The art and the artist.

Bredan Nduko — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 07:23:22 +0000

Who is an artist? What makes an artist special? Is it the person, or is it the work they create?

People possess remarkable minds. We think, imagine, dream, and perceive the world in countless unique ways. Art is one of the purest forms of expressing those inner worlds. Whether through painting, music, poetry, sculpture, dance, or writing, art allows the invisible to become visible.

More often than not, art is a reflection of the artist. If an artist carries pain, anger, or bitterness, those emotions often echo through their work. If they are driven by lust or selfish ambition, traces of those desires can be found in their craft. Conversely, when an artist is filled with compassion, hope, joy, or love, those qualities also shine through. Art becomes a window into the human soul.

At its best, art is deeply personal yet universally understood. It should be unique to the artist while still speaking to those who experience it. It touches something fundamental within us because it comes from a real place. That connection reminds us that, despite our differences, we are all human. We all know love and loneliness, courage and fear, generosity and selfishness, triumph and failure. Genuine art resonates because it reflects truths we all share.

Many people see software as nothing more than logic, syntax, and problem-solving. But great software is also art. A programmer begins with an idea that exists only in the mind and transforms it into something people can use, experience, and even depend on. Every design decision, every elegant algorithm, every carefully named function, and every thoughtful user experience reflects the mind behind the code.

Just as a painter chooses colors and a musician chooses notes, a programmer chooses abstractions, architectures, and algorithms. Clean code reflects clarity of thought. Messy code often reveals rushed thinking or neglected craftsmanship. The software we build inevitably carries something of ourselves—our patience, discipline, creativity, and values.

The best programmers do more than make software that works. They create software that is understandable, maintainable, beautiful, and meaningful. Like great art, great code communicates. It tells a story to the next developer who reads it. It solves problems with elegance rather than unnecessary complexity. It respects both the machine and the people who will interact with it.

Art is extraordinarily powerful. It can inspire or corrupt, heal or divide, challenge or comfort. Software carries that same power. The applications we build influence how people communicate, learn, work, spend their time, and even think. A single program can educate millions, connect families across continents, empower businesses, or spread misinformation. Because of this, programmers carry not only technical responsibility but moral responsibility as well.

So create.

If you can sing, sing. If you can play an instrument, play. Write poetry. Write articles. Write books. Paint. Build crafts. Design. And if your medium is software, write code that serves people well. Build systems that solve real problems. Create products that reflect excellence, integrity, and compassion.

Whatever form your art takes, pour your soul into it. At the same time, allow yourself to be transformed by the things you create and the art you consume. Strive to become not only a better artist or programmer, but a better human being.

In the end, every creation leaves a fingerprint of its creator. Make yours one that brings light into the world.

Learning to code

Bredan Nduko — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 10:42:57 +0000

The Creator Void: My Journey from Machines to Code

I have always had an inner urge from my childhood; I have been a curious kid from early. I vividly remember figuring things out on my own—how phones work, how machines are built. Every opportunity to disassemble a machine was a golden chance. I questioned things, I tried things, and I failed at many, of course. But importantly, I learned how things work, and that has always been a life thread for me.

I think of myself as intellectually thirsty, with a "creator void" inside me. I’m not satisfied with mere attainments. However, there have been sidetracks and "sideshows," as my dad would call them, that have kept me from reaching the ultimate version of me—but today, that would not be our topic.

The Barrier of the "Qualified IT Guy"

Growing up in my teens, my passion with gadgets did not diminish but became augmented. I started opening up CPUs, disassembling the CMOS and the hard drives, reassembling them, and installing operating systems. But I dreaded one thing: writing lines of code. I never thought I was worthy or qualified. I always looked to a point in the future when my brain would be able to comprehend such things.

Fast forward to my campus days doing my Bachelor’s in Business and IT. I had started out hot, but again, to use my dad's words, I became sidetracked. I abandoned the journey for a long time—so long that I graduated without being a "qualified IT guy." But life granted me a chance once again to rediscover the ultimate me. For the past two months, I have written more lines of code than I have written my entire life, and there is something I’m learning from all this that I hope helps software engineer aspirants.

1. The House and the Foundation

Just as building a house requires a solid foundation, a software engineer needs to be grounded on elementary principles of writing code. Learn how data is manipulated at the very core—strings manipulation, bytes, bits, ASCII. Learn the foundational blocks and know them very well. It can take up to a month of consistency just practicing the basics, but later, as you start working on projects like building simple tools, you will realize that you are just applying fundamental blocks but now compiling them.

Think of it like building a kitchen: you will use many different blocks, but you design it in a way that serves the purpose of cooking. I insist highly on being grounded on the building blocks.

2. The Freedom of the Disciplined

Secondly, to code requires a high frequency of consistency. You must make sure that you practice almost daily; you make it a part of your life. There is no other way to scale up. You must be consistent and disciplined. As the great Eliud Kipchoge would say: "Only the disciplined ones are free in life. If you are undisciplined, you are a slave to your moods and your passions." You might be very talented, but all that talent will avail to nothing if you are not disciplined in life. As it is written in Ecclesiastes 9:11: "I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happens to them all."

3. The Magic of Peer-to-Peer Learning

Thirdly, I would highly recommend peer-to-peer learning. It’s good to spend time alone trying to figure things out, but it should not end at that. There is a magic that sparks when you unite with like-minded peers. Sharing your ideas makes you understand them better.

Most importantly, you get to see things from a different light and a different perspective when others share their ideas and approach to problem-solving. Your understanding broadens. There is always a "good leaf" to borrow from others. As Charles Hazlitt Puffer wrote: "He who does not read the thoughts of others will never have any of his own." It is just as it is put in Proverbs 27:17: "Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."

well, the journey has not been straight, there have always been crooked and thorny paths and to you, i do not promise a smooth journey, but a sure arrival.