In addition to teaching myself Objective-C and object oriented design principles throughout the week, I’m going to make a conscious effort to update this blog on my progress. I’m going to try to keep these short, as it takes time from actual work, but this should have a number of benefits:

  • It will help me remember what I’ve been learning, and where I have come
  • It will keep me motivated
  • I will be forced to step back from my work for a second to breathe, reflect, and rejuvenate
  • It may inspire someone who passes by my little blog to pursue game development, or any other dreams they may have
  • Also it will ensure my blog doesn’t just die a slow Mr. Orange death

I’ve recently joined the TIG Source Forums and introduced myself with a question that has been popping up over and over the last few weeks. “When (does a person choose) to stop programming and begin game development.”? The thread can be found here. Some of the answers were expected. I know it’s best to Just Do It!, but a lot of people revealed something I’ve been slowly unearthing. Programming is not solely a strong academic skill. While it’s heavy in math, and to a degree science, it’s very similar to art or any other creative skill. I’ve been stuck in a loop of teaching myself syntax, or language. I have  good grasp on the “language” of numerous code environments, but I know little about actual implementation and design. Sure I can implement a ‘number of seconds I’ve been alive’, or ‘draw a pretty picture with a turtle’, but I don’t hardly know where to start when developing an actual game. THIS concept can, like any other creative skill, only be learned through practice and refinement. I’ve dug myself into a hole where I thought I could learn, and preemptively design my product in the best way right from the beginning. An artist doesn’t create a masterpiece by staring at paint swatches, chewing on brushes, and reading about color theory on the toilet. An artist creates a masterpiece by creating many many masterful pieces of shit first. A lot of it is throw away, but the experience and knowledge gained from mistakes is invaluable. This is what programming is. It’s not knowing that logically 2+2 does and always will = 4.

I have decided to finish my “Nerd Ranch” book, and along the way my Miles Per Gallon application, before I begin prototyping my ideas. I figure finishing something I’ve already started can only help. Now, back to my NSMutableArray *stocksInPortfolio and the valueOfStocksInPortfolio method of my Portfolio class.

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