Recently I stumbled upon old Free Code Camp post. It stated that every developer should have a blog. I dismissed it as clickbait, but later decided to come back and read the article. It was persuasive, hence the first blogpost. Although the text itself wouldn't be sufficient, I recently noticed the same tendency.
So for the last four weeks of lockdown there hasn't been a day without coding. Some days I wrote something in two or more languages, used MatLab, Dart, Python and JavaScript, some SQL to top it off. I was programming a lot, but the amount of writing stayed the same, averaging two journal entries per week. So my programming skills improved a lot due to intense practice. But my writing also improved, even though the amount stayed the same. I'm not talking about style or word choice. It's my ability to word insights and struggles that improved. For you it might not be new, but for me - and for some of the people reading this, if there are any - it is.
Remember the last time you faced the problem with no available solution for. It doesn't matter if it's a bug in your code or a mathematical proof you need to finish. The problem is there, the solution is non-existent even on the second Google page. You need to come up with something, and to be quick - the deadline is tight (it always is). What is the only universal way around it? Trial and error, of course. And there is an important universal concept in this method, which I want to focus on. It is a feedback loop.
Consider debugging. You could run code using compiler, writing it in notepad. This is a bulletproof, simplistic solution. But every time you encounter a bug or an error you'll have to run new test. Outputting variables into the console, trying to find faulty line or null variable. Debugging in IDE, allows you to set a breakpoint and view contents of variables and even objects at any time. The biggest advantage of working in IDE is short feedback loop that lets you to locate the bug and fix it.
Of course, life is way more complex than any code humans can ever create. But the concept of feedback loop stays. You encounter the problem, you write down your "variables": mood, thoughts, emotion. Memory is faulty and won't store this information, but your journal will. Than you attempt to solve a problem, logging your results. This is your feedback loop, crafted to give perspective on previous attempts and they failed. You are improving not only at writing - you are becoming more familiar with the feedback loop concept. This in turn gives you more clarity both in problem-solving and in life.
Or at least that's how I perceive it now, in April 2020. This article is part of my feedback loop as well (which is quite meta, I know). At any point I can address it, since the information is here, safe on my hard drive and in this blog.
Until next time,
Nerd.
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