11–20 of 38 posts
Software development IS a creative process, especially when focusing on code craftsmanship.
Engineering can be creative but most of the time it is not. We are mostly applying existing solutions to well known problems.
Is an artist not creative if they use pre-mixed paint?
Blogging seems to be a popular creative hobby not only because it has a low barrier of entry but it also helps you communicate better. On the other hand when I play the piano, do abstract art and write poetry these are important too. To be honest a Creative hobby not only solves the problem of making you more creative but it allows for an escape and release of thinking of other things. Even if you aren't optimizing y…
Just so you're aware, calling yourself a computer scientist because you have a degree in CS is something that only college students / recent graduates do. "Software Developer" is a better word for what you do.
These quotes (and several others in this piece) all take as a given that it is important to constantly be striving to get better at your work:
"Creativity drives more creativity." "You are now a better thinker and coder." "More perspective means better products"
The author doesn't consider that many of us are content with our current abilities. I'm content with my ability at least.
In fact, I probably have spent too much time in my life focusing on improving my abilities, which I regret. I should have been spending more time with my family, especially my late father. I should also have been spending more time improving my physical health like making healthier food choices and spending more time being active outside.
There are limits to how productive one can be in a professional environment. In my experience, most of the time there are structural limitations to improving the quality or speed of your work.
Having a career is like a marathon; take it slowly and try to balance everything so you don't burn out.
Why not have a creative hobby just because it could make your life more fulfilling? You don't need to pick up a creative hobby just because it makes you a better scientist/engineer.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Engineering can be creative but most of the time it is not. We are mostly applying existing solutions to well known problems.
And the ideal application of those existing solutions often requires creativity to mate them to the problem domain. Is an artist not creative if they use pre-mixed paint?
"Every X should Y" is an excellent way to say your argument has zero nuance to it.
Every argument should have nuance.
Just so you're aware, calling yourself a computer scientist because you have a degree in CS is something that only college students / recent graduates do. "Software Developer" is a better word for what you do.
This is a bit of an overgeneralization. Are all computer science graduates software developers? Are professors with PhD degrees in CS not considered Computer Scientist? Your statement assumes graduates stop at the BS level and get programming jobs.
"All of a sudden you start realizing that writing code is more than just attempting to solve a problem; it is attempting to solve a problem for your user. The ability to recognize that you are building for users gives you more perspective and clarity."
Not to be that guy, but for anyone who codes for a living this is.. kinda obvious. In fact it's often formally codified into business practices, particularly in any form of Agile software development.
At this point I thought he was talking to researchers, which might make some sense (God knows some of my professors' code wouldn't pass a basic code review), but then he goes on to talk about teams and designers and animosity between developers and designers... huh?
If there's animosity between a company's developers and designers then one or more people are putting their egos ahead of their jobs. Granted there are bad apples in every barrel, but it's a behavioral problem, not a technical one. Certainly not one that's going to be solved by taking up a hobby.
So I guess this column is aimed at imparting basic insight known by many Computer Science undergrads to mediocre software developers working at mediocre companies. Fair enough, but I doubt those types of people read HN.