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I agree with the OP, but the most important part of Jiro's philosophy is his believe that one must choose a craft and dedicate one's life to perfecting it.

If this is the mindset that you take towards your work, you will naturally seek out the best in your field and learn what they do best to incorporate it into your own approach.

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Is there such a thing as craft in programming? Our industry changes so fast that it's difficult to imagine anyone becoming a master craftsman.

Yes. At least, a lot of people claim there is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_craftsmanship

I'm not particularly a fan of the "software craftsman" moniker/movement but I think there can be craft to it. Technologies come and go but programming language paradigms, core algorithms, and fundamental ways of working with code tend to remain similar across the decades.

Daniel Pink's "Drive" is a manifesto around this idea. I think all craftsmen should read it.

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