I feel like computer programming is often portrayed as an activity that only “nerdy” people would enjoy.

While the everyone should code movement has helped to somewhat alleviate that, it seems that many people still think of coding as boring, frustrating, and impossible to understand—which does not sound like a recipe for fun.

So the question is, can programming be fun?

Is programming boring?

I suppose there have been rare occasions where I found coding boring, although that’s usually when I’m doing stuff like filling out App Store submission forms. However, if I purely consider the actual programming part, I fail to see anything boring about it.

If you’re looking to publicly release an app or a game, you’ll almost certainly find yourself having to do tasks that you don’t enjoy. I’ve often heard it said that the last 20% of a project takes up 80% of the time, and it’s true.

But even if that last 20% may not be super enjoyable, the first 80% can be.

Is programming frustrating?

YES, but not always.

There will be times where you find yourself facing a bug that you can’t seem to resolve. The problem will seem completely illogical, it won’t make any sense, and you’ll spend hours debugging.

As if that wasn’t frustrating enough, most of the time the cause will turn out to be the smallest little thing that you overlooked, which can be even more enraging.

Is programming impossible to understand?

Not at all. While it may seem very complex at first, once you learn the syntax and what various bits of code do, it’s just a matter of putting them together. This is usually a logically straightforward process, although it can get confusing at times.

But overall, code isn’t nearly as hard to read and write as it’s often portrayed to be.

Do you like solving problems?

If you like solving problems, you’ll probably enjoy programming. In my experience, I feel a sense of extreme satisfaction and accomplishment whenever I manage to solve a problem or I successfully add a new feature to my project.

So yes, programming can be fun.

That being said, I don’t think everyone would enjoy it. If you don’t have the patience to stick with an issue for a few hours, you’ll likely end up frustrated. As I’ve stated in other posts, everyone can learn to code—provided they have the desire to do so. However, not everyone should learn to code, largely because if you don’t enjoy it, you won’t get far.

If you’re interested in coding, chances are you will enjoy it, so give it a shot!