DEV Community

Waqas Younis
Waqas Younis

Posted on

Find something worth solving, not what you can solve.

Image description

I follow how software and programs were developed back in the day; one of my favorites is the creation of VisiCalc. When the computer keyboard used to have only left and right keys, no up and down keys, they developed a spreadsheet software. Isn't that amazing?

After reading a couple of articles and watching some videos, I wrote the calculation in my personal-tech diary:
"Don't think of it as if the problem is actually solvable by you or not. Or it must be easy, there could be a possibility that you need to go extra mile to bring it to life."
"The only thing you need to think about is that the problem actually exists and people are willing to pay to get it solved" 20th December 2023

Consider it as a signal to start working on the idea that you think it's too big for you.

Cheers.
PS: Pardon my handwriting, I am better at typing. :)

Top comments (2)

Collapse
 
jonrandy profile image
Jon Randy 🎖️ • Edited

"The only thing you need to think about is that the problem actually exists and people are willing to pay to get it solved"

The danger with this way of thinking is that you might not be able to find a problem to solve - and might end up with a kind of 'writer's block'. The thing most people don't seem to realise is that it doesn't matter - projects do not have to solve problems or be useful to be worthwhile. You should make things because you want to make them. Go nuts! Use your imagination, build anything you like, in any way you like. The journey is very often more enjoyable than the destination (especially so in programming). Projects do not need a goal, or a useful reason to exist - they can be purely for fun, be pieces of art, be crazy experiments, be false starts, or be never finished. The most enjoyable projects I work on are usually ones like this - it's like being a kid and letting your imagination run wild with Lego.

Enjoy programming, don't take it so seriously! 😃

Collapse
 
waqas334 profile image
Waqas Younis

You are right, in a context where you want to enjoy the journey. That's a different thing. If you want to build things you want others to use, then you must research.