The Art in a Game

Most of the software developers I know enjoy playing some kind of computer or card game, and they all gain some insight into good creative practices as a result. My muse is FreeCell and here are the lessons it has taught me:

Be aware of long-term problems
Sometimes a key color-number combination, such as both black 10's, can be near the bottom of separate piles. This inhibits your ability to complete long strings of builds in any column. Avoid making the problem worse by burying the color-number combination deeper. You can also end up with two of the same color card in the same pile. Don't just focus on one of the long-term problems: be aware of both of the long-term problems.

Take advantage of short-term opportunities
It is probably a good idea to face an ace (or one of the next cards for the home pile) by just moving one card up to a FreeCell, as long as you have other moves afterward.

Use mid-term strategies
Don't focus on the long-term problems (although be aware of them) and don't focus on recklessly moving cards up to the home pile. Rather, take the mid-term strategy and capitalize on long builds and emptying columns. Keep variety in your hold cards.

Maximize flexibility
Given the choice between moving cards home and gaining the flexibility of an empty column, choose greater flexibility. Think twice before leaving yourself only one open FreeCell. Patience is a virtue.

Think ahead
Plan ahead for what a move might enable -- does it allow you to open up another FreeCell or mitigate your long-term problems?

Use the hidden force
Sometimes the answer lies with forcing cards home biasing a single suit. This might be alright if it increases your flexibility elsewhere.

Be persistent
When you are stuck, take a break and do something else so that you can return later with a fresh outlook.

Know when to bail out
Sometimes a deal is just too difficult. Know when you are "in over your head" and bail out so that you don't waste your time.

I'm sure that these are all metaphors for certain things you encounter during the development cycle, but find your own metaphors in your own games. You don't have to be good at any game in order to learn its lessons, but you do have to play at it occasionally.

Artistic Standards

SOPs (or as we often call them nowadays “best practices”) get the usual bum rap but I like them as an educational tool. Standards and best practices are fine to the extent that they promote a safe and productive workplace without adversely affecting a sense of job security. For example “Always use camel case” is a good standard to improve productivity. “Keep your source code in three places” is a best practice that enhances safety.

Wielding standards like an axe over your employees’ heads will only create defensive animosity. I prefer to use them as search terms when I want to find a template or an example to share with somebody. For instance I might Google “best practices SQL maintenance” and see what it returns.

If your employees feel however that the purpose of your standards is to turn them into interchangeable cogs then at best they will only implement them halfheartedly and at worst they will spoof compliance. Make positive, non-corrosive best practices your standard operating procedure.

The Art of Compatibility

What does it take to be compatible with a long term software development career? Quite a bit, actually.

At inception projects may call for numerous meetings so you need to develop courtesy and show some ability to conduct the initial interviews with a bit of panache. If you naturally have the skills of an insightful listener then you may tend towards gathering requirements and performing analyses.

If you’re leaning heavily toward analysis then you will need to develop an understanding of strategic planning and what goes on behind the scenes in your company and in your industry. For management-facing positions writing and salesmanship talents are also essential.

If you’re more inclined toward the technical aspects of the profession then you need a strong grounding in logic and the aptitude for being well organized. Patience, research agility, and persistence will carry you far when you are coding.

A fair portion of your work will be teaching people how to learn to be competent in technically challenging tasks or instructing people on the intricacies of how your software operates. You must develop a patient and understanding attitude with those you teach: what may be obvious to you might be opaque to others.

Although creative work is satisfying since it entails “discovery,” you must be comfortable with continually learning and furthermore you need to be a self-motivated learner.

So to summarize, if you are thinking of pursuing software development ask yourself:

- can you write?
- can you sell?
- are you logical and organized?
- are you patient? persistent?
- are you competent at research?
- can you teach others?
- do you love to learn?

No two artists have the exact set of matching talents; the same is true for software developers. Maybe you’re more of a jazzy musician, fast to learn and improvise. Or maybe you are a patient oil landscape painter with a keen sense of planning. Although a handful of personality traits favor the profession, few need all of these talents: software development has enough sub-disciplines that you will easily find a niche dependent on your matching strengths.