Why I Became a Developer

When I was in grade 9 I wanted to be a lawyer. I didn’t really know what that entailed and I had no idea how many more years of schooling I’d have to complete to realize my dream. In grade 10 I took my first law class and absolutely hated my teacher. From that moment on I knew I would never become a lawyer. I dropped out of law class and took computer science and fell in love. Over the years I’ve learnt more and more and I thought I’d take a few minutes to talk about “Why I Became a Developer”.

For as long as I can remember I’ve loved solving puzzles. When I would get a new puzzle I’d try to break it down to smaller logical chunks to try to see how the puzzle worked. That’s exactly what I get to do at work every day. I first start with a large overarching problem that’s given to me by a customer and then I have to break it down into smaller logical chunks. Sometimes these problems aren’t exciting or challenging. I’ve written enough CRUD websites that they no longer give challenges but sometimes these problems are unique and fun.

While I love solving problems and it’s fun to have a challenging career I really enjoy building things. As a kid I was always taking stuff apart, finding out how it worked and then building it back. Writing software provides me with quick gratification because I can see the immediate results of my work. I can quickly put together a new app and once deployed see it being used instantly on the Internet.

Being a developer also lets me build a large range of things. I can build a website one day, an iPhone app another and configure a server on the weekend. This diversity allows a developer to feel new and exciting even if you’ve done it for a few decades.

As a developer, if you’re not learning the latest technology you get left behind very quickly. There’s always a new language coming out or a new framework to read about. While this can become overwhelming at first I often find trying a new language out to be a fun experiment on a day off. I’ve also found that this constant learning makes programming stay fresh and fun.

I’ve since been promoted to Manager and now a Director but I think these concepts still ring true, just at a different scale. While I don’t directly build applications and websites anymore I get to build more things by building an amazing team. I’d love to hear why you became a developer. Let me know in the comments below.