ID:2255590
 Jun 7 2017, 4:24 pm
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Hello everyone, I was wondering how I could get better at coding. I've been coding for years but recently I have gotten...afraid. When I try to code I am afraid that I am not coding correctly. I know that there are people who laugh when they play a game that is "Coded Poorly" and a lot of times when I go on the Forums I've seen people get insulted or ignored if they have coding that is messy. I don't like using the forums because I am afraid I'd get insulted too. I know it doesn't happen a lot though but I know that there are a lot of ways to code a single thing and once I figure out a way to do something I get scared because it may not be the "Best" way and I hate having to keep using the forums. So is there a way to know if I am coding correctly or if a way of doing something is an alright method?
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Kaiochao wrote:
You're also welcome to Join the Discord for more casual, faster-paced interaction. ...where there is a slightly higher chance that we'll make fun of your code | |
BYOND Discord is a cesspool. Don't actually join it expecting fruitful feedback or intelligent design discussion.
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I don't think that's entirely fair. We certainly are a big ol' bag of dicks, but you can usually get help with your code (and then they'll tell you how to rewrite the parts you didn't ask for help on also).
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No, my issue is there's no constructive encouragement. Nobody in there is making games and when people do come through with actual game design philosophy, it's ignored or trolled.
All the competent devs and the good games being developed right now are almost exclusively managing their own communities for testing/development musings largely because the byond community is trash. The Discord is an emphasis on all the things wrong with the byond community, from how it's administrated to its social dynamics. The fact it gets treated as an "official community hub" does more hurt than help for byond's image. TLDR; byond is srs bsns | |
I dunno. I think a lot of the toxitity within BYOND is more of an in-joke than anything. I don't think very many people actually legitimately don't like each other. That said, it can certainly be a bit off putting to newcomers and we should probably all work a little harder on getting our shit together. :p
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It's times like these that I wish BYOND's forum still had a tree view instead of a linear reply view. Derailing threads is impossible when multiple sub-topics are kept separate instead of merged in chronological order like this.
The last time I remember seeing anyone get trolled in response to design philosophy was when I punished you for it, kumo. It doesn't happen very often, and it is usually dealt with by mod action, like in your case. Being ignored is just a result of the server being too small, not having enough people at the time who are capable of contributing to the conversation. It doesn't happen very often, though, but there's nothing really to be done if no one is interested in your topic. All games should have their own communities. The BYOND Discord isn't meant to contain everyone exclusively, that would be silly. The BYOND Discord is an unofficial chat room for everyone who is using BYOND or has used it in the past. That's how it's treated. Just because it's the only one of its kind, doesn't mean it's "the official one"; not that it being official would ever be a bad thing. | |
Can we talk about the shitty discord in another thread?
I guess it all depends on what you mean improve your programming. Becoming more skilled means being more knowledgeable. The only way to become more knowledgeable is to read and experiment for yourself. Basically, any time you are doing something, read the reference on whatever you don't fully understand. If you want to be more effective with your time, though, I wouldn't worry about your skill. Only hone what you need to know to get to the end of your current goal. If it's bad, you can always redo it later. One thing to note is that if you are suffering from anxiety about your code now, it's only going to get worse later. The more knowledgeable you are, the harder it is to finish anything because you are going to wind up overanalyzing and overengineering if you worry about every little problem. It's something that many of the people that spend a lot of time helping out on the forums suffer from. Basically, I wouldn't worry about it until you have a specific goal, or specific problem you are struggling to understand. Brush up on basic intro computer science topics, and read up on game development tutorials for programming languages that aren't DM based around what you want to do today in DM. The language doesn't really matter. It's the application of the logic that matters. Other languages will teach you a lot of the same logic. Any time you find yourself not understanding something, the answer to your question is just a google search away. If you are struggling to find the answer, you are just phrasing your search wrong. This is partially the reason many of the helpers make such great pains to offer people names and terminology for things as a preface to answering questions. It's so that users can more readily learn the terminology in order to better help themselves. So yeah, biggest thing: 1) Set a goal. 2) Attempt the goal. 3) Ask questions of peers about your attempt. 4) Analyze answers and apply them to your next one. Kaiochao wrote: That said, some people take criticisms of their code as personal attacks, so... don't be that guy either. This. Just because you wrote a dunderheaded piece of code doesn't make you a dunderhead. Developer Help is the most heavily moderated forum on the whole site. Even if someone's tearing your code apart, there's cool stuff to learn in the process. Just don't always take everything everyone says on faith. Sometimes preference likes to hide as practice. | |
Thank you so much, I guess I was just scaring myself because of all the different suggestions on the Developer Help and people commenting on which is right or wrong got to me. You are right, either way I should keep going and if there is a better way I can fix it later. My anxiety has gotten the best of me this past few week, thank you so much again.
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Hit it right in the dick. That's how.
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Fried I just wanted to camed and tell you that always believe in yourself. At some times the road may seem impossible to drive on but you must keep your foot on the pedal. The grass may not always be green but you cultivate the land in spite of it. Never lose sight of goal and be honest and true. When your work is hard and determinated then your dreams is reachable. Don't let people tell you it cannot be done because it can be done with positive outlook and mindset and friendships. I wish you gooder luck, thank you.
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Went through this experience in my beginning years of BYOND, I'm under a new key now but my old one was quite infamous- regardless, I have a few pointers for you.
What made me "want" to code and be "great" at coding was my experience playing other games here, to be specific the anime games. I remember playing a game called "Konohagakure Online", loved the game, hated the community. My strong love for the game helped me to overlook the shitty community and it's childish staff team, until I became one of their victims. Long story short, it now so happened to be my goal to create a game better than that one, not for any bragging rights like most would, but to finally rid of the mainstream version and it's abuse and create an entirely new and comfortable platform for rpers like myself to play in. I admit, I ran into a few library-sources and private sources that I began to fiddle around with- I said screw the Guide, who ever reads a guide? Not me. I always tackle things on my own and pick up on my mistakes and I feel it's the best way to learn for lazy people like myself. You see, I wanted to make the game yeah, but once I realized all the hard work that had to be done in order to finesse one? I took shortcuts. I remixed my own coding in sources and eventually developed an adept programming mindset of my own. Sooner or later, It almost became a thrill to me to break down sources and re-build them again. That's just one example of how you can become a better coder, I'm sure the other cliche ways will have turn you into a programming-vigilante, like myself. Regards, Sensei | |
No code is perfect; there is no best way of doing things. Whenever you think you have found "the best way" of doing something, someone will someday show you an even better way. This is nothing to be afraid of. In my opinion, you should write code in a way that allows for improvements in the future. That way, you can make improvements when there are improvements to be made.
Also, insulting people for their code goes against Rule #1 of the Posting guidelines.
That said, some people take criticisms of their code as personal attacks, so... don't be that guy either.
So, feel free to post on the forums all you want.
You're also welcome to Join the Discord for more casual, faster-paced interaction.