this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2023

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I'm Not Participating in This Year's Advent of Code For Very Good Reasons (www.jasonscheirer.com)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 11 months ago (2 children)

"Doing Work Outside of Work is Fucking Stupid" - completely disagree with this take. I got into programming because I like it, and the challenges in aoc are fun. I'm not doing work outside of work, I'm having fun outside of work, and it's alright to invest about an hour of my time into it. Also, you don't have to chase the leaderboards? You can just do it in the comfortable pase, it's not like the internet points mean something

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

After day 5 part 2 I take it back, it's not fun anymore it's suffering. This is my first time doing aoc, I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

I think that has been an outlier so far, its good to have one that makes you re-evaluate your solution once in a while.

Definitely a time sink though!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I enjoy learning and practicing my skills.

I'm running through AoC in a language I am less familiar with, so I can learn while I do it.

But that's not work, so fuck me right?

[–] [email protected] 19 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

Thank u Jason, very cool !!

Seriously though, good for you I guess? Not sure why you're grandstanding about it.

Meanwhile, I'm doing it the way I have in years past: as a fun set of puzzles that let me write code I enjoy in a language I like, because I do actually enjoy writing code, and only until my real-life schedule no longer allows.

Nobody's saving the world by posting on their personal blogs about how they're bravely and boldly not doing a series of optional advent-calendar puzzles.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I'm not "Grandstanding" so much as "resisting"; I've been peer pressured into participating for half a decade. It's always made me feel bad. There's no shame in opting out.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I mean, is "other people are having fun" really something that demands a resistance?

Or could you, perhaps, just not do it and not care whether that makes you "cool" or not?

It's like that bit from Community: "wear it because of them, don't wear it because of them — either way, it's for them."

Just be you, without having to have some sort of faux "resistance" to justify yourself.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Sometimes communicating feelings and sentiments with others can be rather meaningful for some. Reading someone else’s articulation of thoughts and feelings that you share or resonate with but haven’t formed a clear picture of can be rather useful.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yeah but we could probably do it without saying someone else’s hobbies are “pointless” and “fucking stupid”. I’m all for expressing our feelings. But maybe do it without yucking my yum and patronizing me. You don’t get to be the arbiter of what I enjoy.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

someone else’s hobbies are “pointless” and “fucking stupid”.

I don’t think that was said. The whole thing was a subjective description of their reasoning. Couched objective reasoning in an attempt to justify themselves, clearly, but also from a clearly subjective and emotional perspective.

I’m exhausted. I’ve been guilted/peer pressured into participating in the AoC for at least 5 years. I’m tired, I’m defeated, I’m unable to meet its weird expectations

I feel a working fallacy in conversations like this (maybe amongst tech people in particular) is a presumption of absolute objectivity. Their opinion makes sense to them and others who understand (the voting is fairly split) but is also equally inapplicable to others.

Instead of fighting over what’s “true”, the more interesting discussion IMO is mapping out where boundaries and spaces are and what the different perspectives are. In this case, the chief boundary seems to me to be between “youthful hunger” and “more mature/experienced broader outlook on what the ‘craft’ is”.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Oh I don’t have an opinion on what is true. I love doing work outside of work. I enjoy writing programs for myself. I enjoy code challenges. I enjoy working on cars. I enjoy fixing things. It’s more the “doing work outside of work is fucking stupid” that is in big bold letters, as well as “it’s pointless” in big bold letters. That just comes off in a way that gets under my skin.

I will say that none of my friends or coworkers have even mentioned AoC. I’m not pressured by anyone into programming outside of work. Some of my friends and I have worked on projects together, but only because we wanted to and enjoyed it. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a hunger to learn and improve. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with not wanting to write code after work. Sometimes after a particularly challenging project or a release that went south and required me staying til 23:00 on a Friday, I don’t even want to think about code. Or problem solving for that matter.

I just think letting people enjoy what they enjoy is typically a good policy. And discussion isn’t being invited when you’re essentially telling someone their hobby is wrong. If it were framed as “here is why I don’t enjoy AoC, I think it would have been more welcoming of discussion. The way it’s currently phrased is like crossing your arms in a conversation.

I do think the divide between people who just really enjoy programming, and people who just see it as a job is interesting. I’ve definitely had discussions about that with colleagues. None of us have told the others that their preferences are stupid.

That’s just my two cents, though. I don’t like discussing something with someone who comes from a place of hostility instead of open mindedness.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Totally fair!

From the OP’s comments it seemed that they felt like there was pressure in their environment, in which case the relative aggressiveness makes a bit of sense. Otherwise maybe they were just trying to be edgy or misread their environment with some misplaced priorities.

Either way, I was personally happy to read it as a personal rant and take away whatever made sense to me. A more polite and logical rant would have been nice and better though, for sure, except that that’s also harder to write and can prevent people from just sharing their thoughts in a “raw format”.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Oh I agree. I’m sorry if I came off argumentative or aggressive myself. I think the difference is the language used. The way this article was written plays on outrage to garner attention and potentially evoke discussion. If it had been framed as “I won’t be doing AoC, and here’s why: I don’t like doing this thing, so doing it without getting paid doesn’t sit well with me” instead if “I don’t like doing this thing, so anybody who uses it as more than just a job is stupid”, it could have led to some interesting and fun discussion.

I’ve got coworkers who just see developing as a job. Which is cool. I’m glad they can be good at it without being incredibly interested in it. But also for some of us it isn’t just how we get paid. And some devs are just doing it for fun. None of my coworkers have even mentioned AoC. Nobody at work pressures me into coding outside of my job. The only time I’ve been pressured to learn is when I ignored my teams requirement of “equivalent to one hour a week” pluralsight training. Which I missed for the majority of a year as I didn’t want to waste dev time doing training. I love that it’s provided free for every dev, but turning off project mode is challenging for me.

So I think the discussion could and should be had. It’s an interesting topic to me. I just think it could be done with a little less aggression. Or maybe it was written that way to drive views. Idk, but either way I’m just getting weary with all of the outright negativity towards those who enjoy different things than someone.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

All good!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

I hope you don’t mind my asking; what’s the nature of the peer pressure to participate you’re facing?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

While grandstanding might be a bit odd, it seems to me the broader point is about tech culture in general and what else it could be.

The point about the dark third place resonated with me for instance, where fruitful and fulfilling third places can be quite hard to build and find IMO.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I think the author's idea of painting it as a dark third place is way off base (pretty much every point seems off base). Is reading a book a dark third place because you didn't write the book?

Third places are where you might have a conversation about the fun puzzle you solved, they aren't the puzzle.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Well they state elsewhere in the post, rightly or wrongly, that they don't think these are fun puzzles but instead promote a problematic junior dev ego thing. Beyond that the main thrust of their reasoning seems to be the whole developer "culture" of "needing" to do work outside of work. If you come to oppose this and don't find the problems/solutions edifying, then "fun puzzle" is no longer an apt description and I think it makes a lot of sense to see the whole thing as relatively "dark" compared to what a nice or fulfilling "third place" can be.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

It's not even a third place.

The idea that these puzzles which people are obviously enjoying are contributing to a poor culture among developers is not supported by his arguments. The author should simply make their case about the poor culture instead of shoe horning in a poor example of it backed with contrived reasons.

If you don't like the puzzles, ignore them. Same as any leisure activity, don't force it. There's nothing wrong with not participating. The author's idea that there is something wrong with not participating is his problem.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Well, if you don’t like their reasoning or rejection of AoC … you can ignore it too. I think you’re taking this a bit too seriously, it was never intended as a grand thesis on dev culture. It is a statement of a relatively specific sentiment that some agree or resonate with and some don’t. You’re looking for logic when there’s just opinion.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Yeah but there’s a difference between saying, I don’t like JavaScript and here’s why” and “if you’re a JavaScript dev you are the worst kind of person”.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

On the contrary, my point is that his proclamations shouldn't be taken seriously at all.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

"Doing Work Outside of Work is Fucking Stupid"

Lol. Welcome to the "over it, it's a job now" club.

I still code for fun, myself, but certainly not to someone else's spec. Even if it's holiday themed.

I saved the most time, because I not only don't do advent of X challenges, but I also don't blog about not doing them.

Until I wrote this reply. I really fucked up my streak just now.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Yea I mean, it’s almost like humans actually enjoy and learn from the process of communicating and expressing their thoughts and feelings.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

OK.

I'm doing them because it's an excuse to do some interesting challenges however you want and have people to talk about them with.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I feel like all the points you raise could be replied by : if you do not like it, no one is forcing you into doing it.

It is my understanding that people do this for fun - to take the occasion to get into a new language and/or exercise their problem resolution skills.

Personally, although I love coding (it is a passion), after a whole day of coding I do not feel the energy to partake in a coding event. And during holidays I am busy doing other stuff. So I do not participate in the Advent of Code. But I am still glad that the event exists for people who enjoy it and have the time for it

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

It's not work if it's not work lmao

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

I am not participating for very bad(/sad) reasons. Here's to another lousy millennium.

Somewhat personal (including language preference/difficulty), but ultimately I just kinda lost hope/motivation for doing further learning/projects. The last code I did, load format example

Well that and AoC never really excited me, was for something more open like L1T's Devember but I didn't even pretend to myself that I'd try this year.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Why are you active on programming.dev?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yea sorry that’s some potentially toxic gatekeeping.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I'm not gatekeeping at all. I'm wondering why he's participating in a forum that ticks a lot of the boxes that he claims are reasons why not participating is a good thing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Sorry. No. They’re here because they want to be. If you can’t fathom exactly why, that’s your problem. Asking why anyone is “here” in a social media space often implies that they shouldn’t be here. This is clearly the case with your statement given the context of the original post being about quitting tech things.

If you find it inconsistent that they don’t want to do AoC but do want to hang out here, ask specifically about what you find inconsistent. It will avoid gatekeeping insinuations, but more importantly, actually force you to articulate your point which may often be too vague or incomprehensible to glean from implication.

For instance, in this case, the difference between social media and competitive coding/puzzles are pretty clearly significant (ie it’s the difference between a hard piece of work that feels pointless and casually talking shop that may also be conducive to actually pleasurable hobby projects). I personally find it hard to believe that you couldn’t imagine AoC and hanging here are different activities in terms of the original post’s statements. If true, bluntly asking “why are you here” is a poor bullying gatekeeping argument. If false, please refrain from asking people why they’re here. It’s gatekeeping or too easily construed as such and be more precise with your questions about such broad topics as what one enjoys in tech culture.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I don't see a way to continue this conversation as I don't see indication of good faith on your end. You've seemingly made up your mind that I'm a bully and was not trying to have an honest discussion. Which means an honest discussion can't be had regardless of my intent.

Enjoy the rest of your day.