New Survey: Why do you write code?

I don't usually dedicate a full post to introducing a survey, but I think this survey needs some extra explanation to ensure accurate results. The question posed in the new blog poll is simple:

"What is the primary reason you write code?"

We all are motivated to write code for different reasons. No reason is necessarily better than another, but understanding that not all programmers are programming for the same reason is essential when we interact with people in the .NET community. For purposes of this survey, I want you to indicate which of these three groups most closely defines why you write code:

1. "Enjoy coding" - this is the group for people that don't just write code, they write good code. Nobody's perfect, of course, but if you're in this group you would feel bad releasing code that wasn't at least covered by unit tests. If you're the type of person that is always using coding best practices, following well defined coding patterns, and in constant pursuit of writing the most optimized and concise code possible, this is the group for you.
   
   
2. "To create solutions for problems" - this is the group for people that see coding as a means to an end. You enjoy coding and you may even occasionally try to implement a pattern here or there, but your primary motivation is to just write code that works so that a real world problem can be solved. You're aware of issues like performance and optimization, but you care more about seeing the solution than seeing great code.
   
   
3. "To eat" - this group is for those of you that code but wish you didn't have to. At the very most, you don't mind coding because it pays the bills, but you'd rather be doing something else if you thought you could make money doing it. I don't expect many readers of this blog to fall in to this category, but you never know. If you consider yourself a "9 to 5" programmer (you're involvement and interest in anything code related ends when you leave work) this is your group. To you, a .NET User Group meeting might as well be a Tupperware party, and you wouldn't be caught dead at either.

There is obviously some gray area between these groups, and we all are probably a blend of these characteristics to some degree. For the survey, vote for the group that most identifies you. The goal is to discover how you think of your relationship with programming and to visualize the different types of programmers in the .NET community. Cast your vote now and check-back for the results in a couple of weeks.

Note to RSS subscribers: The poll is on the right side of the blog and cannot be embedded in posts. Please take a second to visit the site and cast your vote, too.