Software Development for the uninspired
The majority of my life has been spent, probably like most people from the grunge era, in trying to find the meaning of my existence. What job do I want to do? What ideology do I relate to? Do I even want a career? Are the things I want really the things that I want? Why does traffic exist?
My questions lead me down quite a few very interesting paths. I started exploring the nature of reality through various means, I got into health and biohacking and I started doing Software Development.
You see, Software Development meets certain criteria that a lot of people who are not sold on the way things are will naturally have as part of their modus operandi.
Firstly, there are no unsolvable problems in Software Development. If you know the logic and know how to use a search engine, you are set. Learning programming is more about learning concepts as opposed to learning a language. Like spoken languages, programming paradigms generally use the same concepts behind their visual forms to reach any given goal. So if you learn and understand the concepts behind Ruby, those same concepts will be behind Python, or C#, or any other Object Oriented Programming language. All that needs to happen when you move to another language, is to learn what syntax that language uses to apply that logic. You could do a tutorial where they’ll run you through all the basics again (the gods know I’ve done that many times) or you can search the interwebs to locate the documentation for that language. The documentation for each language holds all the keys to the castle, and with a possible few exceptions, allows one to see what syntax one languages uses to achieve the same result as another. So coupled with the concepts and documentation, any problem (kinda) can easily be solved with programming.
Secondly, what do you want out of life? You want a 9–5 job? You want to work part-time? From home? Overseas? You want to be a CEO, a manager, or leader? You want to begin a start-up? You want to create? Software Development has your back. In the tech industry the sky is not even the limit because tech is taking us into space. Software Development is THE most scaleable job out there. The pathway that opens for you once you step onto it can take you as far as you want it to go. From a HTML/CSS editor all the way to the CEO of a major tech company. You know how Elon Musk started right? Bill Gates? Zuckerberg, Dorsey, Wozniak. All these guys started out with an idea and code.
Thirdly, if you are idealistic at heart the Open Source movement is one of the most beautiful things on the planet. Open Source looks to keeping software freely distributed, which means it doesn’t cost a thing and it can be altered in whatever way you like. I have been involved with teams of people who were writing programs for doctors in third world countries to help them keep track of their clients details. Couple this software with any number of cheap tablets, laptops, phone and they have solved a major problem. And for free. People do this in their own time purely for the love of their craft. The Open Source movement has non-DRM at it’s core, and the people involved will defend that value to the very end.
Another thing which I have found valuable about coding itself is the level of engagement required. Coding for me is a mix between the hardest game you’ve ever played (Dark Souls ain’t got shit) and War. It is you (and Google) vs the code. It is an ebb and flow of wins and loses. The highs are incredible, you feel untouchable, the flow state you can reach when you are in the zone is biblical. Your fingers elegantly moving across the keyboard like you are delivering the most beautiful symphony. You can see the steps ahead clearly. You have found Samadhi.
You are a programming god.

Then bam! Somewhere, something is not working. But how can this be? So you run it again. Damnit! Maybe it was that last thing you did. And then you are chasing your tail. Chasing that error. Wishing for an error because there is nothing worse than code that doesn’t work but is also not telling you why. Why wont that while loop exit? Code is smacking you in the face. That high you were on is gone, and you are deep in Blightown, with no Estus. Time for another coffee.
Or sleep.
And so you return to your laptop eventually. You look at the code and….ah! There’s the problem. And so again you enter the fray. The riposte and parry of the programmer. The continuous movement towards your final destination:
Build, compile and deploy
