TITLE: Writing Code AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford DATE: December 02, 2006 10:42 AM DESC: ----- BODY: Here's the thing. I like to write code. I like to write code that most people take for granted. I like to write code to solve hard problems. I like to write simple programs. I like to solve the programming assignments that I set before my students. I like to discover problems to solve and then solve them with code. Sometimes, I like to make up problems just so I can write code to solve them. A colleague of mine is fond of reminding university professors that they are not like most of our students. He means that in the sense that we professors were usually good students, or at least students who liked school, and that we can't expect our students to think the way we do or to like school the way we did. This can be useful as we design our courses and plan our day-to-day interactions with students. It's wise for me to remember that I am probably not like all of my students in another way: I just love to write code. One of my great joys as an instructor is to come across a student, or even a class full of students, who love to write code. I enjoy working with them in class, and on independent projects, and on undergraduate research. I learn from them, and I hope they learn a little from me along the way:
Ultimately we learn best by placing our confidence
in men and women whose examples invite us
to love what they love.
-- Robert Wilken
One thing is certain. I love to write code. -----