Programming Is Orgasmic

This is true for me at least ;). I know this isn't a technology blog, and programming is probably the farthest from Self-Help as one can imagine, however, I needed to share this so instead of starting a new blog on technology, I'm going to bore some of you with my techy speak. Too bad - feel free to unsubscribe at any time ;)

I only just learnt to program in JavaScript, and I can say that I'm on cloud 300 million right now! (cloud computing lol - did you get the geeky joke?). It's the feeling of being able to create exactly what you want on a computer. In order to create on a computer, you have to learn how computers speak - you have to learn THEIR language. Until two days ago, I did not know how elegant JavaScript was as a language. It's like the French of computing languages.

I also feel this very strongly: everybody should learn basic programming. It should be compulsory like Mathematics or English. It's such a core skill since all of our lives are now on computers. We hardly exist offline these days! Programming can also enrich many subject areas like physics, psychology, mathematics, art, business studies, languages - since one needs to know a little about all these areas in order to produce useful programs. The possibilities which open up when one knows how to program are ENDLESS!

I have wanted to learn programming for soooooooo long, and you people who read this blog religiously may remember that my 2011 resolution was to become a decent Python programmer. I also talked about doing, rather than waiting for things to happen. Somehow, it ALWAYS seems to work out that I end up completing everything on my to do list, even if I never look back at the to do list. It's as if, when I write something down, it goes deep into my subconscious and my mind subconsciously begins working on solving and creating the things I wrote down into reality.

Well, I suppose that's only half-true. I'm not a decent Python programmer, but I am (and that feeling of deja-vu swarms over me yet AGAIN whilst writing this) a much better a programmer than I was 1 year ago. In fact, I just started a software company called KhalsaSoft.

The feeling of creating a program that works is absolutely orgasmic! Especially since I have struggled for around 12 years to create one. But to be fair, I only struggled because I never really tried to go on a course to learn programming, nor tried to find a tutor. All I did was buy a few programming books, which I never read. I learnt later on that I'm a visual learner, so at the advent of YouTube, learning anything for me became much easier.

By the way, if you DO want to learn programming I totally recommend The New Boston by Bucky Roberts: http://thenewboston.org/. He's a really down to earth, young and witty programmer who is sure to make you laugh several times as you learn to program step-by-step. This is how I learnt basic JavaScript in just two days (with a little pre-requisite knowledge of computing concepts and no distractions), and also basic Python in around 2 weeks. Also, use this website religiously: http://www.w3schools.com/

If you're a complete newbie to programming follow this sequence of learning programming languages. Once you've got the hang of one, move onto the next:

1. HTML/XHTML - For creating simple web pages
2. CSS - For styling web pages beautifully
3. JavaScript and/or JQuery - For creating advanced interactive web pages
4. Python and/or PHP - For doing more heavy stuff

A final note to connect all of this mumbo jumbo to Self-Help is that the future is only going to become more and more computerised. We almost NEED to know some basic programming, so we can create some basic scripts in Excel, in Word, in a browser: to ultimately simplify and automate our lives, reduce our stress and increase the time we have for actually living a life we want, full of quality, richness and love.

Sat Naam.