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But like in art and so also in programming you can definitely strive for perfection.

There are plenty of writers, some famous, most not, who keep rewriting and rewriting because it's not perfect and still get annoyed because it's not good enough when published. Software generally is a job to make money : who give a crap if it's perfect; not your boss or your company clients. But personally, is another thing. I definitely have software that is perfect in my eyes. I don't care if others don't think so but I worked decades on it and using and updating it makes me happier than other things. I am well over 50 and I do not see this change for me.

There are well known examples too in software, for instance Jonathan Blow, who estimates stuff and then overshoots by a long shot because he does not like the result enough and Arthur Whitney who keeps rewriting his 'perfect' (in his eyes) software (k) to just a little perfect-er.




> writers, some famous, most not, who keep rewriting

My favorite, William Gibson, is like that.

I was 50 when I first realized that I am an artist, too. Shame it took me so long to figure that out.

'The Art of Software Design and Implementation' ~ that's my niche.




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