I've always considered myself quite arty, quite creative. When I was young it was chalk and blackboard, I then moved on to playdough, then to Lego. As a youth I was always writing stories (most of which I never finished), drawing pictures (most of which looked rubbish) and then something happened. I reckon it was when I entered into GCSEs and A-Levels. I pushed more towards the sciences, thinking their were better employment prospects there, my creativity was stifled. I spent most of my time on computers researching to help me pass those exams and naturally fell into creative zones on the computer. I began creating computer games for a fan-based gaming community (around the tv show South Park) using tools called "The Games Factory", (a successor of "Klik and play" which some people may have heard of), but as I began A-levels and thus studying harder this died too. Now I'm a shadow of how creative I used to be and it depresses me. I can't help but feel like I've been let down by the education system. I've absorbed so much knowledge but most I haven't used, yet as a computer programmer I need my creativity which I feel has been impacted by the education system I've gone through.

I feel the approach in software engineering I've been brought up in is wrong. As much as it is important to have good working code that does the right thing software should not be thought as a black box which you put parameters in and out comes some sort of result. This is a primitive model of software back in times when computers were extremely large and did large sums. No I think software is more like a painting. This is another reason why agile software development fits in nicely with it. Software development is about gradually creating a masterpiece. It can take time to create good software but good software is subjective just as art is. We take feedback from users just as artists take feedback from critics. We should be continuously trying to improve the software, massaging it to create something we are proud of.

It worries me that most companies have huge offshoring models, where software developers are required to create software and meet contractual agreements to get it out on time. This puts more emphasis on producing functional boxes rather than art. How can an artist work under time pressure? It's just not natural. A good artist can produce an arguably quite good painting in a few hours, but it's never going to be there best work, but if they get paid for getting that painting done in a few hours then they will never be reaching their full potential. I'm not saying programmers should be given infinite time to create software I'm just in the firm belief that programmers should be nurtured into producing code they are proud of. They should care about what they are delivering, possibly because it's something that will add value to their lives as well as others. It should be about that warm feeling you get when you create something that brings enjoyment to others, not the money factor. That's what I get out of it and I think that's why the opensource community works so well.