Programming, software development, and software engineering: We are taught to solve puzzles and do what we’re told. We carry these lessons into our jobs and careers without deliberation. Old fashioned software engineering aims to make no mistakes; agile aims to render programmers compliant, and commands them make money for their bosses. For the past year I’ve been exploring what creativity means during the act of writing, and I’ve been doing it by constructing a software partner that acts as a scientific engine of discovery — a partner that displays a flair for the strange that even the most daring poets can rarely match. I don’t have requirements, I don’t have specifications, and I normally don’t have a plan much beyond a guess. If my program doesn’t surprise me, I cry “failure!” and lament.

I’ll explore what programming is, how software can act as a collaborator, show you how the agile practices are like training wheels, and explain how a program can astound.

All in Lisp, of course.