CAT | Developers
An experiment, posted on LessWrong.com that led to a further diatribe on rationality and rational thinking traps got me thinking too. Here’s the problem:
Once upon a time, there was an instructor who taught physics students. One day she called them into her class, and showed them a wide, square plate of metal, next to a hot radiator. The students each put their hand on the plate, and found the side next to the radiator cool, and the distant side warm. And the instructor said, Why do you think this happens? Some students guessed convection of air currents, and others guessed strange metals in the plate. They devised many creative explanations, none stooping so low as to say “I don’t know” or “This seems impossible.“
Read more on Why Does Simplicity Escape Programmers?…
Recently, I was the happy recipient of some very condescending “advice” from the architecture group of a client. The tone, quality and delivery of the information completely overwhelmed the actual message (some of which was actually relevant, and some was off in left field). This pleasant experience reminding me why the term “software architect” has come to be synonymous in some circles with “arrogant jerk who forgot what it’s like to code on a real project”.
Read more on How to Avoid Being the Asshole Architect…
Quick! Answer the following question without thinking about it:
How would you rate your programming skills? (Below Average, Average, or Above Average)
Based on psychological studies across many different groups, about 90% of all programmers will answer “Above Average”.
Read more on The Problem With ‘Above Average Programmers’…
So, think you’ve got what it takes to be a consultant? Feeling the itch because your current job isn’t motivating you like it used to?
The independence, prospect of better money and the potential for starting your own business make this idea very seductive. A million others have tread this path before you so you’d think it would be easy, right?
Read more on Secrets of Successful Consultants Revealed…
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Top Three Motivators For Developers (Hint: not money!)
29 Comments | Posted by Dave in Developers
Software has long since lost its glory-days status. We’re not the go-to field anymore. Geeks are no longer revered as gods amongst humanity for our ability to manipulate computers. We get crappy jobs just like everyone else.
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So far we’ve established a few things from the last post on Jedi Software Training:
- We already implicitly and perhaps accidentally practice the Apprentice/Master model in software development today.
- The route to Software Master is paved with ambiguity. Most who achieve it can’t tell you how they got there.
Read more on Jedi Software Training–Part 2…
Software engineering is perhaps the youngest of all the engineering disciplines (and some would even argue, we don’t practice an engineering discipline at all). But like all disciplines, an engineer must be trained in order to achieve a level of competence to practice their craft with any proficiency.
Read more on Jedi Software Training–Part 1…
There seems to be a fundamental debate raging: Is software more like mad science or plumbing?
This debate came to my attention via Mike Taylor’s article: What Ever Happened to Programming? Mike’s argument is that programming is nothing more than plumbing today and it’s no longer fun. He believes that there’s more fun to be had as a “mad scientist” developer, building everything from scratch with materials at hand. So let’s look at the two major camps of this argument:
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Older Developers: Bad Habits Are Killing Your Career
10 Comments | Posted by Dave in Developers
OK, so my last post about five pervasive myths about older software developers was definitely getting a lot of:
Go old guys!
“Old guys! Old guys! Rah-rah-rah!”
in the comments. And it wasn’t necessarily undeserved…after all, it was about debunking myths that have crept in as supposed truisms over the years. But I left out a tiny little detail about something important.
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Five Pervasive Myths About Older Software Developers
52 Comments | Posted by Dave in Developers
I recently celebrated my 40th birthday. A friend joked to me, “Hey, guess that means you’re too old to program anymore!” I laughed on the outside, but it gave me pause. Age discrimination is nothing to laugh about in our field. COBOL guys faced this problem years ago as Java guys like me were ascending the ranks, and we laughed heartily about legacy code and their inflexibility with new technology.
Read more on Five Pervasive Myths About Older Software Developers…
