In the end, all the "wisdom" in the world, all these posts about Development … it has to be tempered by reality. You only really know the worth of what you know when you are tested. When you are put through the fire. What comes out the other side.
In development, we can be dealing with great pressures. There are some of us who have created systems for hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of customers. This pressure would be huge. Especially when the systems created hinge into the very livelyhood of the customer.
When the rubber hits the road, when a big bug comes crawling out of the pantry, when you run up against some functionality/barrier/support that seems insurmountable … this is when we find our mettle. How we do battle as programmers, developers, designers. How we are forged in the heat of war, so to speak.
Through the other side, and you know what you are made of. You know the worth of that nugget of self-belief or whatever that lives within your soul.
A little maudlin this morning … but it’s the current mood :).