Think of your favorite action movie. Now imagine going to see that movie in the theater and being taken on a thrilling audiovisual ride with high-speed chases, explosions, and battles, only to have it come to a sudden halt before the good guys take down the bad guys. Instead of seeing the movie’s conflict resolved, when the theater lights come on, everyone is ushered out the door. Although the lead-up was exciting, it’s the climax of the movie that’s important. Without it, it’s action for action’s sake.
Now imagine developing applications and putting a lot of effort and creativity into solving the business problem, but then never deploying the application for others to use and enjoy. Sure, most applications we write don’t involve car chases or explosions (at least I hope not), but there’s a certain rush you get along the way. Not every line of code you write is destined for production, but it’d be a big letdown if none of it ever was deployed.