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Comment by coglethorpe | Hacker News Reader

"I want to build something exciting to me."

I agree there. I use power tools, but I don't build them. OK, I think about building electric motors sometimes, but I haven't tried yet. What I really want is a nice table with tapered legs, so I use the best tools I can get to do that job well. Someone else might use the table to help them build something else.

It's the same with code, we keep builing things and sometimes those things are used to build something else. Sometimes that's obvious, like libraries or frameworks that are dedicated to being part of some other software solution, but often the softare helps someone build something else that isn't software.

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I'm curious. In your woodworking practice, do you use/invent custom jigs to make some of your construction/cutting process faster? What types of projects do you enjoy making?

I ask because the master woodworker I took my one class from had a library of custom jigs. He was also amazing to watch, even when planing a board. Confident and skilled. His passion was making shaker-style chairs. Chairs are hard to make because they have to be constructed properly (so many external stresses from people sitting in it, rocking back etc.)

I loved his philosophy of there is no right way to do something (in the woodshop) - only smarter, faster, and safer. And how he revealed the secret of shims to make a joint snug.

I could go on and on. Suffice it to say, you can learn a lot by taking a furniture making class, taught by a master.

You know, I thought about jigs as being sort of like software libraries. I've made jigs for specific projects mostly, but I've made a tapering jig for my table saw and an extension table for my miter saw that I've reused.

One thing I've learned is that there is indeed more than one way to build something. I've been able to take advantage of that when I didn't have the tool a project used, but knew how to get the job done with another.

It's much the same in software. There are many different ways to get the job done. Some tools are certainly better for a job than others, but often one can cut something two different ways and still end up with the same result.

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