| I don’t think it’s a great analogy, and here’s why: When trying to get from point A to point B, there is a clear, well defined goal. Streets (paths) are also clear and well defined (within reason on most popular GPS direction software). An expert in city streets may get you there a little faster, but the end result of both GPS directions and city street experts is the same; getting you to B. What’s more, once you’re at B, the route you took probably no longer matters. The only side effect of taking different routes is the time involved. Coding is different. There’s a combinatorial explosion of different paths to get to any step of any problem. Each path has consequences which can be very difficult to understand at the time. (for example, the classic of-by-one error always causes some strange behavior) Also, the code is an artifact that would need to be understood, built upon, and changed in the future. It’s just a different beast than getting directions. |
In programming, you also go from point A (requirements analysis phase) to point B (shipping the product). The only difference is that you may face multiple paths leading to point B.