DjangoCon Europe 2024 | The attentive programmer

Explore the transformative power of attentive programming, where noticing, understanding, and responding bring a sense of pleasure and fulfillment, allowing programmers to create something meaningful with ease and intention.

Key takeaways
  • Paying attention is a form of creation, just like God’s act of creation.
  • Attentive programming is about noticing, understanding, and responding to something, rather than just willing something to exist.
  • Intention is often overvalued in programming and often leads to exhaustion and burnout, while attention can bring a sense of pleasure and fulfillment.
  • Attention is about being present and noticing things, whereas intention is about willing something to happen.
  • Programming is a form of creation, but it often gets misinterpreted as just about writing code, rather than about understanding and responding to something.
  • The relationship between attention and intention is complex, and it’s easy to get caught up in intention without paying attention.
  • Paying attention can be a powerful form of creation, but it requires effort and practice.
  • Attentive programming is about bringing things into existence through attention, rather than just willing them to happen.
  • Attention is about noticing patterns, rhythms, and meanings, whereas intention is about willing something to happen.
  • Attention is often undervalued in programming, but it’s essential for creating something meaningful.
  • Attentive programming is not just about writing code, but about understanding and responding to something.