When I read Apprenticeship Patterns, the patterns which tend to stand out to me the most are those patterns which offer a unique perspective and an illustrative focus that is clear and easy to follow. Oftentimes when I am deciding how to proceed with my learning or implementation of code, I get lost in the possibilities, and the guidance the authors provide in this book gives me some much needed clarity.
This apprenticeship pattern is called “craft over art”, because the point of our vocation is to in the end provide a useful product to customers. The value the authors place in this section is on the practical and usable skills that makes up a good developer. The authors illustrate this point well by reasserting and contrasting what it means to be a software craft-person.
At its heart, craftsmanship is making something useful or necessary with an additional style or beneficial features that are added based on the creator’s methods. The authors definitely make this point clear when comparing software development to a craft, and even more so by comparing crafts with the arts. The key difference is that while crafts focus on making a functional product, the fine arts are focused on pure beauty itself.
So what the authors suggest we focus on as apprentices is not the beauty of the product but the functionality of it. Additionally, they describe how often in practice in order to deliver value in time a compromise might need to be made between utility and beauty.
This pattern definitely helped me hone in on which particular skill sets and goals I should be orienting myself around to be successful. Often I worry that I need to be focusing on making the most elegant code or learning the newest fanciest technology, which are definitely good things to aspire for, but in the moment of me beginning my professional journey, it is more important that I pick up practical, concrete skills, and that I focus on delivering the most value and utility. What I gained most from reading this was understanding that bells and whistles will make a product shine, but you famously cannot polish a turd.
From the blog CS@Worcester – Bit by Bit by rdentremont58 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.