Software development as "creative problem solving" - and me.

The following is inspired by multiple interviews with actors and comedians. - Yes, I find software development inspiration in unusual places.

A motivated person who wants to make it in the 'arts' will typically have to do many things by and for themselves.

This means being a creative problem solver.

Want to put on a show but don't have a stage, set, or costumes? - Work something out!

Want to make a film but only have a tiny budget? - Get creative!

Want to try something entirely new and different that no one has thought about before and that everyone says is impossible? - Find a solution! Help others see your vision!

These are also the aspects of software development that I love best.

While software can do "anything", such a broad set of options is rarely helpful. Constraints are real, and they drive innovation and creativity. The constraints often lead to discovering that something isn't as impossible as originally thought.

There may be a need for people to build software that is the same as (or a tiny deviation from) what already exists, but I don't want to do that.
Not because it's beneath me but because it doesn't excite me.

I've previously particularly enjoyed projects along the lines of:

"We need it to do X but can't use [the only way anyone has ever done X before]."

or

"We only have 5 weeks to build [seemingly large and complex series of connected software], or we miss out on a massive opportunity for the business."

or

"We want it to do Y, but as no one has ever done that, we don't know if it's possible and can't (yet) see how to do it."

There are two ways such projects can be even more satisfying (to me):

1. When I get to see and hear how the created solution helps people and improves their lives. Even if only in a small way. 
2. When I'm creating something that helps improve things for other software developers. This is because improvements for them are multiplied into more, higher quality software that is beneficial (or even "just" less frustrating) to many more people.

This is, possibly, why I've recently refound an enthusiasm for the possibilities that come from creating software.

2024 wasn't a great year for me. I left what was initially a very exciting project as a team was formed around the work I'd started. As I felt the project moving backwards, it became frustrating and unproductive, and so I stepped away, wondering if this was even an industry I wanted to stay in.

Side note. Many months later, a simpler version of the project was launched, which received much acclaim and positive reactions. Hopefully it will go on to be very helpful to a lot of developers, but I can't talk about it in any detail.

I planned to take some time off and reassess my career plans.

That's not how it played out, as I sustained a physical injury that meant I had six months where all I could do was sit (literally) and watch the world (and work) go by.

It was like a miniature version of the COVID-19 lockdowns, but just for me.

Upcoming plans were cancelled. These included career goals, planned jobs, and events I'd been looking forward to for months (and even years in one case.) It was not a happy time.

At the start of 2025, when once again mobile and recovering well, I determined to forget the past year and try and find not only paid work (because bills don't stop when people do) but something that would excite me again. A way to use my creative problem-solving skills that could help other developers improve the overall quality levels of the software in the world.

As my experience is with native (rather than web) technologies and because I've spent a lot of time over the last few years thinking about how it can be easier and more productive to work with XAML, I've been thinking about that once again. As I refine what I would have previously thought was "too big an idea for me", I also look forward to sharing more about that soon.