4

I suspect that like myself, a lot of other users on this site are software developers and are also on Stack Overflow, so hopefully this isn't considered too off topic/niche...

When Hashem creates Adam, Adam is described as being betzelem elokim - in Hashem's image. I think that different professions can relate to this in different ways. A judge may relate to Hashem's aspect of justice and a social worker may relate to His aspect of mercy/kindness. I feel that software developers relate to Hashem's aspect of creativity - we're probably the only job where we give a command and something is brought into existence just from the command itself. We also probably relate to the aspect of justice as well as we focus a lot on rules, and perhaps if we want to ensure a system that does the job well for users, we need to focus on mercy/kindness.

With that in mind, I've been thinking about what we can learn from the Torah in terms of software development. When Hashem created the universe, He did it in multiple steps, even though He could have just brought it into being fully formed. We can learn the importance of building a system in small iterations from this.

When Avraham's three visitors arrive, Rashi explains that these are malachim - angels - messengers of Hashem. According to that opinion, I think this is probably one of the best times in the Torah that we get insight into the way that the universe is run day to day as the malachim are entities who have an essential role in the functioning of the universe. Rashi explains that each messenger only has a single mission. Hashem could easily have made malachim be capable of multiple functions, but each one has a distinct role. I suggest that we can learn the Single Responsibility Principle from here.

From the same incident, we might have thought that if a single malach was sent just to tell Avraham that he would have a son, the destruction of Sodom would require multiple malachim given the difference in scale of the 2 tasks, but only 1 malach seems to have been sent for that role. Perhaps we can say that we can learn the KISS/DRY principles from here (that's probably a weaker argument).

Finally getting to the actual question... what other principles of software development can we learn from the Torah?

mbloch
  • 51,726
  • 9
  • 92
  • 240
Moses Supposes
  • 3,024
  • 11
  • 19
  • 2
    https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/89670/ptij-how-does-hashem-code-with-bynh – Joel K Nov 06 '23 at 09:16
  • @JoelK That's a great PTIJ, but I'm actually asking this as a serious question! – Moses Supposes Nov 06 '23 at 09:21
  • This is not going to bring source-based answer but purely opinion which may well result in it becoming closed. – Dov Nov 06 '23 at 09:23
  • @Dov As much as it requires some chiddushim, people can use sources for it, and that's what I'm really asking for. Also, it is possible that some Rabbonim have actually written about this over the last few decades – Moses Supposes Nov 06 '23 at 09:35
  • 1
    I've heard that everything can be a lesson in serving Hashem, but this is an interesting inversion. – shmosel Nov 06 '23 at 09:36
  • @shmosel I think it works both ways - if we feel that we're emulating Hashem as part of our work then it helps to strengthen our connection to Him. I don't think that it is a coincidence that games like Minecraft are so popular - people enjoy creating because we're emulating Hashem, but if we're conscious of doing that then it transforms a mundane activity into a mitzva. – Moses Supposes Nov 06 '23 at 09:40
  • 2
    similar – msh210 Nov 06 '23 at 09:57
  • 1
    A lot of Jews suffer from digestive problems. If God, the programmer, messes up a semicolon in heaven, it affects our colons down on earth. – Clint Eastwood Nov 06 '23 at 12:23
  • I was always under the impression that Reb Chaim invented OO software engineering. – The GRAPKE Nov 06 '23 at 15:37
  • "we're probably the only job where we give a command and something is brought into existence just from the command itself": This is NOT correct. You're using libraries created by others. Nothing is being created. – Steve Nov 06 '23 at 21:58
  • @Steve I didn't mean that we're creating something from nothing, but we are creating a unique system, even if it is built on top of other people's work (if you want to look at it on a technical level, we're compiling a unique series of bytes but I'd rather look at it as a unique real system that is useful to people). We're not Hashem, so we can't create from nothing, but if you are trying to relate to the idea that Hashem spoke and that had a direct effect on the way that the world works, software development is possibly the closest we can get – Moses Supposes Nov 07 '23 at 09:02

1 Answers1

3

There is a relevant book which I saw once on the topic: Torah && Tech: Discussions at the Intersection of Torah and Technology

It is a selection of divrei Torah on the parasha with relevant applications to technology.

The book's blurb says

Torah && Tech is a discussion at the intersection of one of the world's oldest wisdom traditions and the modern technological world.

How do we understand artificial intelligence? What is mentorship in a fast-paced business environment? Who owns code? What is the role of self-interest? These and many other questions are covered in this volume of ideas from two rabbis turned software developers.

Ethics and technology are not an either/or proposition. The two must walk hand-in-hand in order to shape the ever-evolving world around us for the good and betterment of all people. Torah && Tech is an exploration into that crucial conversation.

mbloch
  • 51,726
  • 9
  • 92
  • 240