// Softwarearchitect / Consultant / Maker
Understand first,
then build.
Before I write a line of code, I want to know what you actually need.
Honestly, the fix is often smaller than you'd think.
Just because you can build it
In software today you can build almost anything. The tools are good enough that the how is rarely the problem. And we developers like to build whatever shines. That is not only our fault: these days a solution tends to count as better the trendier the buzzword on it. Kubernetes, microservices and event sourcing are great on their own and solve real problems. But just because you have a hammer doesn’t make every problem a nail. The right tool for the right problem, and some things don’t need fixing at all.
So the real question is not whether you can build something, but whether it is worth it. A lot of things are nice. Whether they are worth what they cost is another matter.
The best example of that I have is this site.
- Commits
- 160
- Lines of code
- 10,666
- Days from first to last commit
- 15
- Days since the last commit
- 0
A business card on the web would have done: who I am, what I do, how to reach me. One page, one afternoon. Instead there is now a terminal with 32 commands (and counting). The CV only shows up after a small puzzle in the terminal, the skills hang in an interactive graph and there is a capture the flag game on top of that…
Does anyone need that? No. I built it anyway, because I can and nobody has to pay for it. The site has hardly any real purpose, except that I learned a thing or two along the way. And of course the most important part: IT SHINES!
As a private decision that was a good one. Had a customer given me a budget for it, it would have been a pretty bad one, and I would have told them so. I am not a yes-man, the actual problem matters more to me than the budget. Of course I want to build cool things too, but where they make a difference, not just because someone pays for them.
In customer projects this happens all the time, just with someone else’s money. What gets built is what is technically possible or what feels good to build, and whether it solves the actual problem nobody asks, or only once it is already standing. That is why I want to know what is really needed before I start. Often that turns out smaller than expected. Sometimes bigger, but then at least everyone knows why. Understand first, then build.
The site stays the way it is, though.
More projects
There are more projects I build outside of work. They range from .NET libraries through various 3D printing and laser projects to the Dartomat, which I have kept tinkering with and improving since 2013. And now and then an open source contribution like HomeRacker, where I contributed the website and the configurator.
Capture the Flag
Since I mentioned it above: this site hides a small capture the flag game.
Open the terminal with / or Ctrl + K and type ctf to start it.
Don’t know what that is? Just start it, it explains itself. If you would rather kill time some other way, there are a game or two in my project list.
The game runs in the terminal, which only shows from tablet width up.