To stretch the metaphor: I think we're lucky if what we do becomes real sediment that others build upon. Most programming work is throw-away business code that

To stretch the metaphor: I think we're lucky if what we do becomes real sediment that others build upon. Most programming work is throw-away business code that no one will ever build upon and will be whisked away by the wind. It doesn't matter though, we do what we do for the love (or compulsion) of creation. I'm quite certain Michelangelo loved painting above all else, and that's the necessary but not sufficient fact for him to achieve something like the Sistine Chapel. Who knows how many great painters are completely lost to history?