Comment by aristofun
3 days ago
You’ve got it wrong in the first place!
> The painter finds joy in painting, and the result is valued because
Engineers are not painters in one very fundamental way!
Painter’s product is an asset. Software engineer’s code is a liability.
Painter is an artist, creating art. Its primary purpose is in itself.
Software engineer is a craftsman, he creates a mean to an end. A tool to reach product/business goal.
I got into programming originally because for me it was an act of creation in a very similar way to my sketches and paintings at the time. Software can be art. Interactive art, in fact - so, much 'more' than a painting in some dimensions. Sure, often at work you are creating a means to an end. A painting can be a means to an end in the same way that software can - so many artists take commissions or work for bigger companies where they are told what to produce. I believe it is the purpose/intention behind the creation that makes it art vs a means to an end, not the medium. And some people (in any medium) are able to mix the act of artistic creation with productive output, blending work output and art.
Act of creation of a product for sure, not lines of code.
End product is an asset, not the implementation details. That's the truth, regardless of how you or I feel about it.
That doesn't mean there is no beauty in the craft of writing the code etc. But it's not the key part.
> That doesn't mean there is no beauty in the craft of writing the code etc. But it's not the key part.
For folks who love software, it absolutely is a key part. Donald Knuth titled his book series "The Art of Computer Programming" for a good reason. It taps into the human creative impulse under a compelling set of technical constraints.
Generative AI in any form has the effect of forcing us toward the vanguard, to create something genuinely new or humanly beautiful if it is to be at all valued by others -- whether that novelty/beauty is because of the unique constraints of your company's internal software ecosystem or because you're striking out and building something others haven't built before (even a novel combination of existing ideas).
Novelty is very hard for most people, but perhaps the beauty (in the classical sense) of software projects[0] can still be recovered. Human agency always will be a powerful thing. (And there will always be other people for whom to create things.)
[0] 37Signals has always exhibited a compelling sense of joy in the process of creating beautiful software for people.
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