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A cardiovascular doctor is very much like a typical programmer. The heart is their program and their job is to debug it and optimize it. They weave through the data paths (blood vessels) to try to find the source of the problem to correct it. Other times, they have to try to advise the owner of the heart on how to care for it (legacy codebase maintenance). There is often problems with the heart that need invasive fixing (refactoring). Other hearts are so badly damaged that they need a device to help them (implementing new features). Sometimes they even come to the conclusion that the heart needs replacing and implement another one (reimplementation and a complete rewrite). Occasionally, things go wrong and the doctor leaves scissors inside the chest where it can destroy the heart (backdoors and logic bombs).

>>2
If an enterprise programmer is a doctor, an actual programmer creates a human being out of thin air.

A plumber is very much like a typical programmer. The toilet is their program and their job is to debug it and optimize it. They weave through the data paths (sewer pipes) to try to find the source of the problem to correct it. Other times, they have to try to advise the owner of the toilet on how to care for it (legacy codebase maintenance). There is often problems with the toilet that need invasive fixing (vigorous plunging). Other toilets are so badly damaged that they need a device to help them (implementing new features). Sometimes they even come to the conclusion that the toilet needs replacing and implement another one (reimplementation and a complete rewrite). Occasionally, things go wrong and the plumber leaves m80s inside the toilet where it can explode the toilet (backdoors and logic bombs).

>>3
He conjures the spirits of the computer with his spells.

A programmer is very much like a typical plumber. The program is their toilet and their job is to unclog it and scrub it clean. They weave through the sewer pipes (data paths) to try to find the obstruction and remove it. Other times, they have to try to advise the owner of the toilet on how to care for it (legacy codebase maintenance). There is often problems with the toilet that need invasive fixing (vigorous plunging). Other toilets are so badly damaged that they need a device to help them (implementing new features). Sometimes they even come to the conclusion that the toilet needs replacing and implement another one (reimplementation and a complete rewrite). Occasionally, things go wrong and the plumber leaves m80s inside the toilet where it can explode the toilet (backdoors and logic bombs).