Why are you a Programmer?

04 June 2010

I was not born into programming. I once just decided I want to write a browser based game and a couple of days later I discovered I had to learn how to do this PHP stuff. It turned out to be something I like and continued to code in my spare time. When it came to decide about what to study the decision was quite easy. I spent seven days a week programming so I had no idea what to study but computing. It turned out to be a good choice. During the second year we started to learn about how to professionally build software. Hell, I did not even know there was a different way than “just code”. This was the moment when I stopped doing what I was doing. I wanted to know how to do it right and started to read books on that topic. You might be programming because you heard it is a way to earn money (but hopefully this is not the only reason now). Or you like computer games and want to build your own. Maybe you are a web designer looking beyond your own horizon. Maybe you read these lines without being a programmer at all. I am still a programmer because there are so many ways to do it to discover. Different languages, software developing methodologies (like that one in the Dilbert comic strip), tools, ways to organize your work … this fascinates me and I do not get tired of looking for more. There is no “best way” to do it discovered yet and probably will never be.

Take a minute to reflect. Why did you start programming? What are your current goals? If you like, share your thoughts in the comments.