Movies and series to stay motivated as a programmer

Movies and series to stay motivated as a programmer

A couple of years ago I've found out about my passion on programming. At the end of that year I've changed my department (when I think about this now it was not necessary at all) and started to consume whatever I could possibly find about programming on the internet. I've got stuck in tutorial hell and after that burned out too many times.

It is always hard when you just start to learn something new. You need to make a lot of mistakes to learn. I think the key part is learning how to learn after all these mistakes. If you can deal with all the uncertanity and your current zero knowledge on a topic you hear for the first time, you can possibly be a good programmer.

Sometimes you'll feel like a god, sometimes you'll feel like a fool in this journey. It is important to have a motivation and keep coding everyday even a little bit. While doing this, you may need some placebo pills.

I'm a huge movie geek myself. I've been watching tons of movies since I was a little one. I sometimes use them as serotonin and dopamin sources 😄 and sometimes just to satisfy my curiosity on different cultures, languages, etc. If you're having a difficulty on how to stay motivated while learning to code or you just want to relieve your loneliness on this long journey then you are in luck. I'll give you a quick list to watch some good quality productions.

  1. Halt and Catch Fire (2014-2017): I wanted to start with lesser known series. You are witnessing the 80s technological revolution that lead to information society with really good stories and characters in these series. A bunch of rebels try to success along the years.

  2. Office Space (1999): I wasn't sure about this one. This movie has a potential to make you quit your job if you are already a programmer 😅 but I think it has a good sense of humor in it and it is one of the lesser known really good underdog indie American movies. And it has a Rachel in it, I mean Jennifer Aniston. A big Friends fan here. 🙃

  3. Jobs (2013): As you know there are already a lot of books and movies about Steve Jobs and I've consumed most of them. I don't know whether I like Steve Jobs or Ashton Kutcher really looks like him but this movie really gave me that feeling.

  4. Silicon Valley (2014-2019) - I believe you've already heard this one. It is really popular and well-known among the programmers.

  5. The Social Network (2010): Another well-known and well made production. It is self-explanatory.

I've seen tons of movies and series but when it comes to tech/programming these are my favorite ones I guess. Of course, I didn't forget Mr. Robot but to be honest it is not my go-to movie to cheer myself up. There is one that I’ve recently seen called Cubicles based in India. I didn’t add that to this list but wanted to mention it in here. Season 1 was great but haven’t seen the season 2 yet.

I hope this list inspires you to get coding again or at least makes you have some quality time. If you want to get more recommendations, just reach me out sometime. And do not hesitate to share this article or show your appreciation by leaving a comment. Until next time! 🤞

Cover photo by Victoria Heath on Unsplash