{"id":34,"date":"2024-10-26T03:10:22","date_gmt":"2024-10-26T03:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/44656164496e7465726e6574\/?p=34"},"modified":"2024-10-26T03:18:19","modified_gmt":"2024-10-26T03:18:19","slug":"error-in-my-ways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/44656164496e7465726e6574\/2024\/10\/26\/error-in-my-ways\/","title":{"rendered":"Error in my ways"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Development Nightmare<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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For 14 years I have known the pains and joys of programming. I have begun countless projects, but in each and every one of them, I end up dropping them before I get even close to finishing. Even worse, I never keep my code stored in repositories, so I end up deleting entire projects when I do my yearly computer cleanse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? Whenever I begin a project, I really just hop straight into it, coding as I go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Man, it would be cool if we had a way to play audio<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So I program in an Audio system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It would be super awesome if I could customize my character<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So I program the character customizer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What if this had x, y, and z?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Thus, x, y, and z were born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, I get to this point, where I look at my project and become frustrated with it. Foundation on a foundation of poorly organized code becomes completely unreadable. I have no schematics or designs to indicate where the project was even going. I become depressed that I’ve done it again, and I stop working on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No plan, just raw, chaotic code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This cycle has repeated itself time and time again. Even now, as a Senior at OSU who is supposed to have project management down. The most recent project I started involves creating an immersive language-learning video game. It’s a team project, yet I find myself already building up a prototype with way<\/strong> too many features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Project<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do I do this? Why do I always try to take these leaps when my feet aren’t even on the ground? This problematic behavior of mine isn’t just detrimental to my projects; it’s detrimental to progressing my coding skills. For 14 years, I have failed to get past the entry level of any language. I never get to the really juicy parts of development because, by the time I get there, the project is ruined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what do I need to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Refactoring Myself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Trying to develop without a plan is like driving with no idea where you are going. Like writing an entire book in a sitting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you dive headfirst into the code without documentation to back it up, it makes everything so much worse. Hard-to-read code snowballs into thousands of lines. You start forgetting what your functions are for. You feel like a stranger in a foreign land just trying to add to your own code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like what even is this?<\/p>\n\n\n

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Give me some slack, I wrote this when I was 13!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Jokes aside, I am making this post to help remind myself what I need to do whenever I work on a project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Structuring The Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When doing any kind of work on a project, whether that be starting one up, or continuing work:<\/p>\n\n\n\n