The Never-Ending Painting: Chardin and the Modern Software Developer

The Never-Ending Painting:  Chardin and the Modern Software Developer


Just a little more here, just a bit more light in the corner, I think. It's almost imperceptible, this change I’m making, but I see it—the shadow isn't quite right, the contrast needs deepening. The gallery is silent, the painting hangs already admired, already ‘complete’ in the eyes of others. But they don’t see what I see. There’s always something to improve. What would it hurt to touch up the corner? Will anyone notice? Probably not, but I’ll notice. The work is never really finished, not if I’m being honest. Not until I stop seeing ways to make it better…


Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin

These are the thoughts that likely ran through the mind of Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, a perfectionist painter who couldn’t resist revisiting his works even after they were on display. His paintings—meticulous and celebrated—were never quite good enough in his eyes. The constant touch-ups, the endless refinements, became a signature part of his process. For Chardin, the act of creation was never truly over; his art lived in the space between what it was and what it could still become.


This relentless pursuit of perfection isn’t just a painter’s quirk—it’s the unwitting model for software developers everywhere. Just as Chardin returned to his gallery to tweak the light in a shadow or adjust a color, developers find themselves in a similar position with their software—always improving, never fully finished.


Chardin’s Relentless Perfectionism

Chardin’s attention to detail is what made his work stand out, but it also kept him forever in the process of creation. He became famous for his still-life paintings, imbued with subtlety and texture. But the story that resonates most is how he couldn’t leave his completed works alone. Gallery staff and art collectors would chuckle as Chardin returned to “touch up” pieces that were already framed and hanging.


Why couldn’t he stop? Because he was never fully satisfied. The painting might have looked complete to the world, but to him, it was an ongoing project—one that required constant care and fine-tuning. The process was fluid, and perfection was a moving target.


The Software Developer’s Endless Iteration

In the world of software development, Chardin’s mindset feels almost prophetic. Software, much like a painting, is never truly finished. Once released, it begins a life of its own—used, tested, and exposed to countless situations its creator never imagined. And as the users interact with it, flaws are revealed, new opportunities for improvement surface, and the developer is drawn back to the code, much like Chardin returning to his gallery.


Developers, just like Chardin, engage in a process of continuous refinement. After a release, they may spend days—or even years—optimizing performance, fixing bugs, or adding new features. Just as Chardin adjusted the lighting in a shadow, developers might tweak a function’s efficiency or rework a user interface to make it more intuitive.


And, just like the painter, developers often have to wrestle with the question: “When is it really done?” The answer, much like with Chardin’s art, is that it’s never truly done.


The Unfinished Masterpiece of Software

A piece of software may be considered “production-ready” once it meets initial requirements, but the lifecycle of any program is dynamic. There will always be updates, bug fixes, patches, and adjustments to improve performance. New hardware emerges, security vulnerabilities are discovered, and user feedback creates new demands. Just like Chardin’s painting, software is always a work in progress, always open to improvement.


Developers find themselves in a constant loop of refinement:

• Bug Fixes: Even with exhaustive testing, some bugs will only become apparent once software is out in the wild.

• Performance Tweaks: Optimization never really ends. As software grows in complexity or scale, there are always new ways to make it run faster or more efficiently.

• Feature Updates: User feedback often drives new feature development, adding to the software’s complexity and requiring new iterations.

Why Chardin is the Ideal Model for Software Developers

Without realizing it, Chardin’s relentless touch-ups mirror the experience of any developer. Here’s why:

• Perpetual Improvement: Chardin's inability to step away from his finished work embodies the developer’s mindset. In the digital world, perfection is never attainable, but the pursuit of it is endless.

• Iteration as a Process: Just as Chardin’s art was fluid and changeable, software undergoes a continual process of iteration. From patches to feature rollouts, the cycle of development is never truly static.

• The Art of Refinement: Chardin's subtle touch-ups reflect the kind of fine-tuning developers do behind the scenes. It's not always visible to the end user, but it makes all the difference in quality and performance.

The Infinite Canvas of Software Development

Like a painting in a gallery, software never really stops evolving. The world of technology moves fast, and the demands placed on software change just as rapidly. New devices, operating systems, and user preferences continually reshape what software needs to do. Just as Chardin couldn’t stop perfecting his art, developers can never stop improving their software.


But much like the painter who found joy in the constant pursuit of something better, developers embrace this never-ending process. It’s what drives innovation, leads to better products, and, ultimately, creates the dynamic, ever-changing world of software that we all rely on today.


In a way, Chardin’s “unfinished” masterpieces find their mirror in the software we use daily. Neither is ever truly complete—but that’s where the beauty lies. 🎨💻

Images: Uwe Baumann from Pixabay