Coding is Similar to The Lord of The Rings Book : I will prove that

YOU SHALL NOT PARSE! Syntax error on line 1

Yeah, I know what you are thinking: What this noob is thinking to compare The Lord of The Rings to a masterpiece like coding (or it should be the opposite?) and I’m not talking about the times you feel invisible — it’s not the One Ring, it’s the lack of social life. Ride this Great Eagle with me to see things from my point of view.

When you least expect it, you are going on an adventure

“So… when do I use the “I’m going on an adventure” line?”

What is the problem that you are facing? Design a webpage? Develop a mobile application? Destroy the One Ring? Don´t matter, you are surely starting an adventure. It won’t be easy. It will take your sleep some nights. But you have to accept the challenge. It’s in your blood. And, besides saving the world is a good incentive, what really pushes you into the new challenge isn’t the outcome, but the journey.

As good ol’Bilbo used to say “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

You can count on your fellows

Nine? Nine people? Who takes nine people on a journey?

We are approaching the two 20’s (2020) and we need things done really fast. We can’t reinvent the wheel every time you are coding. You need the help of mighty wizards, strong dwarves or powerful elves, and this help always comes as a new library that you just discovered, a framework that will make your work a lot easier, or the tips on StackOverflow.

The point is: you are not alone and, as Frodo, you won’t need to finish your journey by yourself.

Some puzzles come in languages that only a few people understand

TOMODACHIIIIII!!!!

And that’s where things start to get really hard. Sometimes you will be stuck in front of a door. You have to get through it, but you need the knowledge of old languages to do, and it can be elvish or C. I remember when I was trying to solve some MPI problems using CUDA. In all my research I’ve only found one person trying to do something alike and he never even told if he was able to solve the problem. But no worries. Sometimes the answer is as simple as to say “friend”. Once more, the answer is in your friends.

Tiny problems prove to be giant monsters in the fastest way

Hagrid would be delighted

No! I’m not talking about Python! I’m talking about the times you see the solution in front of you, but that tiny little thing won’t let you be satisfied. Sometimes is a variable in the wrong format. Sometimes it is a float going rogue. Sometimes it is a giant poisonous spider. But you can´t give up hope in this “little” obstacles. Some light, eventually, will show up.

Go for it, will be worth

And you reach that part. Your project is complete. You are quite satisfied with your work. The feeling of a job well done. Your website is receiving visitors. Your app is being downloaded. People are kneeling to you in Gondor… maybe not this one. But this is not the end. It can’t be. Like I said before, it’s in your blood, you need more. A new adventure awaits for you, and when you least expect it…

Just don’t make a trilogy from a single book.