Browser === Arby's
A MIX09 presentation by Nate Koehchley has brought to mind the muddle that is front end engineering. Where server side programmers are surgeons performing in an operating room, client side programmers are first responders. Nothing is sterile and we're trying to stop the bleeding in the middle of an Arby's. At times it's an exercise in futility that I have grown to love. Honestly. I love the cornucopia of specifications and the strange interpretations of those specifications and even the bugs in the strange interpretations of those specifications.
In a related note, I have also been reading The Forever War. Dexter Filkins reminisces that it was difficult to return from Iraq because the conflict became a part of him. Holding on to whatever tatters of the situation he could gave him purpose. I don't want to directly compare client side programming to the middle east conflict, of course, but I have formed a strong bond with what was formerly "the most hostile programming environment ever devised", and while I wouldn't say no to a kinder and gentler way to write software on the web, I would miss the constant challenge.
Sometimes Arby's is just an exciting place to be.
In a related note, I have also been reading The Forever War. Dexter Filkins reminisces that it was difficult to return from Iraq because the conflict became a part of him. Holding on to whatever tatters of the situation he could gave him purpose. I don't want to directly compare client side programming to the middle east conflict, of course, but I have formed a strong bond with what was formerly "the most hostile programming environment ever devised", and while I wouldn't say no to a kinder and gentler way to write software on the web, I would miss the constant challenge.
Sometimes Arby's is just an exciting place to be.
