On Craft

Great article!

> I have read a lot of long spiels about craft that frequently end in something like, software work isn’t like other work, and we shouldn’t be judged the same way. We are entirely unique. We are the special ones.

It might comfort the author to know that even within the realm of software engineering, there are insiders and outsiders. Some of the most important engineering work was made by these outsiders.

Growing up poor, self-taught, as the only programmer I knew around me, I felt like an outsider my entire life. When I finally began to associate with other programmers... I still felt like an outsider.

Here were people from structured family units with solid life skills, a college education, large support networks, a lack of systemic trauma, and a fundamentally different understanding of the world. I've begun to find my place in this world, but the feeling of being an outsider will never fully go away.

It's of little coincidence that my favorite kinds of music and other art are often categorized as Outsider Art.

My advice... find a way into that makerspace. Open up a REPL. Software engineering might entail a specific rigid and deep understanding of engineering principles, but software craftsmanship is for everyone. Personal computers were made for the average person to enhance themselves and the world around them, and we should never forget that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsider_art

You could call "craft" understanding and power gained from firsthand experience with a thing.

As opposed to experience with ideas about a thing, models and abstractions and stories and such.

The former is of course infinitely deeper.

The latter, you could make a whole world out of that. And live inside it like a house.

Computers speed up craftpersonship, so it doesn't feel like craftpersonship, but really if you slow it down, it has elements of craft. Software is often rushed out the door at breakneck speed these days so it seems shoddily made and rushed, but then it works, has few bugs, and doesn't suffer from technical debt. I think this is miraculous and shouldn't be taken for granted.

I would posit that any food can be made following a recipe. I know, because I am dabbling at it ;) The food will still taste good :)

The craft here is to make it taste special, even for simple recipes like an omelette. That is why the chefs get asked this question.

Yeah, I'm not a subscriber to the "YOLO/MVP" school of software development, which basically makes me persona non grata in many tech crowds.

When I write software, I use what I call "Constant Beta." Basically, my software is at a release level of Quality, from the very start. It may be incomplete (thus, unshippable), but what's there, is ready for its closeup (Mr. DeMille).

Basically, before moving to the next feature, I make sure the one I'm working on, is complete. It may require coming back, after other parts of the program are done, but I always make sure that the API is clear, the documentation is done, and things like error handling and localization are in place, as early as possible.

Surprisingly, I work very, very quickly, despite taking so much care. There's a number of reasons, which would require a series of blog posts, but the results speak for themselves.