Dirt Underneath Your Fingernails

By DirtUnderneathYourFingernails, I am referring to the feeling you get when work is under way. Things aren't complete or perfect yet (are they ever?), but ground has been broken and you are beginning to feel that earthy sense of accomplishment. In software development, this is the first moment when you realize that you are InTheZone.

I was originally thinking of my favorite form of TechEscape - gardening, but then I saw a link to XP. I was not always comfortable with getting dirt under my fingernails, but I've come to enjoy this feeling. Thanks to XP, I have experienced this feeling more frequently than while practicing other approaches to software development which delay coding.

-- AlexViggio

I like your characterization, Alex. We often refer to "getting your fingernails dirty" and such when talking about the nitty-gritty of implementation work. To software development people it's the IDE sucking you in; for hardware developers it's the smell of solder resin; for mechanical engineers it's the sound of steel on steel. This sensation is different for every profession and vocation, but the net result of being InTheZone is the same for all of us. Eh? -- MartySchrader

CategoryIdiom