I'd argue that there are a lot of different breeds of programmer who fall at various points on this spectrum. Some programmers like to rewrite things because th

I'd argue that there are a lot of different breeds of programmer who fall at various points on this spectrum. Some programmers like to rewrite things because they are perfectionists, other programmers find any working code (for some value of working) to be "good enough" and move on. Many programmers don't fall neatly under any single label. In particular his distinction between a preference for "problem solving" or a preference for coding obscures a much richer diversity of attitudes. An understanding of the subtle gradations between these various different kinds of programmer is probably one of the best tools available to the truly thoughtful software manager. Personally I am really only enjoying myself if I'm tackling a "hard (for me) problem", if the ratio of typing to thinking is high then I'm "working".