Yesterday I watched a presentation by Tyler Jennings about Software Craftsmanship – a talk he gave at Øredev 2009. I think his presentation was both inspiring and thoughtful, and if you haven’t heard of the concept of Software Craftsmanship, you should most definitely check out his presentation. For me this wasn’t something new, but I got something very valuable from watching; Tyler pointed me in the direction of a man called Corey Haines.

Corey Haines is a really inspiring man – if you ask me. You might already know his story, if not; you’ll learn it from me.

Corey lost his day job in the fall of 2008. Instead of applying for a new job or do a startup like regular people would do, he decided to do something completely new. He went on a 3 week Pair Programming Tour, where he traveled around in the USA to visit other developers. He offered to pair program with them for free if they provided food and shelter. His goal was to learn more about software development by working closely together with other developers.

This was the beginning of his journey to become a master in the craftsmanship of software development. I strongly recommend that you visit his blog, and read his posts and watch the video interviews with the developers he paired up with.

During his tour, Corey paired up with big shots like UncleBob, David Chelimsky, Micah Martin and many, many more.

What inspires me about Corey is his dedication towards Software Development. He spent his savings traveling around to pair up with other developers to learn more about software development. Corey, if you are reading this, and you want to visit Norway sometimes in the future; I can provide you with free shelter and food:)

Here are some of my favorite video posts from his tour: