Interesting post. I've been thinking lately about the relationship between the drive to create and the drive to master new technologies. I think all programme

Interesting post. I've been thinking lately about the relationship between the drive to create and the drive to master new technologies. I think all programmers experience both types of motivation, but in different proportions. The risk that Dan describes here is a real one - you can become so enthralled with creating apps that you lose your focus on mastering technologies. The opposite extreme can happen as well - you become a master craftsman, but you lose your interest in imagining and creating new apps. The latter is probably more employable, though the new "developer driven culture" I've been reading about lately seems to put a premium on the former. At the extremes, you do meet some interesting characters (and some hair raising examples of over and under-use of technology). Some people are so antsy to create an app that they just can't stop to learn good practices. These folks learn just enough to implement in the moment, and it's hard for them to pull themselves away. Expect embedded sql in PHP to grow to thousands of pages. Then you get the people who are so interested in a new technology that they almost don't care how or where they're using it. Expect GWT and Guice to render simplest of web forms. The place where these two extremes clash the most is testing. App creator doesn't slow down long enough to write tests. Craftsman says that if it isn't tested, it's broken. I have to admit that I lean toward the "create now!" side, though I am motivated through a combination of love of craft and personal shame to put some time into good design and testing ;)