My first program ran for 17 seconds and I felt like a genius

I was just trying to make a simple script that prints numbers, but I accidentally made a loop that never stopped. I watched it run for a full 17 seconds before I panicked and closed the terminal. It felt like an eternity staring at this thing I broke. Has anyone else had a simple loop totally get away from them like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

uma_martinez2d ago

Ever had that moment where you just stare at the screen and your brain goes completely blank? It's like you're watching a train wreck you caused but can't look away. That panic is a special kind of programmer shame.

mary_martin222d ago

Oh man, 17 seconds is nothing. I once wrote a bad recursive function that just kept going until my whole computer froze. Had to do a hard restart and lost a bunch of work. That feeling of watching it run and knowing you messed up is the worst. It's like you created a little monster you can't control.

sethhernandez2d ago

Yeah, that's the worst kind of mistake. It feels like a tiny, dumb version of every project that ever got away from you.