> What you perceive to be excellent—in a story, in a leader, in ceramics or painting or music or so on—is not static.
McCloud "Understanding Comics" (1993) points out that most of us are initially drawn in by the visual differences between different comics, but this is succeeded by the discovery of a series of other dimensions, finally winding up with appreciation for the craft of story.
For programs, I don't think anyone's told a story as comprehensive as McCloud did about comics [it's even left a small literature in its wake], but the discussion of Figure 1 on pp8-10 of https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/uploads/prod/2016/1... could be a start in terms of untangling superficial details from deeper aspects?
Not necessarily. Quoting Greg Lemond on training: "It never gets any easier, you just get faster". Constantly pushing yourself into discomfort is the only way to improve and maintain the highest level of performance. Once you think you've "made it" and stop pushing your boundaries, you're already well into decline.
> What you perceive to be excellent—in a story, in a leader, in ceramics or painting or music or so on—is not static.
McCloud "Understanding Comics" (1993) points out that most of us are initially drawn in by the visual differences between different comics, but this is succeeded by the discovery of a series of other dimensions, finally winding up with appreciation for the craft of story.
For programs, I don't think anyone's told a story as comprehensive as McCloud did about comics [it's even left a small literature in its wake], but the discussion of Figure 1 on pp8-10 of https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/uploads/prod/2016/1... could be a start in terms of untangling superficial details from deeper aspects?
readable .. a useful variant on "aim to practice in your zone of discomfort to maximize learning".
The biggest hurdle on that is the question "How do I move the discomfort to the side of pleasure?".
Not necessarily. Quoting Greg Lemond on training: "It never gets any easier, you just get faster". Constantly pushing yourself into discomfort is the only way to improve and maintain the highest level of performance. Once you think you've "made it" and stop pushing your boundaries, you're already well into decline.