Part of why I love software development is that I get to make things. Through my efforts, something new has been created. It’s a pretty awesome feeling.
As much as I love it, there’s something even better about building physical things. Even something as simple as an Ikea bookcase.
You start with a box. It’s relatively small and clean and self-contained, but it really isn’t anything useful. And the first thing you do is destroy it.
That neat and tidy box becomes a bunch of parts spread all over the floor. It’s a mess. It’s not useful and it’s even worse than the box because it’s in the way. But the mess is also potential, as each of those parts has a place.
Then you get to work, and things start to come together. The pile of parts gets smaller and smaller, fitting together with each other. Your project starts to look recognizable, like, perhaps, a bookcase.
Then it’s done. Your pile of parts is gone and in its place is a piece of furniture.
Working in software, there are no parts, really. No matter how many pieces your project may be in, none of them are physical. You can’t spread it across the floor and piece it together like a puzzle. I wouldn’t trade my job, but sometimes it’s nice to solve a problem that’s a little more tangible.
