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Ricardo A. Mercado
Ricardo A. Mercado

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Software is like poetry

When I was in school I used to write a lot of poetry and I remember trying to express a feeling or an emotion in the best possible way I could to project exactly what I wanted it to be. That feeling or emotion could be written in many different ways to express the same message, but as the creator of the content, one’s self looks for the correct words that connect with what your mind is trying to portray and exhibit in the poem. Coding is no different to this.

When you are writing code you are creating software that has the goal of accomplishing something. That something represents the expression or projection you, as the creator, want to achieve with writing the code for that software. And that something is going to be coded/written the way your mind is trying to portray the behavior of that software to accomplish that “something”, the same process when writing a poem.

Poetry can be written in many different languages.
Software can be written in many different languages.

Poetry is written to express a message or stimulate an emotion. It is written to achieve something.
Software is written to complete a task or produce a result. It is written to achieve something.

Poetry can be written in a infinite of different ways and express the same message or stimulate the same emotion.
Software can be written in an infinite of different ways and complete the same task or produce the same result.

Poetry can be poorly written and can also fail in expressing the message or stimulating the emotion.
Software can be poorly written and can also fail in completing the task or producing the result.

In the end, both practices, writing poems and coding software, require a creator with the ability to express whatever he or she wants to achieve exactly how it is manufactured in the mind. These arts that manifest themselves as opposites, emotion and logic, so I feel that if a person practices one, they should consider practicing the other to create a balance in perspective and/or thinking process, as well as embracing the duality of all that is executed in life.

Top comments (3)

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robertfish profile image
Robert Fish

An amazing comparison which bare very close similarities!

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shindakun profile image
Steve Layton

Nice post! code-poetry.com/ is a great little site for literal "code poetry".

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eripanci profile image
Eri Pançi

Great writing. Also to become a better poetry writer, one should read a lot poetry to learn techniques and new words. The same goes for software, I think.