programming related stress

i'm working on this program solely as a hobby.  there is no money or commitment involved, yet i start to feel very stressed when i think about the program.

is this normal?  has anyone else experienced this?

It's normal.

Don't program while under stress or upset. I'm not sure what you're stressed about, but keep in mind that there is no commitment and you're just fucking around.

>>1
Jesus christ for a moment I thought this might've been something I asked like 2 months ago bumped to the top but I see it was made today.  I think we're in the same boat.

Don't JUST sit in front of the computer and don't JUST program.  A good percentage of getting a program done is learning more.  Buy or borrow some books that are relevant to what you're doing and don't be afraid to study other peoples' code and examples.  Take time out to do tutorials.  Gaining knowledge, even if you don't -immediately- need it, will still help you with confidence.

I was sitting around picking my nose doing nothing but sitting in my own anxiety about writing a program that loads and animates Doom3 .MD5 models (the long-term goal is a boss-fest, non-scrolling shmup game, but one-step-at-a-time is best)... so... I started with the basics and bought a book on 3D mathematics fundamentals.  Not a book on "3D programming" -- just 3D mathematics.  These last 2 or so weeks I've learned a lot of things I didn't know before and I've been doing that... once I'm confident about the math library I've written and make sure it's functionally sound, then I can go on to more programmer-y things like data structures, file loading, OpenGL, etc, and then I'll be buying/borrowing books on that layer of programming abstraction.

Do everything in small increments.  That's basically what most big commercial software projects are -- dozens or hundreds of individuals gluing together their small bits 'n pieces.

I think your stress is from actually from being broke and unemployed

>>1

You have to get over the feeling of getting stressed when stuck on something, or when contemplating the magnitude of the project.

If it seems overwhelming, try to work on an independant piece of code that gives you practice in a technique you need to use in your larger program. It'll make you feel more confident and give you experience necessary to proceed further with the bigger project.

>>3
>>5
hey, OP here.  i think you guys are actually right on.

>>I'm not sure what you're stressed about,

i'm stressed about job and living with parents.

/prog/ needs more people like >>4 and >>6

>>8
/prog/ needs less people that judge posts by its length. I'm not saying that I have anything against >>4,6 , all I am saying is that you are an enormous faggot.

prog needs less people like >>9

>>9
I don't think he was judging by length. More that they provided useful advice.

>>11

NO BBCODE
NO USE
NO EXCEPTIONS

>>12
I think that the BBCode should emphasise the rising tension, not fading.

NO BBCODE
NO USE
NO EXCEPTIONS

>>1
Your stress comes because you don't know what the fuck you're supposed to be doing, or you're in over your head, or you know you're not achieving/can't achieve what you set out to do.

Read K&R.

>>8
way to bump 2 year old post.

NO BBCODE
NO USE
NO EXCEPTIONS

FINAL DESTINATION

When some time ago Must be at   least 7 bits   if it was   a single string   why would people   be more inclined   to use getopt   long or write   your own parser!

Make sense Someone explain what the big  one in b4  underhanded C code  on your drive  If you could  also think about  encryption For me  right now it  I hate you  you fucking prick  Wanker strong Anon.

23 Name: Anonymous 2010-12-17 1:32

Xarn is a bad boyfriend