Do professional software developers still dream of creating industry/world-changing apps?

Posted by Andrew Heath on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by Andrew Heath
Published on 2011-02-23T02:24:38Z Indexed on 2011/02/23 7:33 UTC
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personal-projects

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personal-development

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ideals

I'm a hobby programmer. The absence of real world deadlines, customer feedback, or performance reviews leaves me free to daydream about having and implementing The Next Great Idea That Changes the World. Of course I'm aware I probably have a better chance of winning the lottery, but it's fun to imagine knocking out some fully-homebrewed app that destroys the status quo.

I know many professional programmers have side projects, some for profit others not. I was wondering on the way to work this morning (non-IT boring work) if having to code for your food tended to dampen the dreaming? Does greater experience leave you jaded and more focused on the projects at hand?

Not trying to be a downer, just interested in the mindset of the real software professional :-)

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