It turns out there's a sweet spot, where the work is challenging and stimulating but plausibly doable, and where success happens often enough to form a positive feedback loop. As I read this, I realized that it was basically a description of successful game development. True, games have short development cycles, and progress is made incrementally-but at least progress is made, while the short cycles mean that success in the form of shipping occurs often, and positive feedback in the form of seeing cool stuff on the screen happens pretty much nonstop. What I finally realized was that, for me at least, game programming is the sweetest spot in all of software development. Gradually, the truth seeps in.
Weather is often unpleasant.
Germs are everywhere. Fresh air results in allergies. The old house they buy is falling apart. Worst of all, the people are rude and stupid, where the Loonies had been hand-picked for skills and compatiblity. All rights reserved.