One incident made me think about the abstract nature in which we think about the code we develop. We spend so much time on designing, developing and testing some code that we lose the focus on the end users who are going to use it. We know too much gory details about the code that it is going through thousands of lines for doing some function and we are thinking about the minutest details. We don’t see a non-IT, regular person in the counter of a shop using our application. Instead, we see it going in and out of IF loops and FOR loops. I wonder how will be the case with Doctors – they know too much gory details about the body, will they lose the ability to appreciate human body as something beautiful?

There is one usual comment given to freshers – “see the big picture”. It feels corny to say that think about the users of your application while developing. But it is important to see the one thing they will expect out of your application. I had read an article comparing software development with painting. I would also like to think about software development as an art form – at least it gives me a good feeling to think about it that way. There is lot of creative work involved in there.

Once upon a time, it used to give me a feeling of adventure also – to delve into uncharted and dangerous terrains (undocumented massive applications) and try to enhance it, or design something complex, which would tickle my little brain, unique feeling when something works fine. For an artist, it must be immense pleasure when people truly appreciate his painting or music. It would definitely make me happy if a user says, you have made my life easy and thanks for that. Again it is not the often repeated word (there some words which are used so much that it is starting to show the wear and tear), “Customer Delight”. The delight is all mine, to have designed and developed something good. I would like to be satisfied first on anything I deliver.

At the end of the day, it is just another job which pays well and we are nothing but workers creating factory products. But looking at the fancy side of it and giving it an air of art, makes it worthwhile.