More Code -- Less Drama !

In any industry (job, assignment, gig) one will always face the inevitable... co-worker conflict. This is no revelation to anyone, and perhaps many have seen it more than I, but one thing is for sure: it is counter-productive and ridiculous.

I would rather take this time to log great (or even lowly) advances in my programming or the study thereof and, even though I still am very active in coding and research day-by-day (night-by-night) I am distracted by a terrible reminder of our human foibles-- mine, his, ours, yours.

Sparing myself and you the gory details, I have been dealing with a fellow team member who is, let's say, more than aggressive and arrogant and by default, less than tactful. I take it in stride and really laugh about it although it is not exactly funny; upon kindly confronting this person as to why his attitude was so hostile towards me he responded in the affirmative that "Yes" he was feeling hostile as he is "getting sick of hearing other team members backing me as the next possible Lead (programmer)" and that he thinks "the rest of the team thinks I am a better coder than I really am."

I have been detecting ultra-negativity from this guy for weeks now as well as blatant rudeness and a nasty demeanor. Coupled with his arrogant e-mails and cruel replies to company issues addressed by me, I decided (upon the recommendation of my girlfriend) to speak to my supervisor and owner of the company. Essentially, my boss agreed with me and dealt with this employee in question appropriately.

There are lessons in all this, surely, at least in reference to how to deal with others and be civil, forgiving and patient, but again I just extend my hands to the Heavens and say... "Why do things have to be this way?"

Forgive me, it is not technical

Languages: There are so many, and so many are just not right-- but does that matter? These and all coding languages amount to elitist, competitive shells easily brought down to a command-line yelling in binary. The aim is the same, the results the same, but the tongue speaking the output different. Python, C++, Lisp? I could care less-- please just tell me which one is deeper, faster, and the easiest to use for the job? Oh, and which one is the prettiest to look out for hours on end?

I build a castle of stone and realize too late that I used the worst rock available and when it rains it seeps, and these walls let in ghastly amounts of cold air. What do I do? Tear it down and start over using the right stone and perhaps preserve some of the adornments, gargoyles, and ramming stones (elements of the old code if it will mesh smartly) and reuse what I can. If not, drop the worthless slabs into the bay and mine somewhere else. Know when to cut losses and run into the arms of a better quarry.

We all have a library of biases towards or against particular languages, apps, hardware, etc-- it has always been that way, but please do not swear that my choice is incorrect just because less books exist on the subject or not enough servers yet serve their masters in this doctrine. That is just Draconian.

A Transformation

The game dev project moved along at the same rate, new ideas acquired and displaced through various methods of programming. But, sometimes the little achievements are not enough when a boat-load of small strokes amount to a handful of weightless results. I hit a point two-days ago with the GUI where I just had to take a break and regroup.

I met a new language and, simply put, have fallen in love. I will not declare my vows openly here, but it is a fine language (it seems) and full of possibilities and hopes. I believe I shall be able to rebuild the game in this language eventually as it seems to have similar graphic(s) capabilities. I am not abndoning Python, no, just altering my strategy a bit for the time being. I will not name the new language here, but the python logo to the left ( ->) may just indicate the new direction.