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I find that it's easy to fall into the trap of feeling like working as a software developer in the commercial world is an exercise in applying duct tape. But I

by lepht 14y ago

I find that it's easy to fall into the trap of feeling like working as a software developer in the commercial world is an exercise in applying duct tape. But I think this is a mindset problem, not one with the state of modern software writing. We're standing on the shoulders of giants; There's plenty of unsolved problems out there to be solved by the next person willing to do it. And we do it armed with the work of the previous generation that's been packaged into the convenient form of libraries, modules and established knowledge. Would your time really be better spent finding the most efficient sorting algorithm?

zxcdw 14y ago
> Would your time really be better spent finding the most efficient sorting algorithm? Probably not, but it is my nature to work with problems like these. Not necessarily to find best algorithms, but to come up with the most efficient implementation of the said algorithm. I don't mind counting cycles, going deep into memory cache models and pipeline depth and calculating branch probabilites to balance and research different implementation details. I would love that kind of stuff. On the other hand, I am not a programmer because I wan't to create things. Creating something "cool" is irrelevant for me. It does not drive me. I am a programmer because I want to do creative problem solving. I want to come up with superior solutions to problems which require deep understanding of how the system and the environment works and operates. This, of course goes against how the progress happens - to ease things, to make everyone able to make everything.