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diff --git a/trees/blog/psychedelic-programming-languages.typ b/trees/blog/psychedelic-programming-languages.typ new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e05cc41 --- /dev/null +++ b/trees/blog/psychedelic-programming-languages.typ @@ -0,0 +1,203 @@ +#import "./html_elements.typ": post + +#show: post +// --- + +// title: Psychedelic Programming Languages +// slug: Psychedelic-Programming-Languages +// date: 2022-09-09 +// publish: true + +// --- + += A bit of background + +I started programming to make simple webpages and `Flash` games. To me it was +about interacting with those systems, adding automation to them. Not long after +that I started coding robots with `Arduino` and it was still just that, +automating turning on a led, reading a value, writing something to a terminal, +etc. + +It started to change when I discovered [The Coding +Train](https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCodingTrain), through that I started to +see, actually _see_ how complex and amazing could be the things you did with +code. It was then that I started to get concerned with abstractions, my code +grew bigger and everything was so messy! I needed some help. Processing is +_based_ on `Java` which means the tools that I used to handle that complexity +were Functions, Classes and Methods, it was actually fun. + + +At the same time, I was part of a team making `Arduino` robots to compete. I +quickly applied the tools that I learnt with Processing to `Arduino`, afterall +they're similar. I had no notion of state machines and agents, so the code was +a mess and it didn't work well. But, you know, all was good, I felt in control +of the code, still very fun. + + +During that time I met with some people that blew my mind my showing me how +_"real programmign"_ was like with `C#` and machine learning. I felt like I +needed to learn some real programming... and I wanted to code my own _Dwarf +Fortress_. I searched online, Dwarf Fortress was made in `C++`, `Arduino` was +_based_ on `C++` so it shouldn't be that hard, right? Right?? Well, I printed a +`C++` book, _Jumping into `C++`_ and ate it; it taught the basics of pointers, +structs, methods, classes and templates, it's a nice book. + += Making games + +Armed with my fresh new `C++` knowledge and the amazing [LazyFoo's SDL +tutorials](https://lazyfoo.net/tutorials/SDL/), I was ready to tackle any 2D +game that I could think of. +What is the game called you ask? [2dGame](https://github.com/gbrls/2dGame) of +course, why not? If you know something about `C++`, you already know that it +didn't work as I expected. Even though I grasped the language's syntax and +basic abstractions, _even though I KNEW pointers_ there was some giant beast +that destroyed me, the *_RUNTIME_*. + + +There were _segmentation faults_ all around, some predictable, some very +unpredictable. The issue was that before my code interacted with a small domain +(The `flash` engine, A small embedded system with `Arduino` helping me, the JVM +with Processing helping me) and now it interacted directly with the whole +computer system, _"real programming"_, or in fact, Systems Programming (I wish +I knew that back then). Classes and methods didn't help me if I dont't +understand the stack or the heap. + + += Having fun with Gophers + +I moved on to other things: Web programming in `Go`. When I discovered `Go` I felt +the same thing that I did when I started coding Processing. It was novel, fun, +and powerful. Some things struck me as essential to `Go`'s joy: + +- How simple it was. +- Easy parallelism. +- **How easy it was to use other peoples' code together with mine**. + +Due to those things I was making games easily, and interacting with the web +with joy. I learnt a lot of things and had a great time, thanks `Go`. + + +One of the things was semantic versioning of dependencies. I love immutable +things, `Go` was creating some sort of global registry for all of those different +versions and I got involved in some open source project related to it. It was +very little but it still felt nice. + += A lot of Systems Programming + +I can't recall why or how, but I started going back to Systems Programming, I +learnt _the basics_ of `Rust` and understood why programming `C++` was so hard back +then. +I was making steady progress learning about systems and programming in C. I'd +say that was the most formative time for me in terms of how much effort I +investest learning about programming and computers in general. + +I don't know why but I started reading _Land of `Lisp`_ and it really did fuck me up. + + += Psychedelic Programming Languages + += My first trip + +Common `Lisp` is a psychedelic programming language, and _Land of `Lisp`_ really +did show that. + + + + + +It's an +amazing book and it opened up my mind with `Lisp`. It presented itself in a very +"Look how amazing, cool, and different `Lisp` is!!" it clicked for me. Now the +walls seemed to breathe and I love parenthesis man! It also opened up my mind +to functional programming, that for a long time seemed to be only +reserved to academics obsessed with _proofs, purity and elegance(?)_. + + +This experience changed how I programmed and thought about programming. But I +still felt like the same Gabriel that breathed Systems Programming... but this +time a lot more confident in my programming skills. I decided to code a +minecraft clone from scratch using only `C++`, SDL, and OpenGL. This time, I want +to show the old Gabriel how good of a programmer I am now, how much I can do. I +still had some issues with the runtime, specially related to performance and +allocations, but this time I was able to [succeed +somewhat](https://github.com/gbrls/myncraft). + + += My second trip + +My second psychedelic programming experience was not given by a book or +something made by nature, but by this fella named [Dan +Grossman](https://www.coursera.org/instructor/~873260). He has a three part +course in Coursera named, you guessed it, _Programming Languages_. He's like +a Programming Languages god and taught `ML`, `Scheme`, and `Ruby` in an amazing way. + + +`ML` is a psychedelic language. It opened my eyes to what a good type system is +capable of. Fuck C's, `C++`'s fuck `Java`'s and fuck `Java`. `ML` has a **REAL** type +system. To me this really shows how powerful this experience was, when after it +you are fuck this fuck that I know better, fuck you. And `ML` gave me that. + +I guess I could've had that same experience from learning Haskell, but I never +was able to get into it, I guess it was just too... uptight, too square, too +self conscious. + +That course also taught me a lot of vocabulary and mechanisms to compare +programming languages fairly. It made me look `Rust` with new eyes, like dude, it +has _Sum Types_, **good** _Type Inference_ and all of those goodies. This time +I fell in love for `Rust`, for real (that's funny because the course had nothing +to do with it). + + +I felt blessed by the Programming Languages teaching, I was watching long +theoretical Programming Languages youtube videos, reading papers, writing +compilers, oh boy. That second trip really got me well, it changed me deeply. +Heck I even went to a conference (By luck that was 2020 and many important +conferences were being conducted remotely, even for free) and got to ask +questions to important people related to Programming Languages history. I was +in the same slack channel as Rich Hickey! isn't it crazy? + + +With some time my interests shifted a little from Systems Programming, those +languages that by the time were already my old friends like `C++` and `Rust` became +too heavy, I'm not thinking about performance nor memory that much, so why are +you getting in the way? + += Finding your home + += My third trip + +This one wasn't as crazy as the other ones, it felt like searching and finding +for my own home. I came across the book [Data Oriented +Programming](https://www.manning.com/books/data-oriented-programming) by +Yehonathan Sharvit, it talked about the style of programming that's commonly +adopted by `Clojure` programmers, they tend to focus on the data and +transformations to it. + +Things should be simpler, data organized only as plain data. Arrays, maps, +tuples. Functions transform data (never mutate it) and worry about the +runtime later. + +That's `Clojure`'s way (it even has two differents runtimes) and I feel like +that's also the Data Oriented Programming way. `Elixir` also fit in this niche +pretty nicely. So this time it's not even a just Programming Language, it's a +mix of a Programming Paradigm, a Language, and a Runtime. + + +I even feel somewhat disconnected from that old Systems Programmer Gabriel, +we're not the same person. My head is so tuned to programming this way now. +`Clojure` is a psychedelic programming language . Of course I still face some +problems, but they're different and better now. + + += Final thoughts + +That's what I wanted to say with this blogpost, how some experiences with +Programming feel so much _Psyschedelic_. They change the way +you think permanently, that they may feel even religious, they're powerful. + +Programming Languages, ideas about Programming in general can be crazy, very +philosophical, and practical at the same time. I think most of them should be +given a chance, they may change you. + + +Thanks for reading. Hope you had a good time. |