The fear of not knowing how to end something makes us postpone its beginning. To start something is to accept potential failure. It is accepting that a house could end up being only a single brick, or even collapse. Like this blog, this post or any project.

Why start anything?

Before we ask ourselves how, we must answer why. To start is to decide, so to reduce, to cut down, to shoot down. The alternative is the real target of the decision. Why an action would be better than any other?

The first alternative is to do nothing. In the true sense, this is an impossibility. The living cannot know nothingness. Buddhists think it’s going to be found in meditation which is a conscious and difficult practice. In the Star Trek universe the enforcement of the Prime Directive is often a hard choice for the crew of the Enterprise. Non-intervention is an effort, or even a sacrifice. Whereas “doing nothing” commonly means the choice of ease. To do nothing is to do as usual, to not try, thus to be bored.

The ideal alternative is based on three pillars. First of all, it must be desirable. If the spark of desire shines then the action can be undertaken for itself. Secondly, it must be useful. Its purpose allows for the will, the fuel essential for persevering whatever the difficulties. Finally, it must be feasible. Under a rainstorm the fire of action will not burn.

The decision, and therefore the choice of the alternative, is really a tradeoff between these three qualities. These are the reasons for action.

From decision-making to action

A developer spends most of his time solving problems. For this he needs the collective intelligence of the community to which he belongs. Developer blogs are an essential part of this intelligence and therefore of this activity.

From a more personal point of view, they allow those who write them to make themselves known to their peers, to acquire a certain reputation and thus to gain independence. On the technical side, transmitting knowledge makes it easier to learn and therefore to gain competence.

Once the reasons are found, it all boils down to the first step. For this blog it is the first post. For this post, paragraph one. Then the first sentence and finally the first word. The rest follows if the reasons are valid.

Conclusion

All of this to say: “Hello World!”. I’m starting my blog, my Dev Carnet.

I intend to write at least one post per month. They will talk about a variety of topics more or less related to the world of software development and new technologies.

There will be technical posts that will document the inevitable adventures inherent to this thing of ours (programming I mean), and which - I hope - will help those who have chosen the same path. Then posts dealing with more general or even abstract topics, like this one.

See you soon!