Shader's and the journey thus far...

Shader writing is proving to be a bit difficult, seeing as it combines almost everything I have learned in the past year. Thanks to the help of my day-job, I'm now able to create shaders of multiple varieties. The resources have been scarce, but as I learned c/c++ it's becoming a lot clearer. A lot of libs, headahces, and wrenches thrown later, I'm now understanding the snippets I come across and the true value they hold.

Through this whole journey I've been slightly disheartened that mental images has continually stopped creation of tools for programming/scripting, and left it to the realm of GUI node-based solutions, albeit the click and drag is intuitive, I wholeheartedly now believe that direct control is something that will never die. Getting down to high-level programming to get the most out of the CPU/GPU/and realism factor. This part of the journey is heartening, because it combines the 2 skills of the creative, yet very technical. As I learn more I hope to express myself and art in this manner.