5 ms·

Programming is a creative art, and when I say that to my non-programmer friends, they laugh it off, but if you think about it, it is true. Just like artists, t

Programming is a creative art, and when I say that to my non-programmer friends, they laugh it off, but if you think about it, it is true. Just like artists, the programmers, coders, developers all design and create new things that didn't exist before, and no 2 programs or applications or completely functioning code will be identical for anything other than a fizzbuzz type test. So it is natural for the creatives to experience burnout and falsely interpret that as having lost interest in our craft / art. I went through this too at a fairly young stage in my career as I had accomplished a lot in 5 short years. I had the pedigree and training -- internship at Magnum Photos in New York -- so I tried being a War photographer like my Grandpa and traveled to Iraq in 2008. 1 week in there and I came running back. It was a fairly freaky experience. You think you are there to document something big and consequential to the world and initially it is exhilarating leaving the cube and CRUD applications, but all it is for most part is an online newspaper or blog paying you a few $ per shot. Totally not work the risk. Plus the Radical Islamic Jihadis (ISIS) crossed a new line and started kidnapping and beheading journalists. I also realized I didn't truly have the stomach for it. Imagine actually being on the scene at 1 of these photographs, and having the courage to shoot, only to find out the media (AP, Reuters) won't publish it. => http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/08/the-war-photo-no-one-would-publish/375762/ http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/08/the... ( When Kenneth Jarecke photographed an Iraqi man burned alive, he thought it would change the way Americans saw the Gulf War. But the media wouldn’t run the picture.) Like someone else has stated here, we have it really cushy indeed. So don't get used to it and "itch" for something else. Just work on your side-projects, or learn a new language, or simply stop by to smell the roses and live a little. Your passion will soon come gushing back and you'll start to wonder why you ever thought of leaving this creative, immensely satisfying craft in the 1st place!

nnd 10y ago
Why not explore other creative mediums like music, painting, writing or whatever? Better yet why not work in the intersection of two or more mediums?
- sean_patel 10y ago
  Yes, that is also an option. In fact intersection of two or more mediums is incredibly satisfying, if you can actually achieve it and be "successful" at it (whatever metrics you measure success in). Elon Musk's wife calls this "Idea Sex". > Choose one thing and become a master of it. Choose a second thing and become a master of that. When you become a master of two worlds (say, engineering and business), you can bring them together in a way that will a) introduce hot ideas to each other, so they can have idea sex and make idea babies that no one has seen before and b) create a competitive advantage because you can move between worlds, speak both languages, connect the tribes, mash the elements to spark fresh creative insight until you wake up with the epiphany that changes your life. Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-first-wife-explains-what-it-takes-to-become-a-billionaire-2015-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-first-wife-explain...
  - rdm42116 10y ago
    Nothing like another rich person coming in telling you how making money isn't the goal and not important to them. What's really important is idea sex! "Just become a master at that one thing, and then become a master at another, and viola! Idea sex. Then you'll really be rich! lol!" Gee, if only I had married Elon Musk.
    - galfarragem 10y ago
      > "Just become a master at that one thing, and then become a master at another, and viola! Idea sex. Then you'll really be rich! lol!" And sooner than you think, you'll become a "Jack of all trades and master of none".
JDiculous 10y ago
Programming involves very little creativity compared to actual art, so to call it a "creative art" is a gross exaggeration. A programmer is given a very specific set of tasks (eg. send data from A to B, fix bug, implement X), and his problems are mostly technical. This doesn't even compare to the creativity involved in a real artistic endeavor like designing your own videogame, writing your own screenplay, or composing a song. The latter is totally open-ended, and chances are that whatever you create will be way more unique than the 10,000th CRUD app written in the hottest web stack (React/Redux/Sass, or whatever the cool kids are into these days). Lack of creativity is actually one of my biggest complaints with this field.
- ygra 10y ago
  CRUD apps are probably not the most creative things, indeed. But I've had a fair bit of problems where I'd say solving them was a creative endeavour. Especially on the UX end there are lots of such problems in my experience.
  - JDiculous 10y ago
    I guess to more simply articulate it, there are levels of creativity. Being tasked with making something function correctly or making a UI look like a psd is more of a technical problem and involves way less creativity than creating something more open-ended like an original work of art. It's like designing a board game vs. being handed the designs and building it.
    - croon 10y ago
      So it's exactly like art. Idea + implementation. Disclaimer: Have been writing music for almost 20 years, programming about the same. "I want a picture" "I want a picture of a bridge" "I want a picture of this bridge that I built" "I want a picture of this bridge that I built, in these colors" "I want a picture of this bridge that I built, in these colors, from this angle" "I want a picture of this bridge that I built, in these colors, from this angle, in this scale, made on this canvas, with these materials, painted with oil" Do you get my point? The creative decisions could be endless, even with restrictions. Sure, not all programming is creative, but that's true about any creative field. Most of it is creative though, or rather, it's as creative as you are.
dilemma 10y ago
Regardless of industry and profession, you need agency to feel fulfilled. Most don't have that, like the photographer in your example. If you were in his situation today, you could have still published it but on your own Instagram account, and that way preserved your agency.
72deluxe 10y ago
I think it is all about balance. I am happy that I get to write new things every day and enjoy this aspect of it; I do not enjoy short deadlines and stress to get things working for a customer with incessant clock-watching. I enjoy learning new parts of development-land but I watch the industry and find new technologies and devices somewhat boring. I find the new aspects of programming languages (like C++ etc.) really interesting, in contrast to this. So I have decided to reduce the amount of time I spend at a computer and read more. I play my bass more. I try and get the balance right, and hopefully I can reduce the number of days I work because there is a danger that whilst slaving to make a living, we forget to live.

nnd 10y ago

Why not explore other creative mediums like music, painting, writing or whatever? Better yet why not work in the intersection of two or more mediums?

sean_patel 10y ago
Yes, that is also an option. In fact intersection of two or more mediums is incredibly satisfying, if you can actually achieve it and be "successful" at it (whatever metrics you measure success in). Elon Musk's wife calls this "Idea Sex". > Choose one thing and become a master of it. Choose a second thing and become a master of that. When you become a master of two worlds (say, engineering and business), you can bring them together in a way that will a) introduce hot ideas to each other, so they can have idea sex and make idea babies that no one has seen before and b) create a competitive advantage because you can move between worlds, speak both languages, connect the tribes, mash the elements to spark fresh creative insight until you wake up with the epiphany that changes your life. Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-first-wife-explains-what-it-takes-to-become-a-billionaire-2015-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-first-wife-explain...
- rdm42116 10y ago
  Nothing like another rich person coming in telling you how making money isn't the goal and not important to them. What's really important is idea sex! "Just become a master at that one thing, and then become a master at another, and viola! Idea sex. Then you'll really be rich! lol!" Gee, if only I had married Elon Musk.
  - galfarragem 10y ago
    > "Just become a master at that one thing, and then become a master at another, and viola! Idea sex. Then you'll really be rich! lol!" And sooner than you think, you'll become a "Jack of all trades and master of none".

JDiculous 10y ago

Programming involves very little creativity compared to actual art, so to call it a "creative art" is a gross exaggeration. A programmer is given a very specific set of tasks (eg. send data from A to B, fix bug, implement X), and his problems are mostly technical. This doesn't even compare to the creativity involved in a real artistic endeavor like designing your own videogame, writing your own screenplay, or composing a song. The latter is totally open-ended, and chances are that whatever you create will be way more unique than the 10,000th CRUD app written in the hottest web stack (React/Redux/Sass, or whatever the cool kids are into these days). Lack of creativity is actually one of my biggest complaints with this field.

ygra 10y ago
CRUD apps are probably not the most creative things, indeed. But I've had a fair bit of problems where I'd say solving them was a creative endeavour. Especially on the UX end there are lots of such problems in my experience.
- JDiculous 10y ago
  I guess to more simply articulate it, there are levels of creativity. Being tasked with making something function correctly or making a UI look like a psd is more of a technical problem and involves way less creativity than creating something more open-ended like an original work of art. It's like designing a board game vs. being handed the designs and building it.
  - croon 10y ago
    So it's exactly like art. Idea + implementation. Disclaimer: Have been writing music for almost 20 years, programming about the same. "I want a picture" "I want a picture of a bridge" "I want a picture of this bridge that I built" "I want a picture of this bridge that I built, in these colors" "I want a picture of this bridge that I built, in these colors, from this angle" "I want a picture of this bridge that I built, in these colors, from this angle, in this scale, made on this canvas, with these materials, painted with oil" Do you get my point? The creative decisions could be endless, even with restrictions. Sure, not all programming is creative, but that's true about any creative field. Most of it is creative though, or rather, it's as creative as you are.

dilemma 10y ago

Regardless of industry and profession, you need agency to feel fulfilled. Most don't have that, like the photographer in your example. If you were in his situation today, you could have still published it but on your own Instagram account, and that way preserved your agency.

72deluxe 10y ago

I think it is all about balance. I am happy that I get to write new things every day and enjoy this aspect of it; I do not enjoy short deadlines and stress to get things working for a customer with incessant clock-watching. I enjoy learning new parts of development-land but I watch the industry and find new technologies and devices somewhat boring. I find the new aspects of programming languages (like C++ etc.) really interesting, in contrast to this. So I have decided to reduce the amount of time I spend at a computer and read more. I play my bass more. I try and get the balance right, and hopefully I can reduce the number of days I work because there is a danger that whilst slaving to make a living, we forget to live.