The craft of code

Came across this great quote from the book The Pragmatic Programmer (which I whole heartedly intend to read after seeing this quote)

The construction of software should be an engineering discipline. However, this doesn’t preclude individual craftsmanship. Think about the large cathedrals built in Europe during the Middle Ages. Each took thousands of person-years of effort, spread over many decades. Lessons learned were passed down to the next set of builders, who advanced the state of structural engineering with their accomplishments. But the carpenters, stonecutters, carvers, and glass workers were all craftspeople, interpreting the engineering requirements to produce a whole that transcended the purely mechanical side of the construction.  It was their belief in their individual contributions that sustained the projects:  We who cut mere stones must always be envisioning cathedrals.

One of my university professors once told us that writing good code is a craft. It’s not quite art, it’s not quite science, it’s somewhere in between. Like any craft, you should always take pride in what you’re building.