Its great to be able to think

Its great to get paid to think, not just do. I'm lucky in that part of my job is to think out of the box. Think of new ways to do things. Push the edge.

Not everyone has that luxury... or at least that is their perception. Some times developer's don't take time to think about "what is right", they are to focused on "getting it done" or "getting it to work".

Following those thoughts (is this really the best way, could we improve this, what does this effect down the road), and concentrating less on how to just make it work; is great. We always try to emphasize, "Yes... it works - that's a given, that's what you get paid for - to make things work... but did you do it correctly?"

I know many people don't get what I do. So - to move it from computers to something more general... the above statement is kind of like building a house (This analogy seem s to work for most people). If you tell someone to build you a new house, and that you want it to have 2 doors, and 10 windows, and 6 rooms, etc... they could do that. But they could do it in a million different ways. They could use poor materials, poor techniques, etc. Even if it all "looks right" and "meets the specs". Many times people say "Its got windows, and I put them where they are supposed to go." - but I ask, "But do they all look the same, the ones you installed and the ones the other guy installed - so the house looks "consistent". And did you use good materials on the south side, so that they don't warp and have to be replaced in 2 years. And are they using the latest "patterns" such that they are easy to maintain, work on, etc." And some times the answers are NO.

• I do it the way I do it, I don't care how someone else does it,
• No, I didn't look at the latest ways of doing it, this is how I've always done it
• It will work for now, I need to get it done, it will take longer to make it last forever

So in a general, comparing software to building a house, that is what I do. Look at the overall, try to figure out the best (or better) way of doing things, and then try to insure that is what people are doing.

Some times its frustruating, but its also cool to see pepole "get it", to see the software improve. To see things move forward.

Wow... lots of rambling today. Thats what I get for getting up at 4:00 and working for a bit but then deciding to blog instead of do more work... :) Well - guess I should get back to it and give your eyes a rest of reading my stuff. :)