Programming-like activities?

robot-dreams

Programming is quite a remarkable activity:

It has an extremely low barrier to entry
- You don't need expensive equipment
- You don't need to be in a particular location
- You don't need special credentials
- You can finding information / resources just by opening the internet
- You can learn it / do it independently
It gives you rapid feedback (which can lead to rapid growth)
It gives you frequent rewards (which gives a huge boost in motivation)
It's objective and unforgiving (this is a good thing, because it teaches you how to confront reality)
It's intellectually stimulating
It's useful in the real world
- Corollary: you can make money or even build a career out of it
It's badass (or are you telling me that Hackers WASN'T your favorite movie of all time?)

What are some other "programming-like" activities?

I mean this in the sense of "activities that also satisfy the above criteria", but suggestions don't have to satisfy ALL of the criteria. Here are some of the first ideas that come to mind when I try to answer the question myself:

Electronics (but this is basically still programming)
Math (lacks "rapid feedback" and "frequent rewards"; "useful in the real world" is also questionable)
Go, poker, video games (usually lacks "useful in the real world", sometimes lacks "badass")
Juggling, poi (lacks "intellectually stimulating" and "useful in the real world")

However, I've already exhausted my creativity and I'm hoping to go much deeper than this. Thoughts?

Programming is quite a remarkable activity:

It has an extremely low barrier to entry
- You don't need expensive equipment
- You don't need to be in a particular location
- You don't need special credentials
- You can finding information / resources just by opening the internet
- You can learn it / do it independently
It gives you rapid feedback (which can lead to rapid growth)
It gives you frequent rewards (which gives a huge boost in motivation)
It's objective and unforgiving (this is a good thing, because it teaches you how to confront reality)
It's intellectually stimulating
It's useful in the real world
- Corollary: you can make money or even build a career out of it
It's badass (or are you telling me that Hackers WASN'T your favorite movie of all time?)

What are some other "programming-like" activities?

Electronics (but this is basically still programming)
Math (lacks "rapid feedback" and "frequent rewards"; "useful in the real world" is also questionable)
Go, poker, video games (usually lacks "useful in the real world", sometimes lacks "badass")
Juggling, poi (lacks "intellectually stimulating" and "useful in the real world")

However, I've already exhausted my creativity and I'm hoping to go much deeper than this. Thoughts?

In electronics, one designs a system from smaller components to fulfill a particular function. How is this not programming?

My objection to electronics is rather that it has a slower feedback cycle and a higher barrier to entry - to do anything complicated you need all the things you need for programming plus actual parts.

In electronics, one designs a system from smaller components to fulfill a particular function

This is true, and this is a similarity between programming and electronic design. However, this is true of a great many other things too - automobile design, architecture, industrial engineering and manufacturing, design of ships, tanks and aircraft, etc. Are all of these things "basically still programming"?

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Programming-like activities?

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Programming-like activities?

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