Seven reasons to love developers on Valentine’s Day
This Valentine’s day I thought I’d make it clear that there are many reasons to love software engineers – and that this is probably why I devote my work life to writing about the industry and, maybe, just maybe, why I ended up marrying a Java developer.
1 - Perfection is not optional: this is the developer’s creed and they live by it. After all, it’s always nice to be playing in the major league and hanging with the best of the best.
2 - Attention to detail: at Christmas it goes without saying that your developer buddy will be the one to find the burnt-out bulb in the fairy lights string. How could you not love someone who is methodically careful about everything they do? This is one thoughtful person that is comfortable with their place in the universe.
3 – Pessimism is a virtue: no one can possibly try to anticipate a cataclysmic system failure by taking a “bottle’s half full” approach, so the best developers are the ones that can adopt a forward thinking approach to solve problems before they even arise. NB this may help in a successful marriage!
4 – Attention to detail and organisation: do you have developer friends who have six different sizes of sandwich bags in their kitchen drawer at home? Do you have developer friends who print out exact route maps for car journeys and refuse to accept the help of people along the way (to ask for directions) because their information could be “flawed”? You get the point right?
5 – Logical rationality: a deeply held desire for solving problems from a logical and mathematical viewpoint is what drives developers forward… they need, in their day-to-day roles, to be able to form real world solutions to real world problems. Life in general is not perfect of course and the world is not logical, this is why programmers need non-programmer buddies if they plan to backpack across India. Oh sorry, I forgot chaos theory! Silly me.
6 – Impatience to the nth degree: if something is worth doing it’s worth doing now. Don’t walk when you can run. This is what makes developers different, special and gifted. Problem is, mostly, they know it. Ah well, I refer to the above examples to re-state my devotion to the cause.
7 – Reliability: developers are creature of habit. What’s not to love about that?