Do you code for profit…or for fun?

I don’t know how first came up with this attention-farming post, but have heard the question posted…

Do you write code for fun or for money?

This is absurd.

For starters, it’s a false dichotomy implying you can only be one or the other. You either code for money OR you code for fun. This is an arguing strategy I see far too often. The author is angling to get you to talk yourself into agreeing with them on some topic. Hence, they concoct the “opposite” of what is the “right” answer, and then proceed, probably with several strawman arguments, about how the “opposite” is wrong and what they started with is “right”.

And I’m assuming you KNOW this.

We ALL know this. We can see it from a mile away.

The real nut buried in this particular instance, is the idea that somehow, someway, making money is evil and wrong. And that if you are attempting to make money as a pro coder, then you are “impure” in some way.

I first saw this called out in the fiction. The author Derek Murphy in his work BOOK CRAFT mentions that too many authors have been told that “art” can only TRULY be art…when it’s not linked to revenue and profit.

And he summarily smashes the idea to pieces. It’s possible to have true, enjoyable art that you love. And to also earn a living doing it. In fact, the sooner you break yourself of that “starving artist” lie, the better off you’ll be. It will energize you and empower…