If a job's worth doing...

Years ago, there used to be a saying; "If a job's worth doing it's worth doing well"

A tradesman was judged and employed according to his skill and quality of work. Today however, in the disposable "made in China" world in which we live, quantity at low cost has become the norm and quality that you enjoy because you pay well for a job well done, is a thing of the past.

As I go through my working day I hear the phrase "quick win" more and more. Unfortunately, the idea of a quick win is more about "how can we make it look like we didn't screw up" than it is about improving the code.

Computer programming is not a craft, like blacksmithing is a craft. Programming is an art, like painting or like musical composition. A program must be carefully designed to be pleasing to the user and to use the resources, the C.P.U, memory and network bandwidth in a sympathetic manner.

If you attack the artist's canvas with a paint roller and a hammer you are unlikely to end up with a work of art. If you start the project with an eye to composition and attention to detail and aesthetics you are more likely to have a work of art that has no need of a "quick win"