13.4. Last Words¶

Ultimately, it comes down to taste. It comes down to exposing yourself to the best things that humans have done, and then try to bring those things into what you’re doing.

—Steve Jobs

Software helped put humans on the moon, led to the invention of lifesaving CAT scans, and enables eyewitness citizen journalism. By working as a software developer, you become part of a community that has the power to change the world.

But with great power comes great responsibility. Faulty software caused the loss of the Ariane V rocket and Mars Observer as well as the deaths of several patients due to radiation overdoses from the Therac-25 machine.

While the early stories of computers and software are dominated by “frontier narratives” of lone geniuses working in garages or at startups, software today is too important to be left to any one individual, however talented. As we said in Chapter 10, software development is now a team sport.

We believe the concepts in this book increase the chances of you being both a responsible software developer and a part of a winning team. There’s no textbook for getting there; just keep writing, learning, and refactoring to apply your lessons as you go.

And as we said in the first chapter, we look forward to becoming passionate fans of the beautiful and long-lasting code that you and your team create!