Ask HN:hey developers, what brings you joy?

Deleting code: leaving behind simplicity, and bringing order where there was chaos.

Making progress. Looking through my old code shows me just how much I've improved :)

One of my favorite parts of developing is seeing my code get used. I suspect it's a bit like the pleasure a chef has when he watches someone enjoy his cooking.

As a developer, I feel joy with following:

-My code finally compiles/runs without errors after a long battle with a bug/issue.

- Reading through my code after a few days and realizing I did something no matter how small.

- Refactoring a really messy/sphagetti code and getting it to work the first time

Shipping the product. I'm your average developer, work in a small software shop, not a startup, not a fortune 500 company. Getting the thing out of my hands, and into the hands of our customers makes me happy.

For my own personal projects: having users use it. I started with android apps last year, very slowly (too slowly), but having someone use the app brings joy to me. My first project, which was a website in about 2003, got me into a slump after there were only a couple of people who even tried it (should have marketed it, thinking about it now). However I still use it - so it's not a total waste.

I am actually afraid of writing beautiful code, as when that was my goal, each of those projects have either been canceled (at work), or never made it past recoding stage (at home).

Another thing that brings me joy is solving a complicated client issue. Normally our support solves all the issues, however when we did first large scale installations, I was sent to customer site to diagnose a large list of problems. It feels good to make issues go away.

Beer

Working with and learning from people who are smarter than I.

Finding a solution to a problem that I've been hung up on, especially if it's one of those "well, can't search google for a solution to THIS". When the solution comes as a surprise. Spend three hours trying to figure something out, then go to the grocery store and have that "AHA! I got it" moment.

Writing 100+ lines of code and having them work on the first run.

Infact hacking new things , customizing product as per my needs brings me joy.