early on: when the slate is clean, the emacs buffer is empty (or the garbage collector has nothing yet to collect), and the world is fresh and alive with possibilities. And then the invigorating rush as the shape of the code starts to emerge, the data structures condense, the algorithms come together; the code becomes runnable, then it does something useful, it passes tests, and then — yes! — it’s not just an idea any more, but an actual program. You’ve completed Phase 1.

And then — anyone who’s ever actually released software will recognise this — then in a sense the actual work begins. For the program to stop being a private project and become a public product, it needs documentation — APIs, command-line manuals, tutorials. It needs unit tests. It needs a home on the web. It needs checking for portability. It needs changelogs and a release history. It needs tweaking, and quite possibly internal reorganisation to make it play nicer with other programs out there. All this is phase 2, and it’s closely related to the issues of programming culture that I talked about last time.

The thing is, no professional programmer begrudges Phase 2. We all recognise the necessity of these things, and we take pride in doing them right. It’s part of professionalism; part of being not just a computer scientist, but also a software engineer. It’s all good.

But Phase 2 is not the core of the work. It’s really all about Phase 1; and even if Phase 2 takes more effort and time, it’s still only the ‘i’s that we dot and the ‘t’s that we cross to give our beautiful code a life outside of our own computers. And the problem with modern software development is that it’s all Phase 2. The ubiquitious availability of nearly-right-but-not-quite libraries and frameworks-that-do-it-all-for-you-except-that-actually-they-don’t wipes out the exhilaration of Phase 1, but leaves us with even more of the drudgery of Phase 2. Instead of designing beautiful data-structures and elegant algorithms, we’re looking up the EnterpriseFactoryBeanMaker class in the 3,456-page Bumper Tome Of Horrible Stupid Classes (Special Grimoire Edition), because we can’t remember which of the arguments to the createEnterpriseBeanBuilderFactory() method tells it to make the public static pure virtual destructor be a volatile final abstract interface factory decorator. Pitiable and Laughable!

I understand, I think, how we landed up here. I wish I know how we can get out.

Read more blog posts from my personal blog on www.ashpotmicrosystems.com/blog. You can meet everyday at www.chat9ja.com/9jauser/PsalmsKalu

Damn Too Long. Summary Pls.

I read every damn thing but it does not make any meaning to me. These days, you have stackoverflow, github etc where some gaddamn whizzkid has already written one crazy library that will save you from weeks of coding without results.

So smart dudes like me for example combines all these resources together and create outstanding apps in a relatively short time.

donjayzi:
I read every damn thing but it does not make any meaning to me. These days, you have stackoverflow, github etc where some gaddamn whizzkid has already written one crazy library that will save you from weeks of coding without results.

So smart dudes like me for example combines all these resources together and create outstanding apps in a relatively short time.

That's it. Just what the author says. You combine the libraries whether they fit or not. You create outstanding apps trouble and get stuck in a thick maze at stage 2.

@op cool story until you realize the story was ripped off Google

But the nerves to complain about modern programmers.

Craigston:

That's it. Just what the author says. You combine the libraries whether they fit or not. You outstanding apps trouble and get stuck in a thick maze at stage 2.

No, I do not combine libraries whether they are fit or not. I study libraries very well, I am a very thorough programmer.
I also do unit testing for my codes - really, this our own generation programming have grown wings for those that know how to use it.

@Op
your point is a very hard one to make. The reason is that when you were coding c++ you were coding it on top of a C engine already existing.
The C is sitting right on top of a machine language.

So if you really want to call yourself a 'programmer', you have to code machine language. 010010 101010 000101 0110109

Bottom line, everything in software development is a 'library'. You have to build on top of what is already existing. Even the ide you use is a code already written by someone else, if you chose to use ordinary notepad, you have not escaped the catch. Notepad is still someone else's code.
Android development is a combination of lots of libraries, it doesn't mean the coders don't get to code again, they code even more now than during your time.
To build a useful android app now, you have to code your ass out after importing several libraries.
On the other hand, you have a point. If all someone does is import library and put together an interface, they can't call themselves a programmer.
They are only cutting and joining.
but what's the point of calling yourself a programmer when someone else is grabbing the money and getting your bottom employed.

donjayzi:

No, I do not combine libraries whether they are fit or not. I study libraries very well, I am a very thorough programmer.
I also do unit testing for my codes - really, this our own generation programming have grown wings for those that know how to use it.

That's because you have not worked on any serious project.
If you work on speech or facial recognition for instance, you will import libraries so te you start paying import duties.
You will consume API's like burning bush.

If you choose to code the libraries yourself, it will take you the exact same number of years it took the coders to build (most likely even more because they are a team).

This will distract you from the original project you wanted to do in the first place.

Folks, I intend to pass a message. I am an advocate for development of indigenous African software. Our copy-copy mentality is keeping us at the bottom of the programming food chain. But kudos to you all for the intelligent and smart replies. I am new to Nairaland, and I appreciate the professional opinions I have gotten here. . The message i think is: CAN WE START EXPORT CODES TO THE WORLD, INSTEAD OF JUST IMPORTING. And it's high time we indigenous developers got together and carved a niche for ourselves in the world!

Thank you all!

my brother! No be small import duties...

moderatorr1:
That's because you have not worked on any serious project.
If you work on speech or facial recognition for instance, you will import libraries so te you start paying import duties.
You will consume API's like burning bush.

If you choose to code the libraries yourself, it will take you the exact same number of years it took the coders to build (most likely even more because they are a team).

This will distract you from the original project you wanted to do in the first place.

who tell you that it took them year to build a library. bro I last I develop a library a library for myself stop been lazy that number one problem in nigeria 50000 lines of a code in a day will not kill u

most of nigeria programmers do not want to learn from basic all they want is to build whatsapp the first day I have been learning for almost 4 years now I do earn of freelancer.com so keep learning and very soon you will be good

2.nigerian programmers always argue or depends on one language
if u want to be good in code
knowing java is good but have u ever wondered what is java running ontop
learn c , assembly this language will open you ur eyes in code

3. fear : in programming once you start doubting yourself you will surely fall

I remember when I coded my simplex media converter one of my guy told me that in five years I haven't finish it coz he happens to know that total video converter had over 20 ciders
but in 3months I finish it and it had a non blocking gui while converting which over 20 ciders was unable to implement into total video converter

4. be urself ;
believe it or not all the library, rules and other were all invented by some one like me and u
knowledge is power nobody will give u there knowledge at a low cost coz if u have there knowledge u have the same power as them

cbtgeek:
most of nigeria programmers do not want to learn from basic all they want is to build whatsapp the first day I have been learning for almost 4 years now I do earn of freelancer.com so keep learning and very soon you will be good

2.nigerian programmers always argue or depends on one language
if u want to be good in code
knowing java is good but have u ever wondered what is java running ontop
learn c , assembly this language will open you ur eyes in code

3. fear : in programming once you start doubting yourself you will surely fall

I remember when I coded my simplex media converter one of my guy told me that in five years I haven't finish it coz he happens to know that total video converter had over 20 ciders
but in 3months I finish it and it had a non blocking gui while converting which over 20 ciders was unable to implement into total video converter

4. be urself ;
believe it or not all the library, rules and other were all invented by some one like me and u
knowledge is power nobody will give u there knowledge at a low cost coz if u have there knowledge u have the same power as them

i am liking you already. Good to know there are still some good programmers out there. Sometimes i feel like am all alone.

cbtgeek:
who tell you that it took them year to build a library. bro I last I develop a library a library for myself stop been lazy that number one problem in nigeria 50000 lines of a code in a day will not kill u

Speech recognition, language translation , facial recognition, bio metric identification, Text to speech, speech to text, 3d game development.
You cannot work on any if these fields without importing lots and lots of libraries.
There are many more fields in the engineering and medical fields too. Importation of libraries is a must.

Yeah right, no one has time to start rebuilding everything from the scratch - it is a sheer waste of time. Imagine just building a forum like nairaland straight from the scratch, you go tale gan ni, and at the end of the day, it will be filled with too many errors you go frustrate die.

moderatorr1:

Speech recognition, language translation , facial recognition, bio metric identification, Text to speech, speech to text, 3d game development.
You cannot work on any if these fields without importing lots and lots of libraries.
There are many more fields in the engineering and medical fields too. Importation of libraries is a must.

if u dont mind stop using windows for like 3 months I enter into linux world in no time you will be able to make one of those from scratch windows do make coders blind
and as I said knowledge is power is they give u algorithm behind it you will surely build it so the protect there knowledge

I have my own regular expression. library for c language
l know people like you will say it is impossible to build by one person.
stop been lazy
try and step out of your comfort zone

cbtgeek, I've been thinking of getting a linux OS. Do you have any advice for me?

Craigston:
cbtgeek, I've been thinking of getting a linux OS. Do you have any advice for me?

side talk.... you really should, it seems intimidating and annoying at first (users' permission ,it's like being blocked from using your computer).....I find it a better environment than windows and it has support out of the box for most languages.

The power that comes with customizing your Linux box is endless...

It's free,no windows.licensing or crack no more ..

you might want to try a virtual machine before getting the real installation to check if you'd like it (you really should though )

Jregz:

side talk.... you really should, it seems intimidating and annoying at first (users' permission ,it's like being blocked from using your computer).....I find it a better environment than windows and it has support out of the box for most languages.

The power that comes with customizing your Linux box is endless...

It's free,no windows.licensing or crack no more ..

you might want to try a virtual machine before getting the real installation to check if you'd like it (you really should though )

Sounds like fun. I hear there are different versions/builds. Which do you prefer?
And, can I buy it in a dvd around instead of downloading it?

Craigston:

Sounds like fun. I hear there are different versions/builds. Which do you prefer?
And, can I buy it in a dvd around instead of downloading it?

yes you can get it in a dvd pack,there are probably about 500+(1k+ plus ?) linux distributions... i prefer ubuntu,though i used CentOS for some time

Jregz:

yes you can get it in a dvd pack,there are probably about 500+(1k+ plus ?) linux distributions... i prefer ubuntu,though i used CentOS for some time

I use Red Hat distro. I have OpenSUSE, but never tried it. I am barely six months into linux OS. But as an xperienced programmer, it doesn't take time to adapt. My best side gain is bye bye to anti-virus. No more virus when you use linux.

I get the OP's point, but the truth is that there are somethings that are like just meant to be built once. For example, the X Window System which is probably one of the most complicated socket program ever written, the created a library for developers to use.

All the socket methods we use in C that sometimes looks low level is actually very high level and is even probably a library on top another library just to make it look that simple. Imagine stressing yourself to do all the things like Endian checking and conversions etc when you want to make an HTTP request.

bros pls help me... i am a real novice.. i dnt know anythng abt programming, i am willing to learn, i just need tips, Thankz

cbtgeek

I don't believe this guy because, libraries helps to make ur projects faster and eliminate repeating the same codes always

You have any idea about cygwin?

Jregz:

side talk.... you really should, it seems intimidating and annoying at first (users' permission ,it's like being blocked from using your computer).....I find it a better environment than windows and it has support out of the box for most languages.

The power that comes with customizing your Linux box is endless...

It's free,no windows.licensing or crack no more ..

you might want to try a virtual machine before getting the real installation to check if you'd like it (you really should though )

KazukiIto:
You have any idea about cygwin?

not at all

@cbtgeek and @ashpot I get your points and I get where you're all headed, Straight point - don't be redundant because of the use of libraries, have a total understanding of programming and all that it enatils.

But then again, you can't over write the importance of libraries, else are you suggesting that if I as a beginner, I wanted to develop an Android programming for a client, then I have to sit down and develop my own new set of Android libraries.

Jregz:

not at all

So do you use emacs for windows? I need some help

KazukiIto:


So do you use emacs for windows? I need some help

no I don't

KazukiIto:


So do you use emacs for windows? I need some help

i use cygwin(years ago when there wasn't Windows support for nodejs) and emacs for window.
what actually do you need help on?

No programming technique solves all problems.
No programming language produces only correct results.
No programmer should start each project from scratch.

Axel-Tobias Schreiner