Tim Clark

I am a software engineer working for Can Factory, a small technical consultancy in London.

What craftsmanship means to me

Through the vagaries of the UK educational system I can make every type of pastry from scratch, cleanly solder and de-solder, but I can't do basic carpentry. I wouldn't consider or even aspire to craftsmanship in baking, electronics or carpentry (even though I am educated to a high level in one of these fields) but I do aspire for that goal with software engineering.

To me craftsmanship is taking the time to make something correctly and potentially beautifully. This may also mean you are very good at what you do - or you can make some difficult things look easy because you have done them over and over again!

A lot of my inspiration comes from people who actually make, or try to make physical objects, for example this forum thread follows a skilled woodworker discovering how to make a guitar.

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