Software Pâtissier

Professional programmers like to argue about what their titles should be, blogging about it endlessly instead of… well, doing their jobs.  Software developer?  Software engineer?  Software architect?  Today: Software Gardener or Software Diplomat?

I have always called myself a Software Pâtissier.  Unless unicode spites me.

Why?  Well, much like cooking pastries, software development is an artform as well as a science. 

Every chef has ingredients and tools he is most familiar with, and a kitchen he is most comfortable cooking in. 

Every good chef can wing it with someone else’s ingredients or tools, with at least some degree of success. 

Every good chef continues to learn, practice, and develop his skills across a lifetime. 

There are pastry competitions to enter, strong competition for the top jobs, and a great sense of pride for both the small and unique victories, as well as the epic jobs.

And, no matter how skilled the chef, sometimes the cake collapses.

But, mostly, it’s fun to make the â character.  And it sounds better than software procrastinator.