Parallels Between Blogging and Programming

I have been programming quite a bit lately; my Computer Science 2 class assigns an involved programming problem each week. These take several hours each. When I work on my project, I go about writing my code, and as soon as I need to reference some other piece of code, I will change gears and write at least the interface for it (i.e., the prototype). I will later go back and write the implementation of the function or class that I prototyped previously.

I find that much of the same happens when I am blogging. As I am writing, I think of other posts of mine that I would like to reference (i.e., link to). Many times, I find that I have never written such a post. While I haven't been able to link to non-existent posts, I have written down notes for myself to go back and write such posts in the future. My "about" page is one post that I made so that I would have it for future reference. My post about my Alienware notebook is one that I had tried to reference on many occasions, only to find that it didn't exist. Yesterday, I finally got around to writing the proverbial "implementation" of that which I had tried on many occasions to reference.

In writing code, there are many ways to achieve the same results, but have the code look very different. One can write two statements that are logically identical but are syntactically different. It is the same with the creative use of language; I can divide my thoughts with a semicolon, a period, or in less formal writing, (such as a blog,) with an em-dash. There are, of course, many other ways to vary the used syntax, but retain the same meaning. If one does not master this variation in the use of syntax, his writings end up being quite dull and boring, much like the first several years worth of posts on this blog.

Just as I am happy to continue learning programming syntaxes and constructs, I am interested in learning and practicing proper grammar in all areas of communication. This is the one area of "humanities" that I have ever enjoyed; I have never liked the critical analysis of literature or other such things.