Towards the end of yesterday’s Squeaky Tale, I tried changing the color of something and found (while recording) that I didn’t know what I was doing. My first reaction was “Oh geez, I should reshoot that” lest I lose face to the viewing public. Instead, I left my mistake in the video, since it helps demonstrate an important point.

Programming is about making mistakes. You try something, see how it goes, try something else, and grin at your flaws. A programmer that thinks he knows everything in advance is a bad programmer.

Such an approach might seem alien, since our educational system continually insists that there’s a right answer to everything. As any artist, scientist, or programmer will tell you: there aren’t any right answers in this world, and there’s nothing wrong with being wrong.

I’ll be writing a lot more on this. For now, ask yourself if you feel bad whenever you make a mistake. If yes, does it help?