Programmer candidate from Indonesia. Hello there!

I'm currently undergoing an undergraduate computer science degree on first semester.
And a few personal questions....

Do you have to be a extremely passionate (or freak) in programming in order to be a good programmer? The reason why I chose this degree is because it involves heavily on logic, creativity and problem solving, and it's quite an introverted job. And after I found out what basic programming feels like, I find it rather interesting, but it's not my true passion. That doesn't mean that I didn't like it and stopped me from learning about programming though. I actually like to learn anything (except designing graphics, I really hate it), as long as it's mentally stimulating.
My parents' advice was to choose the degree that suits my passion, which, in my case, it's about arts and philosophy. But we both know that a career in either arts or philosophy doesn't do much in a living, unless you're extremely talented. So I chose this degree.

Hello,
In my opinion, if you want to be good/excellent in a field, you should have passion. That's true for all fields, not only for programming. If your true passion is about arts and philosophy, so don't hesitate to move on by that way. You won't achieve anything if you don't try, don't be scare! Believe in yourself is the most important thing, if you believe you can do, so you can.

Spring 3

TO quote another member recently, I think it makes a very solid point.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jato

If you want to be a programmer ask yourself this question:

Have you ever sat at your computer until 3am trying to solve a coding problem that you were working on "Just to see if you could"?

If the answer is "No", sit and think for a bit.

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