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I
have been doing some studies on programming and that has gobbled up a huge
amount of my time. Programming is fun at first. You find it easy and enjoyable.
The codes work and you start wondering why programmers are paid so much for not
having to do much other than stay behind the screen scripting something that we
take for granted while we are using. As I continue immersing myself in this
field of solitude, I am optimistic it will eventually lead to fruition once I
have mastered the skill to the core. Sounds silly, well it’s not. Somehow, the
process gets protracted as you delve deeper into what you want to do.
Frustrations set in and things seem not to work as you start being nerdy with
codes. And there is a point where you hit a snag as it gets derailing and
pesky. Anon, you furiously fold the computer and take a rest because you have
had too much thinking that you will never do it again.
To
be truly honest, the field of programming requires a lot of patience. I will
try to be as candid as I can in trying to depict a scenario that happened. Let’s
jump straight into it. I normally watch a video, read few scripts and blogs then
use the knowledge to work out on some tasks and exercises that are online. I am
into R programming. Men, it’s crazy. Even the patience to watch the video to
the end can thin when you think you are ‘floating’ instead of ‘sinking’ the
knowledge being dispensed. I guess that’s probably the reason why I dreaded the
thought of programming at first.
When
you write a code, you think that RStudio, the program I am using, will execute
it and the syntax will turn out to be correct. Hell no. Coding platforms are
very sensitive. Let me explain why, say you decided to use capital letters
instead of small letters, when you run the codes, you will get an error
warning. Again, if you miss something like a comma, the codes will not be
submitted smoothly as you thought. So, you may be thinking, but I have written
everything correctly. Yet there is an omission of a comma or you used capital
letters and because most programs are case sensitive, the execution becomes
naught. That is why inspecting codes is a must if you want to run them without
experiencing structural problems. Plus, you need to continuously check the
codes to be able to ascertain there are no errors failure of which you may
built something which ends up malfunctioning at the very end of the project.
First
of all, let me explain that I am a novice programmer. I am not even a junior
when it comes to programming. Therefore, I really need to harness my potential
in this arena on a continuum until a time when I will be fully fully
conditioned to get my act right out there. In a nutshell, because I have free
time, I am into binge learning. It never hurts to learn, right? Again, I am the
bad programmer kind of guy. I am content with the little that I learn from the Datacamp
platform I subscribe to and never go beyond the exercises to find out something
that would give me an extra edge in terms of the knowledge that I have.
Programming is an uphill task that requires a lot of twitches here and there. It’s
like learning a new language altogether, to master it you need to practice it. Yet
when I think of what I can do by programming. It makes sense to stick for a
while to see if things will work out.
Programming
requires a scientific mindset. It is not for every Tom, Dick and Harry. The
first thing you should have is a problem to solve. That means critically
thinking into what you are to do. This means you need to deconstruct the
problem and then apply logic to the solution in a structured way to come up
with a meaningful outcome. Then you start digging in and doing so much in terms
of research to arrive at a solution. The bottom line here is that you require
some intrinsic motivation like a soldier fighting for his country in a
battlefield. Where, albeit crimson garish flows and cadavers litter the grounds with
souls that had long departed with celestial planes to go dance with the spirits
and ancestors, the oath of 'no retreat, no surrender' keeps you put.
Either
way, one needs to be on top of his game with various tools that give or arrive
at the same answer. My assumption is that once you are able to master one tool,
you can be able to easily transfer the knowledge into another one seamlessly
without much ado. Here is why. Sometimes back, I did a course on web design.
Never mind that I never progressed beyond the academic knowledge that I
acquired in class. All in all, I could be able to use the knowledge I had learnt
in one platform and integrate it into another and it worked. While web
development was my first incubation into the world of programming, it became a
dodo when I joined campus. I sometimes use the knowledge on this blog occasionally.
The
fact that programming is challenging makes me regard it highly. Again, as
opposed to sales, the community outside there is super welcoming and you feel
like you are not in it alone. It’s strange that as you plunge into this field,
there are people who genuinely want to help you with the journey. Talk of sites
like Quora, CodeNewbie and an avalanche of others. This is where the slogan of Liverpool
fans ‘You’ll never walk alone’ comes in.
Beyond
that, it’s only fascinating when the codes that you have scripted run
seamlessly and you become better and better. But gain, choosing on what works
is the best thing when it comes to programming. You don’t need to bog yourself
with hard stuff just to prove to be the guy who can do it when you can
reproduce what you were doing on a less stressful platform. The bottom line is
that what counts is being able to make mincemeat out of what you are doing.
Knowing how to manipulate the variables is another concept that makes it fun
when you are coding. Then applying the knowledge in cracking puzzles and solving
problems to arrive at a meaningful result is another thing altogether.
For
instance, more than a year ago, I came up with a winning formula of how I could
be able to win seven-match games with all the possible outcomes in a betting
competition. Recently, I saw a ten-game jackpot that I thought can be leveraged
on by using the winning formula I had conjured. Yet, the only setback I have
been having is the number of people who can be able to play with the bets
successfully at a very small price. The interface to use to execute the codes
is what has been worrying me for quite some time now. If only I can come up with a good user
interface, it will not be a big deal to find people to subscribe to my bets.
That in place I cannot be worried about finances. I will be more concerned with
building up on my fortunes henceforth.
As
such, I am looking at programming as a tool that can help me to unearth some of
the inadequacies of my thoughts. Once I can figure out how to do it, I will
comfortably use it to be able to come up with algorithms to find hidden
insights without being explicitly programmed where to look to get the winning
games. If machine learning can help me out in this, then I am sure things will
be a smooth sail.
While
creating a machine learning platform for soccer prediction may be superfluous,
there is need for one that can read a team’s form before a match on its website,
the players who are going to play, past performance and commentator reviews on the
stakes of that match. In short, if the program can collect all this useful
information and act on it, there is nothing stopping my ambition of turning
into an overnight millionaire with a mobile app to quench the thirst of the
many guys who love betting.
I
am imagining that there are people who will also be betting. Statistics never
lie because there are so many people who love betting and that is why there are
so many betting platforms. The app through machine leaning will be able to work
on the feedback of the people who bet on various games, say it is a jackpot. The
app will then review the data and look for patterns and arrive at a conclusion
on the best bets given that I already have all the possible outcomes of the
games to be played. And it should be such that anyone who uses the platform to
look for potential bets will have a customized predictive aspect that will be
personalized for individuals who bet. And Monte Carlo simulation ensures that all
the possible outcomes of your decisions are thoroughly analyzed depending upon
the number of games specified. This will allow for better decision making under
uncertainty.
So
that is why the fire of my journey into programming has never waned. It
rejuvenates like a disappearing river and can be likened to a fad. The best
thing is that it gets seasonal nourishment every time I find myself idle. While
at present I am into data science programming, my long-term goal is to dive
into stocks and private equities. I want to be able to model winning outcomes
that take into cognizance a variety of inputs into play only a financial guru
can comprehend.
To
top it off, this will be a treacherous journey. I am looking at it as a long
haul. The only problem is that there is so much at stake. I may get a job that
may make me so absorbent in it that this dream may die just like that. In the
meantime, the codes I have for a winning game remain a secret gem like those
that came to be used later to bring success in hitherto unexploited territory. It’s
ilk the secret ingredient that makes Coca Cola tick or the one used by KFC or
other big flourishing firms.
Hasta
La Vista Baby
[Picture
Source: Google Images]
