“So, did you people see that layout contest thing from BliG where you can win a book? I think I'm gonna try it. I'm interested in the book about PHP and also in the Javascript one.” - me, Dec 2002
The Early Days "Software during the early days of this project was treated like a stepchild and not taken as seriously as other engineering disciplines, such as hardware engineering; and it was regarded as an art and as magic, not a science.” - Margaret Hamilton
What is Art? ● Google: – "the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power." ● Wikipedia: – "the word art may refer to several things: (i) a study of a creative skill, (ii) a process of using the creative skill, (iii) a product of the creative skill, or (iv) the audience's experience with the creative skill."
What is Art? ● Not an adjective ● Doesn't need to be good ● Doesn't need to be beautiful ● Artist is not an adjective either “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” Scott Adams
Software Engineering "I fought to bring the software legitimacy so that it (and those building it) would be given its due respect and thus I began to use the term “software engineering” to distinguish it from hardware and other kinds of engineering. It was an ongoing joke for a long time. They liked to kid me about my radical ideas” Margaret Hamilton
Software Engineering ● Still very young compared to other engineering fields ● Strongly based on trial-and-error, instead of formulas / mathematical proofs ● Tests are the closer we have to proofs, but they are also written by us
The myth of creativity “It lives on because it appeals to romantic prejudices about invention. There is a myth about how something new comes to be.” - Kevin Ashton, The Creativity Myth
“Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol