The Unseen Value of Struggle

A few might be unaware, but the name Turbo C++ isn't unfamiliar to many. How can I forget the bright blue screen in front of me as I took my first steps into something called 'programming' at 17?

  

                            Courtesy : GeeksforGeeks

The "Hello, World!" program is perhaps the first kind of code that makes you feel like you've stepped into the shoes of Ada Lovelace. Later, I got into a mesh of data structures that I couldn't comprehend at the time. As a beginner, I was expected to write lengthy pieces of code for the course, which made me despise the whole process. How I got back into it would compel me to tell a chunk of my life story, which is a less interesting one.

Since I learned programming the hard way some 10 to 12 years ago, a relatively new tech—regenerative AI—fills my eyes with tears and me with a sense of gratitude that leaves me speechless. Regenerative AI could be one of humanity's most genius creations. What can explain the genius of Google Colab that auto-corrects code? How can Gemini AI explain the logical flaws behind a program?

                        


On the contrary, I am happy that such technologies didn't exist when I ventured into learning programming. I'm glad I started with C and C++, and not Python—the one’s that's sensitive about syntax, much like that one teacher at school who was particular about every little detail but for whom you are thankful at a later stage in life.

I'm happy that I had to turn the pages of heavy-volumed textbooks when the compiler showed a syntax error. I'm thankful for the time I grabbed a paper and a pen, drafting down algorithms for the code I had to execute. I gleefully reminisce about how, with the same tools, I took the hard way, correcting my code. 

                                        


ALL SAID AND DONE, if you are an absolute beginner at programming and intend to use any of the aforementioned tools, sorry, you aren't getting there.

A big salute to the coders of earlier generations who painstakingly wrote lengths and lengths of code without any AI or Stack Overflow


#AI #generativeAI #coding #coders #python #c++ #turbo #googlecolab #adalovelace

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