Adventures in .NET
The reward of a thing well done is having done it. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Okay but wasn't Ralph always a little crazy? Take this quote for an example. What did he mean? If you put the word "well" in italics to add some emphasis, then this statement doesn't make much sense. What's the point of doing something WELL if its only reward is to get it done? Why not do it in a hurry then, and style-points be damned.
A bit wonky, but hey look at the kind of world we have. Do you get a lot of personal satisfaction from doing a bad job even if the pay is good?
I think the reward of doing something well is the knowledge of your own competenancy. It feeds your ego, and you feel more secure in your ability to handle challenges. Do any other programmer's have this problem? My current job isn't especially challenging, and I know several times I've caught myself making some meninal task harder on purpose, just for a little excitement. Of course, this is not a good habit for enterprise apps with large teams as it breaks the KISS rule (i.e. keep it simple stupid). The next person who follows you and looks at your code will be really annoyed that you obfuscated such a simple task.