It's All About the Fundamentals

I was out shooting around at the basketball hoop in my driveway and noticed how poor my shooting had become. I used to play quite a bit of basketball, and though I never considered myself all that great, I certainly kept up. However, I've not played seriously for many years (kids'll do that to you), and it was obviously showing in my performance that day (luckily, no one was watching).

So, what did I do? Other than lament for the "good old days," I stopped and paid attention to what I was doing. I remembered learning all those fundamentals when I was a kid...how to hold the ball, how to release and follow through, etc. I'd not forgotten them, though my hands had.

And to my surprise, after some concentration, I was making noticeable improvement. Hey, I'm not so bad, after all! Of course, it wasn't like I was hitting every shot or anything, but my focus and concentration on the fundamentals had obviously helped.

And so I'm reminded of my own programming experience...those times when I've "walked away" from it, forgetting and losing my touch, only to return and, luckily, remembering the fundamentals and picking things back up. I'm reminded of watching struggling programmers who never learned the fundamentals, and how they struggled over issues that they would not have, had they stuck to the fundamentals. It's all about the fundamentals.