I don't like technical writing

I'm not gonna pretend I made this website to "help out other developers". I made it because it looks good to employers to have some sort of site out there and I generally like teaching.

So this is my attempt to put them off (if my salary expectations weren't doing a good enough job of that already).

What I have discovered is that technical writing is not teaching, it's not really even writing either. For me technical writing is a process of feeling incredibly anxious that anything I've written is wrong because all of this [gestures around] is pretty hard.

On a broader level though, does technical writing actually do anything to help make better games?

I've now worked on two long term games projects (6 months+), three if you include the one I've been working on outside of work. Luckily they've all been pretty well recieved despite the fact that the code and architecture are... lacking.

This has given me the thought.

What is the point of programming beyond just being the tool that enables you to make things?

Is a good programmer one who gets shit done or is it one who writes good code? Ideally both but this is games, it's never both.

I don't want people to think I'm ignorant, I am aware that good code/architecture have benefits. If you're making a GaaS then you can even put a dollar value on how maintainable and extensible your code is. I'm not talking about this though, I'm talking about making good games.

Even if you understand ECS to the level of Richard Fabian or Mike Acton, will it make the game you're working on a better game? Understanding technology and it's constraints only helps you appreciate the limitations that you have to work within and the types of experience you can make. It doesn't mean that the actual product is going to be good, I would even go as far as to say there is no correlation between the quality of the code and the quality of the final product.

How many 4/10 games and failed start up companies rest on the foundations of a SOLID codebase?

I was recently describing my thoughts on programming to a friend (also a programmer) and I offhandedly said what I have felt for maybe a couple of years now.

I don't really like programming

As an activity, programming, does very little for me. I hate getting stuck on bugs and I don't really find it satisfying when I fix them except for the 10ish seconds after it happens. Breaking down tasks into smaller subtasks isn't a special magic thing exclusive to programming, most jobs have this parrallel in one way or another.

I often describe myself as a "product focused programmer". I want to make things and programming is just the only way I know how to. If I could do it another way (that I enjoyed more) then I would.

This is now going to be pretentious.

My thoughts on programming are similar to the way (I have to imagine) a painter thinks about paint. Studying the nuance and the relationships of the subject, figuring out how to use what's in front of you to solve a complex/abstract problem is absolutely an interesting and compelling part of the job. But I'm not here to paint I'm here to make art.