See "Software Creativity 2.0" by Robert Glass for a practitioner-oriented accessible treatment. Its a great book that is basically written as a narrative of the author's thoughts on programming creativity. Since it is very accessible, very broad, and heavily grounded in practitioner experience, It might be a good starting point.
http://www.developerdotstar.com/books/software_creativity_glass.html I have read both the original and the new version, and recommend the new one (at the above link). John Daughtry Penn State University http://john.daughtryhome.com On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 8:48 AM, alex <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi all, > > I'm wondering if models of creative processes in programming have been > proposed in the literature. > > It seems to me there are several models involved. Firstly, models in > a programmer's head of what a program is for and/or how it should > operate. Secondly, models in the computer, the structured text of the > source code, and (when married with a language interpreter), its > operation over time. > > Considering the case of a programmer working without a clear > specification, for example to compose some music or some other partly > serendipitous task, the relationship between the program and > programmer seems complex and dynamic. The programmer somehow has an > idea, comes up with an algorithm to implement it, and then types it in > to their text editor. The process of typing in the algorithm requires > that everything about it is made explicit, including areas of its > operation that the programmer may not have considered. This may feed > back to cause the programmer to modify the original idea they had. > They then run the algorithm which might surprise the programmer with > unintended consequences, good or bad, again causing them to reflect > upon and modify their original idea. The programmer decides on the > next edit in response, and around it goes. > > I imagine work has already been done in this area, could anyone > suggest references? I'd be very interested in any opinions on the > above ideas too, and on the subject of programming and creativity in > general. > > Best wishes, > > alex > > -- > The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt > charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302). > >
