Engineers are typically more interested in things than in people. That’s why they become engineers.

I think more specifically, software engineers are more interested in ideas.

I got into software engineering because I was obsessed with the experience of a customer’s eyes dilating and then silently going “ooooh,” when they encounter a product that’s going to change their lives for the first time. I remember my first iPad, and when Steve Jobs presented it. He described it as “magical.” A better word could not have been used. I didn’t need to have explained to me why this was going to change the world, or how I did things. I instinctively knew. To me, this is the highest pursuit of software engineering - software that needs no explanation or justification.

I find this often puts me at odds with other developers both IRL at my job, and online. I roll my eyes as a 1028th way of doing something backend is created for a task that works well enough, and brings no user-facing improvement to the table.

I will never stop finding joy in the products that are magical though, nor will I stop trying to be a wizard.

What experience got you into your field? What made you passionate about it? And what do you think sets you apart from your peers? What is the flavor you bring?

#coding #programming #devrants