From: Evgenii Akentev Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2024 06:40:39 +0000 (+0400) Subject: add on short-lived software X-Git-Url: https://git.xn--bdkaa.com/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=487247062262853b96e9504d0d2e78048d7857ee;p=xn--bdkaa.com.git add on short-lived software --- diff --git a/content/posts/on-short-lived-software.md b/content/posts/on-short-lived-software.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..779c57b --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/on-short-lived-software.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: On short-lived software +date: 2024-01-05 +draft: false +tags: [essay, programming, software] +--- + +Over time, being a software engineer might be frustrating a bit (or a lot, depends on the burnout rate). The written code changes quite often. Maybe next year, or in a month, or even tomorrow, because someone in your team finished working on their PR, introduced so many changes that there is no need in your code anymore. + +Sometimes it's okay, because engineers solve business problems, some solutions are temporary and matter only in a fixed time range. Still, it might frustrate. Emotionally it might be hard to accept that the amount of time that was spent on some detail will be replaced in a short time. It's important to acquire the business aspect of the solution. I guess that's where casual coders / programmers grow into engineers. They understand the price of their solutions and how important it's to be agile in sense of trade-offs, keeping in mind the business requirements, available resources, and the complexity of the problem. + +I have never been a proper Ruby programmer but I still remember [why_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_the_lucky_stiff)'s quote: + +> programming is rather thankless. u see your works become replaced by superior ones in a year. unable to run at all in a few more. + +and it affected me in a strong way for sure — not only as an engineer but as a person as well. + +Especially later, when I got into Haskell, where the sitatution with cabal was a huge problem known as cabal hell. +Comparing to Standard ML where code written 20-30 years ago still compiles and works fine. There is some beauty in standardised languages with strict formal specification where different compilers are possible. + +This viewpoint is somewhat rational — it helps to solve problems in an efficient way without extra perfectionism — but at the same time looks like an indication of an ongoing existential crisis (could be neverending). We are all just a cosmic dust, look at James Webb's pics. + +It's all about the _process_. The result is important, but it's the process that brings joy. The process creates [a flow state](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)) — where we concentrate in a challenging activity and forget about our existential nature and problems. Maybe that's why sometimes people argue that the programming is art — it allows to express themselves and improve the mental health. + +This essay is written for myself, to remind me about why I started doing programming at all and keep doing it. diff --git a/themes/theme/layouts/_default/list.html b/themes/theme/layouts/_default/list.html index cbe0968..50c48e7 100644 --- a/themes/theme/layouts/_default/list.html +++ b/themes/theme/layouts/_default/list.html @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ {{ partial "subheader.html" . }} -

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