2009
The Question
A skilled sculptor can form any shape. A skilled programmer can make any program. The only question is, what?
I think this rings true with anyone who has spent 10 years in the field. After a certain point, you start to realize, there’s nothing you couldn’t program. Sure, there are challenges. How do you get it to be fast enough? How do you allow it to scale big enough? But at the end of the day, after having faced challenging problems in the past and eventually overcoming them, you begin to realize that it’s no longer a matter of whether you can make it, but more… what’s worth making in the first place?
Paul Graham said, “Once you know what to make, it’s mere effort to make it, and most decent hackers are capable of that.”
No matter what your craft, after a certain amount of practice you become a master craftsman. But the tradition of creating a masterpiece to cross the line from apprentice to master has faded away.
Deep down, we who love the craft still want this. And we wonder, what is worth making?
The result of our work can either be that awful thing in the park no one wants to look at, but has to, or David.
Related: The Purpose
Photo by jasontheaker.
