programmers don't like programming

today morning, i was watching this video of an interesting presentation by gregg pollack on "why ruby on rails?". his presentation was good, and ruby on rails does look like a very appealing platform for developing webApps. still, the one thing that caught my eye (and mind) during the presentation was the part on why ruby on rails results in happy programmers.

he made his statement with an analogy:

meet tim the artist.

“What makes you enjoy being a painter Tim?”

• “I enjoy being creative, and finding new things to paint”
• “I enjoy creating beautiful pieces of art”
• “I get satisfaction when people purchase my Art”

i.e. happiness comes from:

• the inspiration
• the challenge
• the reward of success

meet bob the programmer.

“What makes you enjoy being a programmer Bob?”

• “I enjoy thinking of creative ways to solve problems”
• “I enjoy creating something with my own two hands, and watching it succeed”
• “I enjoy getting positive feedback from my clients”

i.e. happiness comes from:

• the inspiration
• the challenge
• the reward of completion

not surprisingly, he was bang on. programming is nowhere in the list of things that programmers enjoy.

now for ruby on rails :)