[tonymet]

There’s room for both types of people in any trade. Some photographers obsess over the equipment, some only care about the photos. Carpenters with tools. Musicians with instruments & gear. Every craft has people who care about the how and those who focus on the product.

I’ve always enjoyed the craft of software engineering, though even I admit the culture around it can be a bit overly contemplative .

Nevertheless, there is room for both personalities. Just hang out with likeminded people and ignore the rest.

[tikhonj]

Caring about craft in programming is more like a photographer caring about light and composition and creativity and taste than a photographer caring about equipment.

[tonymet]

In some ways yes. Many “engineers” obsess over “idioms” and other trends to the detriment of performance, correctness and usability. So this analogy is a bit too charitable.

[bitbuilder]

I'm not sure that's a valid analogy. Light, composition and creativity are all experienced directly by viewer, and essentially describe what it is that we notice and appreciate in photography (even if subconciously). The best analogy I can think of to programming is the UX/UI of the application. Given equaly competent developers, nobody is going to notice or care if your application was written in Rust or Cold Fusion.

But the original analogy is flawed too. I wouldn't consider caring about the craft of programming to be similar to obsessing over your photography equipment. GAS is about consumerism and playing with gadgets, at the end of the day.

Caring about the craft of programming is more about being an artist who takes pride in crafting something beautiful, even if they're the only ones experiencing it. I am most definitley not one of those programmers, but have always had nothing but immense respect for those that are.

[braebo]

> Just hang out with likeminded people and ignore the rest.

Or find ways to integrate with the rest, challenging one another to facilitate growth.

[tonymet]

While I appreciate your optimism, the cost of conversion is 1000x the cost of reaching & identifying the right people.