Greetings,

I would like to take a moment to talk about an idea that has been rolling around in my head. I have already mentioned it a bit, but I would like to talk about the similarities between programming and drawing. I have mentioned that programming is art before but I wanted to expand on it after having watched some more philosophical YouTube videos. As a quick aside I want to add that philosophy is really about considering the truth underlying reality. It does have to be logical, consistent and thought out, but one thing it definitely doesn’t need to be is to be drowned in technical jargon. Philosophy should be about Ancient Greeks in togas standing in crowded plazas and yelling their thoughts to the masses… Maybe not, but it should be easy to understand. Philosophy should be for everyone. I mean everyone, everyone. It should be taught in schools. Philosophy is about learning to think for yourself and being able to justify your ideas. Anyway, let's talk about drawing, programming and creativity. 

If you have read some of my blog entries you will know I quite like Dave Farley’s YouTube channel called Continuous Delivery. I have also read his book: Modern Software engineering and I thought it had a lot of powerful concentrated knowledge about how to write good software faster. One of the main points he makes is that coding takes learning and creativity. One of the main reasons software projects fail is because people want to apply this production line mentality to software. In fact if there is any glaring problem about the modern world it is that our society looks at things in this production line mentality. We want to live our lives toiling away looking busy productivity and happiness be damned. In return we get money to spend on fleeting pleasures. Except people don’t work like that. We are not machines for production and if there is one great good that has come of computers and machines is how we replace this back breaking labours with machines. No matter how pretty the pyramids might be, how many literal backs did making something like that break? 

It is simple. The act of creation is not a production line. Real art is not created in a production line - yet since this world desires art so much it tries to constrain it thusly. Similarly you hear tales of software being treated exactly the same way. What is the difference between the two? Well software is supposed to serve a purpose but wait… what about illustration? Illustration is all about communication. It has a purpose. You can make a certain amount of rulings about whether an illustration is fit for purpose or not. Much in the same way as software. The form is different but both are an expression of human creativity.

So is software art? I have heard art defined as “something created for beauty without an explicit purpose” and I have also heard it described as “something that expresses yourself” and “using your own viewpoint to create something new”. In the end the truth is subjective. The thing about art is that you know it when you see it. For me when I pour my soul in my code it is like writing the song of my soul. Which is part of the reason why I get so bothered when it doesn’t work. It is like finding out that the heartbeat of your soul sounds like a dog playing with a squeaky ball. Maybe I just take pleasure in the act of creation and I only make art when I pour my soul into a drawing. Who knows? To me though every single one and zero of Lords of Illic is part of a grand art project. In the future I want to revel in that and not just feel like it isn’t good enough. Of course that means doing my utmost to polish my technical skills, but don’t think for a second that an artist doesn’t need technical skills. C# documentation, coding standards and drawing has perspective, colour theory, shading and much more. As my boss once said to me, even if you can’t see it if there is someone passionate about it, there is always more than there appears to the untrained eye.

I hope that the next time you pick up a pencil, an instrument, write a line of your novel or a line of code that you too can revel in the act of creation. I also hope you can feel that alone is enough.

Until next time.