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More and more applications are being built with tools that significantly reduce the need for developers. US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a 3% *DECLINE* in "programmers" between 2008 and 2018, and I am inclined to agree. *Programmers* are an increasing commodity. As systems follow standard patterns more and more closely and better frameworks exist to implement those patterns, demand for developers drops on a per-project basis. Add to that the competition from offshore, and being a *programmer* is a losing proposition.
The real opportunity for the foreseeable future is in software engineering and business analysis. You have to have hands-on with end users and add value to the process. Being the person who translates that vision into reality is a bad career choice.
J.Ja
The real opportunity for the foreseeable future is in software engineering and business analysis. You have to have hands-on with end users and add value to the process. Being the person who translates that vision into reality is a bad career choice.
J.Ja
I've worked in smaller IT shops where the software engineer was the business analyst who was also the developer who (in my case) was also the DBA.
If your software engineer/business analyst is also the person writing the code, I think there are huge benefits. You simply don't lose as much in translation.
I believe that that combined type of developer job will, in fact, be a big deal over the next decade. That type of person makes a huge difference.
-mark
If your software engineer/business analyst is also the person writing the code, I think there are huge benefits. You simply don't lose as much in translation.
I believe that that combined type of developer job will, in fact, be a big deal over the next decade. That type of person makes a huge difference.
-mark
I'm with you on the blended developer. I'm one myself, and I take it a step further by also doing sys admin and networking. Being a programmer helps me run the systems better (I know how to track down problems and understand error messages) and knowing the systems helps me write better code. I also agree that few understand the distinction between a "programmer" and a "software engineer" but it is a critical distinction when you talk about the job market's future. People who don't know better are going to end up as "programmers" and end up on the short end of the stick when they should be focused on being a "software engineer".
J.Ja
J.Ja
The biggest problem with "doing it all" is that this only works in relatively small companies. As companies get larger and larger they start segregating the work. IT (i.e. maintenance, installation/etc of the company network and computers) is seen as being totally separate from development and it is this "IT" that gets outsourced. HR, Benefits, all gets outsourced.
The REAL problem is that companies simply do NOT realize that there are substantial benefits to be had from having the people who DESIGN the software to be the same OR VERY CLOSE TO the people who WRITE it. Writing specs that are interpreted by people in India is a recipe for disaster. I have personally seen this fail multiple times, however, the "manager" who started the project had since been promoted for "saving" so much money and the fact that the project went over budget (even over the budget we had when all development was still in the US) gets buried so no one sees it.
This is the reality of business - it's screw everyone else before they can screw you. Pure capitalism at it's finest...
The REAL problem is that companies simply do NOT realize that there are substantial benefits to be had from having the people who DESIGN the software to be the same OR VERY CLOSE TO the people who WRITE it. Writing specs that are interpreted by people in India is a recipe for disaster. I have personally seen this fail multiple times, however, the "manager" who started the project had since been promoted for "saving" so much money and the fact that the project went over budget (even over the budget we had when all development was still in the US) gets buried so no one sees it.
This is the reality of business - it's screw everyone else before they can screw you. Pure capitalism at it's finest...
Where it fails is in meeting corporate management desire to have their own little empire.
Aided and abetted by us as well. You don't have to be a genius to realise if your manager's niche goes, so do you....
Ever heard a QA Manager argue against writing better code, because it's too expensive.....
Aided and abetted by us as well. You don't have to be a genius to realise if your manager's niche goes, so do you....
Ever heard a QA Manager argue against writing better code, because it's too expensive.....
Substitute the word capitalism with the word humanity and I think you will be closer to the mark.
BobP64 - It's even less recognized by those who have influence in companies, that writing software is designing.
> I also agree that few understand the
> distinction between a "programmer" and a
> "software engineer"
Maybe the reason why so few understand the difference is because there really is no difference. The distinction between terms such as "software developer", or "programmer", or "software engineer" are made only in your own head. If all three terms are used to describe someone who inputs code to produce applications, then it makes no difference what you call them. A rose by any other name, and such.
This is no different from the "title wars" of the last decade, where everyone in the I.T. business tried as hard as they could to outdo each other and make themselves sound more important and more relevant than they actually were. "Chief Technology Officer", my ass. It's a glorified way of saying "Systems Administrator".
When you walk into a Subway to get a sandwich, do you think of the person behind the counter as a "Sandwich Artist"? That's their actual job title, in case you didn't know. But now that you know, does it impress you? Does it make any difference to the quality of your sandwich if the person is known as a "sandwich artist" or simply a "cashier"?
When I was in grade school, the janitor used to be called a "janitor". Today, the exact same guy doing the exact same job is called a "Custodial Engineer".
In hotels, remember when they used to be called "cleaning ladies" or "maids"? Today, the same person doing the exact same job is called an "Environmental Services Aide".
Remember when the guy driving the truck once a week to collect garbage was called the "garbage man"? Today, the same guy doing the same job is called a "Waste Management and Disposal Technician".
Remember when your accountant used to be called an "accountant"? Today, that same accountant is a "Financial Asset Analyst".
I could continue with a list of bogus job titles long enough to fill a book, but you get the idea. So if you want to make yourself feel more important by calling yourself a "Software Engineer" instead of a "programmer", knock yourself out, but don't expect everyone out there to fall for the B.S. you're dishing out.
> distinction between a "programmer" and a
> "software engineer"
Maybe the reason why so few understand the difference is because there really is no difference. The distinction between terms such as "software developer", or "programmer", or "software engineer" are made only in your own head. If all three terms are used to describe someone who inputs code to produce applications, then it makes no difference what you call them. A rose by any other name, and such.
This is no different from the "title wars" of the last decade, where everyone in the I.T. business tried as hard as they could to outdo each other and make themselves sound more important and more relevant than they actually were. "Chief Technology Officer", my ass. It's a glorified way of saying "Systems Administrator".
When you walk into a Subway to get a sandwich, do you think of the person behind the counter as a "Sandwich Artist"? That's their actual job title, in case you didn't know. But now that you know, does it impress you? Does it make any difference to the quality of your sandwich if the person is known as a "sandwich artist" or simply a "cashier"?
When I was in grade school, the janitor used to be called a "janitor". Today, the exact same guy doing the exact same job is called a "Custodial Engineer".
In hotels, remember when they used to be called "cleaning ladies" or "maids"? Today, the same person doing the exact same job is called an "Environmental Services Aide".
Remember when the guy driving the truck once a week to collect garbage was called the "garbage man"? Today, the same guy doing the same job is called a "Waste Management and Disposal Technician".
Remember when your accountant used to be called an "accountant"? Today, that same accountant is a "Financial Asset Analyst".
I could continue with a list of bogus job titles long enough to fill a book, but you get the idea. So if you want to make yourself feel more important by calling yourself a "Software Engineer" instead of a "programmer", knock yourself out, but don't expect everyone out there to fall for the B.S. you're dishing out.
You clearly did NOT read what I wrote. There is a VERY important distinction, both in the industry and as I am using them here (their definitions as the US Bureau of Labor Statistics uses them). One just writes code. The does things like writes specifications, designs overall systems, interacts with other people in the business to determine their needs, and so on. In many smaller companies or departments this is the same person, but in a large company or development team they are VERY different people. For example, those offshore shops have a very small number of "software engineers", but they have piles of "programmers".
J.Ja
J.Ja
One might call it software engineers vs programmers. Another one might just say good programmers vs. bad programmers.
You're not right about offshore shops, at least not about those in Eastern Europe. Usually, all employees have five years of study and at least a bachelor's degree in computer science or information technology. More recently, most go on studying until they get a master's degree.
You're not right about offshore shops, at least not about those in Eastern Europe. Usually, all employees have five years of study and at least a bachelor's degree in computer science or information technology. More recently, most go on studying until they get a master's degree.
before it becomes the decade of the developer, this sort of misguided drivel has to corrected.
A better analogy wuld have been sandwich artist and chef.....
A better analogy wuld have been sandwich artist and chef.....
> A better analogy wuld have been sandwich artist and chef.....
It wasn't supposed to be an analogy. I was making the point that the person who makes your sandwich (the so-called "sandwich artist") is also the same person who takes your money and gives you your change (the cashier). Hence, it makes absolutely no difference what fancy title you put on a person, because underneath it all, they're doing the exact same job.
It wasn't supposed to be an analogy. I was making the point that the person who makes your sandwich (the so-called "sandwich artist") is also the same person who takes your money and gives you your change (the cashier). Hence, it makes absolutely no difference what fancy title you put on a person, because underneath it all, they're doing the exact same job.
with role.
You coul call the guys in subway sandwich chefs as well.
You aren't going to see them doing seven course meals in a five star restaurant though.
Though I must thank you for proving my point that the near total ignorance of the discipline will be the biggest factor against some rise to eminence....
You coul call the guys in subway sandwich chefs as well.
You aren't going to see them doing seven course meals in a five star restaurant though.
Though I must thank you for proving my point that the near total ignorance of the discipline will be the biggest factor against some rise to eminence....
Back in the old days, when programmers were kings, there seemed to be plenty who were software engineers - guys who could flowchart your business process and write the COBOL or whatever. There were also programmers, probably much closer to driver developers today, who could write code that made a piece of hardware do back flips, but would probably have a negative impact if asked to turn a business process into code.
Further, there were guys who could lay out a process for programmers to develop as code, but who could not write any code themselves.
I knew people like this, and I'm rather certain the same circumstance has applied from the days of mainframes, through the micro vs. mini wars, up through today.
I think you will find the software engineer who also writes excellent code (or at least doesn't abuse code or coding frameworks) is a rarer bird than your average dude who can program.
Further, there were guys who could lay out a process for programmers to develop as code, but who could not write any code themselves.
I knew people like this, and I'm rather certain the same circumstance has applied from the days of mainframes, through the micro vs. mini wars, up through today.
I think you will find the software engineer who also writes excellent code (or at least doesn't abuse code or coding frameworks) is a rarer bird than your average dude who can program.
i very much appreciate you terms and it also happens to us.. i for myself has a title of I.T. Manager,but hey our company now has 300 employee and im not managing just the IT Dept. we evolve from being an EDP to be Information Management Service, and then BI comes now not all programmer are ready be a BI Developer, so while having that title is very much not related to the job "WHO CARES " because in our company in terms of ICT that is my TERRITORY! no one will deny it!
I have to say, I'm inclined to agree with alot of what is being said here, but you're making an awfully big generalisation over a whole diverse range of industries. I think there IS a definate distinction between 'programmer' and 'software engineer'. Programmers, in my opinion, are code monkeys (like myself at present). We're given a task, and we bash the keyboard until it works, and usually we don't even get to choose the platform - and do you know what - I'm very happy to be a code monkey, I love it. The Software Engineer on the other hand will take customer needs, design and develop a system and a strategy to write the system to meet those needs - on an appropriate platform, using whatever tools are necessary to do the job (see the definition of engineering). That's two completely different roles - although that's not to say someone couldn't wear both hats.
Your description of "software engineer" would more accurately describe a "system engineer".
I agree Mark (btw, good name), I also work in a small shop where I wear all hats as either primary or backup, since there are only two people in IT. There is a huge need for people like us that are willing to diversify and maintain web sites, fix PC problems, support business apps and databases, while also picking up networking, smart phones, etc.
Personally, I love this kind of variety in my work, but it isn't for everyone. You can't really become an IT pro at anything; wide knowledge and personable, that's what my boss looks for when he hires now.
Personally, I love this kind of variety in my work, but it isn't for everyone. You can't really become an IT pro at anything; wide knowledge and personable, that's what my boss looks for when he hires now.
i think it will help if your company tends to grow... i myself been a programmer .... ad sometimes tinkering and tweaking hardware up to network. It helps me a lot in changing hats in case you have to
mbrown:
A hit more square upon the proverbial head is a task potentially slotted for things more difficult than one may actually accomplish.
To add one additional item...stating 'generally' and 'most of the time', I would take such an individual within my organization even under circumstances whereby IT has been eradicated altogether. My experience has demonstrated such individuals tend to get things done. In this case, "things" may be defined as, well....things.
- Chris B
A hit more square upon the proverbial head is a task potentially slotted for things more difficult than one may actually accomplish.
To add one additional item...stating 'generally' and 'most of the time', I would take such an individual within my organization even under circumstances whereby IT has been eradicated altogether. My experience has demonstrated such individuals tend to get things done. In this case, "things" may be defined as, well....things.
- Chris B
I agree that's going away and morphing into much more of a business analyst role.
However, there's a lot more app work arising from the desire of brands large and small to have apps (the way they used to want websites). This is going to accelerate.
However, there's a lot more app work arising from the desire of brands large and small to have apps (the way they used to want websites). This is going to accelerate.
With Web sites, there was the huge rush for the "business card" sites... the five - ten page site with a minimum amount of backend programming (say, a "Contact Us" form or maybe a simple store), and that work fed zillions of Web designers/developers from 1998 or so to 2005 (that market has substantially died, I may add). That opportunity just is not there for mobile apps. It makes sense that my local hardware store or restaurant or dentist is going to have a small site to tell me their location, specialty, and sales. It does not make sense to have a mobile app for the same. Furthermore, the splintered mobile market and the HTML 5 revolution is going to make it much more likely that folks are just going to overhaul existing Web sites to be mobile-friendly than to write apps. Why write 1 iOS app, 1 Android app, and 1 - 3 apps for the second tier mobile OS' when you can just write 1 Web site? Especially since the Web site is much more discoverable than the apps?
J.Ja
J.Ja
HTML5 certainly can and will be part of the "app" equation, as long as it's not just a mobile skin for a current site.
As for the splintered environment - that's where developers and small teams of developers will thrive by making an app experience that translates between three different screens (PC, mobile, and eventually TV) and across different platforms. That will be the premium work.
HTML5 could be an enabler, but that's backend sausage-making stuff. What really matters will be the developers that can deliver this three-screen unified experience.
No matter what, HTML5 will definitely play a role in making Web sites themselves more app-like.
As for the splintered environment - that's where developers and small teams of developers will thrive by making an app experience that translates between three different screens (PC, mobile, and eventually TV) and across different platforms. That will be the premium work.
HTML5 could be an enabler, but that's backend sausage-making stuff. What really matters will be the developers that can deliver this three-screen unified experience.
No matter what, HTML5 will definitely play a role in making Web sites themselves more app-like.
Most firms application bases are very mature (some might say senile )
Going to be like SaaS and soone the cloud, as soon as you give them the real cost for enabling your existing applications to go SaaS, Cloud, mobile, sheesh even web based, the business will think thrice and go for some crap arse compromise just t badge their stuff with the latest tech fad.
) Going to be like SaaS and soone the cloud, as soon as you give them the real cost for enabling your existing applications to go SaaS, Cloud, mobile, sheesh even web based, the business will think thrice and go for some crap arse compromise just t badge their stuff with the latest tech fad.
Maintenance, typically needed when the requirements change, or someone realizes that they requirements weren't quite right in the first place.
Requirements never change and were always right, it's just us crappy software developers who didn't realise that we should have coded for them as well.
Lack of business alignment is the real problem.
LMAO.
Lack of business alignment is the real problem.
LMAO.
I agree with Jason Hiner that Justin as putting to much emphasis on the traditional corporate software role. I think Justin James is still stuck in the old days. Justin James needs to look at the Internet industry not the traditional data processing computer programming in the enterprise. By the way Computer Programmers are no longer in decline. Check the latest BLS statistics for Software Developer and Computer Programmers. It's not -3 anymore it is now job growth up to 12%.
Justin, I do agree with you when it come to large companies. For them IT was always a commodity and a way to save money. Only IT companies are an exception.
Individual consultants who write useful apps though, will be in high demand. How many people will subscribe to that behavior is questionable. However, the explosive rise of mobile apps, esp. the ones in iStore, are an attestation to the ability of young developers to grasp at opportunities.
Individual consultants who write useful apps though, will be in high demand. How many people will subscribe to that behavior is questionable. However, the explosive rise of mobile apps, esp. the ones in iStore, are an attestation to the ability of young developers to grasp at opportunities.
"More and more applications are being built with tools that significantly reduce the need for developers."
New tools only make software development faster or more efficient. They do not necessarily reduce the number of developers. As you write code more efficiently, there will be more problems and requirements awaiting for you to implement.
20 years ago, my manager who did not know anything about programming, told me that I won't be coding C/C++ anymore after 20 years because there will already be computers cranking out these code for me. LOL.
"The real opportunity for the foreseeable future is in software engineering and business analysis. You have to have hands-on with end users and add value to the process. Being the person who translates that vision into reality is a bad career choice."
So you think that the end-user side of software engineering and business analysis cannot be done by offshore competition?
New tools only make software development faster or more efficient. They do not necessarily reduce the number of developers. As you write code more efficiently, there will be more problems and requirements awaiting for you to implement.
20 years ago, my manager who did not know anything about programming, told me that I won't be coding C/C++ anymore after 20 years because there will already be computers cranking out these code for me. LOL.
"The real opportunity for the foreseeable future is in software engineering and business analysis. You have to have hands-on with end users and add value to the process. Being the person who translates that vision into reality is a bad career choice."
So you think that the end-user side of software engineering and business analysis cannot be done by offshore competition?
1) I have seen first hand (as a developer myself) how some tools do indeed reduce the need for developers. Sure, it means that maybe the same number of developers will just be doing even more work. It depends on the organization. If the "I" in ROI drops, then it is forseeable that the number of projects done goes up.
2) The end-user part of development that BA's and SE's do can definitely be done offshore. But it's a sucker's game. So far, video conferencing, conference calls, etc. have not done a good job at replacing the benefits of face-to-face. There's something unexplainable about it, but if you've ever worked with remote workers, you know exactly what I mean. When designing applications like someone who sells software/services would (as opposed to custom programming for a client), I think that it is quite likely to see even more of this occurring overseas. There is less contact with customers and end users. In the long term, though, there will be much more growth domestically for these kinds of jobs than routine, 40 hours a week programming.
J.Ja
2) The end-user part of development that BA's and SE's do can definitely be done offshore. But it's a sucker's game. So far, video conferencing, conference calls, etc. have not done a good job at replacing the benefits of face-to-face. There's something unexplainable about it, but if you've ever worked with remote workers, you know exactly what I mean. When designing applications like someone who sells software/services would (as opposed to custom programming for a client), I think that it is quite likely to see even more of this occurring overseas. There is less contact with customers and end users. In the long term, though, there will be much more growth domestically for these kinds of jobs than routine, 40 hours a week programming.
J.Ja
Dude! That is mainly occurring in data processing in the IT department! Programmers are also known as Developers as the word programmer is a bit outdated.
Your facts is outdated anyway. The rise of programmers has increased from -3 to now currently 12%.
Want to know why did that change from -3 to positive 13%? It's because the demand of mobile applications like Android and iOS, Web applications has increased dramatically and the demand of developers has increased in the computer software, and Internet industry.
Another factor is that the quality of software development has been declining in India and some programming jobs are slowly being onshore back to the United States.
Get your facts right before speaking. Software Engineers are like Software Architects that design the software by gather the requirements, analysis, documentation and design. While the Programmer also known as Developers converts the blueprint software design from the software engineer in to logical code instructions, which is means starting the implementation and actual code writing process.
But some times developers that work on small teams or work for a very small company many have to do all of about functions similar to the software engineer in the software development lifecycle both in system design and development "implementation".
Programming jobs may be fading away in the Data Processing sector in IT departments of large business but it's not for the Computer systems deign, Computer software or Internet Industry. LOOK at the future for Web Developers and Software developers.
Your facts is outdated anyway. The rise of programmers has increased from -3 to now currently 12%.
Want to know why did that change from -3 to positive 13%? It's because the demand of mobile applications like Android and iOS, Web applications has increased dramatically and the demand of developers has increased in the computer software, and Internet industry.
Another factor is that the quality of software development has been declining in India and some programming jobs are slowly being onshore back to the United States.
Get your facts right before speaking. Software Engineers are like Software Architects that design the software by gather the requirements, analysis, documentation and design. While the Programmer also known as Developers converts the blueprint software design from the software engineer in to logical code instructions, which is means starting the implementation and actual code writing process.
But some times developers that work on small teams or work for a very small company many have to do all of about functions similar to the software engineer in the software development lifecycle both in system design and development "implementation".
Programming jobs may be fading away in the Data Processing sector in IT departments of large business but it's not for the Computer systems deign, Computer software or Internet Industry. LOOK at the future for Web Developers and Software developers.
I've been hoping for this decade since my consulting business dried up after Sept 11. Now I'm moving into app development for Android, iOS platforms.
To the commenter who wrote end-users will develop their own apps: have you looked at Objective C?
The Web is dead? Long live HTML 5!
To the commenter who wrote end-users will develop their own apps: have you looked at Objective C?
The Web is dead? Long live HTML 5!
The importance of apps indeed increases and as consequence the role of the developers.
But as location matters less than ever, there will be an increasing amount of developers from low cost countries, with low cost fees. For a lot of the developers in high cost countries it will be more and more difficult to gain enough money.
But as location matters less than ever, there will be an increasing amount of developers from low cost countries, with low cost fees. For a lot of the developers in high cost countries it will be more and more difficult to gain enough money.
The decades long drive to turn us into glorified clerks has been wildly successful.
So first, there hasn't been a lot of opportunities to ply the real trade.
Second, a lot of those opportunities have gone to glorified clerks, and they've failed horribly....
I've spent a good deal of the last decade plus 'begging' to be allowed to my job properly.
I've had some success, but only through choosing very specific opportunities. I'd say I've expended as much time on trying to get opportunities as I have on them.
I'm not sure the big boys who could effect the change in approach you allude to, actually understand what a competent developer can do.
So first, there hasn't been a lot of opportunities to ply the real trade.
Second, a lot of those opportunities have gone to glorified clerks, and they've failed horribly....
I've spent a good deal of the last decade plus 'begging' to be allowed to my job properly.
I've had some success, but only through choosing very specific opportunities. I'd say I've expended as much time on trying to get opportunities as I have on them.
I'm not sure the big boys who could effect the change in approach you allude to, actually understand what a competent developer can do.
Remember WAP?
How significant is it today and how long did it take to die out?
Now think of shiny mobile apps....you get the picture.
Web development will not die by the true nature of people wanting their business advertised; it will just evolve. Same goes for desktop or web apps...true applications not some device specific plugs & shortcuts.
I know plenty of talented developers/programmers who could not replace toner in their printers...guess who got the support calls? Your trusty IT dept.
How significant is it today and how long did it take to die out?
Now think of shiny mobile apps....you get the picture.
Web development will not die by the true nature of people wanting their business advertised; it will just evolve. Same goes for desktop or web apps...true applications not some device specific plugs & shortcuts.
I know plenty of talented developers/programmers who could not replace toner in their printers...guess who got the support calls? Your trusty IT dept.
So, for new graduates of computer science (or related fields) who are trying to find their niche within their field, what are the most prominant areas / industries / categories to get into?
I have worked in the IT Dept. for a school board (education sector) on and off over the past few years while going to school, however, their is a price freeze and it is the lowest paid sector in my area, so I am hoping to be able to branch out and not only see what else is out their, but find an opportunity, where location doesn't play much of a factor to me.
Without going into greater details, where is the best location (geographically and within the field) to be looking?
I have worked in the IT Dept. for a school board (education sector) on and off over the past few years while going to school, however, their is a price freeze and it is the lowest paid sector in my area, so I am hoping to be able to branch out and not only see what else is out their, but find an opportunity, where location doesn't play much of a factor to me.
Without going into greater details, where is the best location (geographically and within the field) to be looking?
We're back to needing lots of developers because every business wants to have a custom app and the skills to build them are still niche or at least not commoditized yet.
There's no reusability yet, and a lot of effort is being wasted reinventing the wheel. So, more developers are needed.
But, I predict that once people realize that the client/server approach of an app loaded on your phone is a problem and we go back to some kind of thin-client architecture, there will be more thought given to reuse (really, how many times would you want to want to write an app that does dinner reservations).
I love the Gartner Hype Cycle, and we're at the very early stages of it with respect to mobile device apps. Are we at the :peak of inflated expectations" yet? Maybe not, there could still be more hype to come, but we're not far away from the "trough of disillusionment".
When that happens, the need for developers will dry right up. It's no different than the dot com boom and subsequent bust.
There's no reusability yet, and a lot of effort is being wasted reinventing the wheel. So, more developers are needed.
But, I predict that once people realize that the client/server approach of an app loaded on your phone is a problem and we go back to some kind of thin-client architecture, there will be more thought given to reuse (really, how many times would you want to want to write an app that does dinner reservations).
I love the Gartner Hype Cycle, and we're at the very early stages of it with respect to mobile device apps. Are we at the :peak of inflated expectations" yet? Maybe not, there could still be more hype to come, but we're not far away from the "trough of disillusionment".
When that happens, the need for developers will dry right up. It's no different than the dot com boom and subsequent bust.
is driven by their need for something to hype.
Otherwise everybody else would think they were a waste of space as well.....
Otherwise everybody else would think they were a waste of space as well.....
I agree this is the age of the developer. Just as there used to be apps to help you build your own web site, there are apps to help you build your own database.
However, most of the folks who did their own web sites quickly realized that if they want to look good, they need someone familiar with web design concepts (not just print design concepts).
Same with anyone who's tried to build a complete dbs system using MS Access. Simple apps are easy but almost useless. Useful dbs and apps, like useful designs, require expertise and thought--analysis.
And you cannot outsource the all-in-one developer because now you're doing it Agilely, talking to the business owner and giving him revisions regularly and mocking up forms to demonstrate why your questions are critical. You can only outsource development if you can hand a set of requirements to a developer but that is a waste of time nowadays when it takes longer to write requirements down (and analyze to discover what won't work) than it does to just build the app and test it.
However, most of the folks who did their own web sites quickly realized that if they want to look good, they need someone familiar with web design concepts (not just print design concepts).
Same with anyone who's tried to build a complete dbs system using MS Access. Simple apps are easy but almost useless. Useful dbs and apps, like useful designs, require expertise and thought--analysis.
And you cannot outsource the all-in-one developer because now you're doing it Agilely, talking to the business owner and giving him revisions regularly and mocking up forms to demonstrate why your questions are critical. You can only outsource development if you can hand a set of requirements to a developer but that is a waste of time nowadays when it takes longer to write requirements down (and analyze to discover what won't work) than it does to just build the app and test it.
Ad came up on the right of this thread
WEB programmers 10$ an hour
www.qualityprogrammers.com
After all, why pay more.....
Crying My Arse Off.
WEB programmers 10$ an hour
www.qualityprogrammers.com
After all, why pay more.....
Crying My Arse Off.
There is a little more to the world than Mobile apps - what about working in banking and having to produce reports to clients on how their money is doing, working out how much tax to be paid (and legally minimising it), inputting into the General Ledger so the company can produce an annual report etc?
What about the people who design & code the software that is on the CD that "you just put into the drive and it goes"?
Yes, its definately going to be the decade of the Developer - as long as the developer is flexible and works out how s/he can best give the business value for money.
As for the titles, I have a degree that makes me a "Software Engineer" - I also take into account Human/Computer interaction, modularisation, potential growth etc when I'm designing and coding a solution (note - this is a SOLUTION, not just a program).
What about the people who design & code the software that is on the CD that "you just put into the drive and it goes"?
Yes, its definately going to be the decade of the Developer - as long as the developer is flexible and works out how s/he can best give the business value for money.
As for the titles, I have a degree that makes me a "Software Engineer" - I also take into account Human/Computer interaction, modularisation, potential growth etc when I'm designing and coding a solution (note - this is a SOLUTION, not just a program).
Even if the "Decade of the Developer" comes to pass, there will still be a demand for the generalist, who supports the developers' work while they continue to develop. That's not to say the nature of Help Desks and desktop support won't change; they will. But developers cannot do it all by themselves. Us Help Desk Geeks will still have a home, it just may not be as large.
...before technologies such as cloud computing and the many "plug and play" development tools out there (such as Web Services, Google Analytics, Yahoo's API's, etc.) that the entire development process will be "modularized" (is that a word...lol) so that pretty much anyone who knows how to use a computer will be able to piecemeal applications together simply by stacking pre-written code modules. Then it will truly be the end of the Developer. (guess I should go back to school to learn a new trade then, huh)
That's been happening for decades.
We've never been in a position where it's technically successful, financially though no argument.
Cloud etc will have zero impact on the quality of cookie cutting and shake and bake.
Which is why some of us disagree just a tad with the OP's 'erm premise.
We've never been in a position where it's technically successful, financially though no argument.
Cloud etc will have zero impact on the quality of cookie cutting and shake and bake.
Which is why some of us disagree just a tad with the OP's 'erm premise.
You still need someone to write the "pre-written code modules". They won't write themselves. Granted that does mean a smaller number of developers overall but until smart AI code-bots are invented someone somewhere does have to produce code.
Those developers who have entrepreneurial skills will shine in this decade. Unfortunately, most will work for others. I mean 95% of them will be toiling for others.
The world will be a one huge playground with license to print money if you are entrepreneurial type with little bit of technology skill because you will be using the rest of the 95% of those developers to build your products.
The world will be a one huge playground with license to print money if you are entrepreneurial type with little bit of technology skill because you will be using the rest of the 95% of those developers to build your products.
In the olden days(2+ years ago) you needed 1) boatload of money(servers, colo fees, admins, load balancers, routers, backup systems, data centers etc you name it) 2)business acumen and 3)your sweat to develop reliable apps for a startup. With cloud computing everything has changed. PaaS such as Heroku and Windows Azure now empowers developers to launch app startups inexpensively since CapEx to start one is so lowered to the extent that the developer now needs to be only business Savvy and put in her/his sweat in to the business. No need for that boat load of money and managing infrastructure. In fact these days if you go to VCs or Angels for funding for your new app startup and ask for servers and data centers, they will pull the rug under your feet and kick your butt out of the door and you wouldn't know what hit you on the way out. One can clearly see now that this is the decade of developers but unfortunately few developers will take advantage of this fact to maximize the opportunity at hand.
LMAO
PS how much do you think it would cost to rent a similar amount of power in a datacentre?
You reckon the bank manager is going to advance you that money, based on how well you think your version My MP3 catalog will sell?
Let me know when you get your first cheque, sign it over and you can have this bridge...
PS how much do you think it would cost to rent a similar amount of power in a datacentre?
You reckon the bank manager is going to advance you that money, based on how well you think your version My MP3 catalog will sell?
Let me know when you get your first cheque, sign it over and you can have this bridge...
...in the same sense as decade of the stoker around... say... 1910
http://sites.google.com/site/emorgankelley/LeN-VGN2.jpg
According to historical sources, there always was a huge stoker shortage back then.
http://sites.google.com/site/emorgankelley/LeN-VGN2.jpg
According to historical sources, there always was a huge stoker shortage back then.
I think you should beware of another illusionists trick there: You present first the wooden horse, let people examine it to see that, no, no greeks inside.
Then you distract, do the switcheroo, and presto: out come the greeks.
Bologna did want to break down monopolies, that's true. But, it also wants to create a university education market. And you should already know the implications of that.
It means that education becomes a product to be sold, one from which to profit... be it needed or not.
And it means making it possible to manipulate the market (shortage shouting, hello!?!), in order to set up revenue loops between certain movers in the market, regardless of the damage that such loops invariably inflict upon the surrounding society.
I suggest, that the student loan issue you're concerned with would not have been possible to create without bologna.
Keeping up Bologna's good rep is just part of preventing it's effects from being mitigated. Like revering the wooden horse, protecting it from harm, even proffering gifts to it and asking questions of it.
Another good example of the stoker-type shortage is the WWII muleteers. The army would've liked to use many many more mules and draft animals... but there weren't enough competent handlers... i.e. muleteers.
Then you distract, do the switcheroo, and presto: out come the greeks.
Bologna did want to break down monopolies, that's true. But, it also wants to create a university education market. And you should already know the implications of that.
It means that education becomes a product to be sold, one from which to profit... be it needed or not.
And it means making it possible to manipulate the market (shortage shouting, hello!?!), in order to set up revenue loops between certain movers in the market, regardless of the damage that such loops invariably inflict upon the surrounding society.
I suggest, that the student loan issue you're concerned with would not have been possible to create without bologna.
Keeping up Bologna's good rep is just part of preventing it's effects from being mitigated. Like revering the wooden horse, protecting it from harm, even proffering gifts to it and asking questions of it.
Another good example of the stoker-type shortage is the WWII muleteers. The army would've liked to use many many more mules and draft animals... but there weren't enough competent handlers... i.e. muleteers.
It's convenient for the time being, that's all. Our universities held their monopolies for too long, and they became stale. Bologna forced them to face the competition, and get their act together. It was the only practical way of solving the problem.
One of my kids is finishing his studies at a local subsidiary of an Italian university. Tuition was affordable, no need for loans, and his job prospects seem good for now. Pretty cool, if you ask me, no need for him to move anywhere, and he could study in his native language.
Now, that was local, personal point of view. Having larger picture in mind, however, your opposition to Bologna makes sense, of course. The ultimate goal, in my mind, is hyperproduction of expendable knowledge workers, with student loan sharking and other education market manipulations as possible side effect. And knowledge workers are exactly what their name implies: Workers. The trimmers and stokers of tomorrow's digitalized industry.
http://titanic-model.com/articles/tech/TechFeatureAugust2005.htm
One of my kids is finishing his studies at a local subsidiary of an Italian university. Tuition was affordable, no need for loans, and his job prospects seem good for now. Pretty cool, if you ask me, no need for him to move anywhere, and he could study in his native language.
Now, that was local, personal point of view. Having larger picture in mind, however, your opposition to Bologna makes sense, of course. The ultimate goal, in my mind, is hyperproduction of expendable knowledge workers, with student loan sharking and other education market manipulations as possible side effect. And knowledge workers are exactly what their name implies: Workers. The trimmers and stokers of tomorrow's digitalized industry.
http://titanic-model.com/articles/tech/TechFeatureAugust2005.htm
It would seem that the hardware roles will simply migrate to larger hosting shops or companies running the applications we need. Kick butt web apps and hosted email still have to be run on servers somewhere. Streamed applications and media still live on storage somewhere. The jobs will generally still be there. They'll just be slightly fewer and located somewhere else.
...is down and likely to continue to go down. Whether developers are going to have a big decade or not really depends on how much there is to do that hasn't been done.
Everyone needs to be positioning themselves. I suspect many will get out of I.T. altogether. I can sure tell you I wish there were something else I was good at.
Everyone needs to be positioning themselves. I suspect many will get out of I.T. altogether. I can sure tell you I wish there were something else I was good at.
IT and app development have always gone hand in hand. A major corporation needs to have the best storage, the most stable sytems and the most reliable databases.
Sure, a couple of smaller apps and cutesy mobile apps can be thrown at a pc or a linux box or two and pretty much ignored as long as they act right, but don't try that with THE major app ( and in a lot of cases hundreds of apps ) and the frontend, midrange and DDB's that a corporation relies on for it's business. The first time it goes down for a week and cost multi millions in business and in some case regulatory punishment, THAT is when you find a good IT dept is invaluable, and are here to stay.
Yes, IT dept's have shrunk and gone off-shore, but this has occurred in all parts of the knowledge industry - including development - and is more a sign of cost-cutting than a major shift in how IT is perceived.
Sure, a couple of smaller apps and cutesy mobile apps can be thrown at a pc or a linux box or two and pretty much ignored as long as they act right, but don't try that with THE major app ( and in a lot of cases hundreds of apps ) and the frontend, midrange and DDB's that a corporation relies on for it's business. The first time it goes down for a week and cost multi millions in business and in some case regulatory punishment, THAT is when you find a good IT dept is invaluable, and are here to stay.
Yes, IT dept's have shrunk and gone off-shore, but this has occurred in all parts of the knowledge industry - including development - and is more a sign of cost-cutting than a major shift in how IT is perceived.
I've worked as a developer, as a systems engineer and an IT manager. There has always been a need for developers and support. While the make-up might change a bit, the roles will continue to exist in some form. One person, no matter what you call them, can efficiently keep up with industry changes on their own. Also, one persons vision of software engineering and system infrastructure would be limiting, especially in the case of a large enterprise. Unfortunately, sometimes a developer/software engineers answer to getting their application to run efficiently is to just buy more infrastructure, not write better code. That's not the sole opinion I'd want making purchasing decisions. Don't get me wrong, there are great developers out there. But that doesn't necessarily translate to being great at understanding disk I/O needs, compatibility with other applications in the same environment, networking/bandwidth considerations, server patch releases, etc.
I meant to say "One person, no matter what you call them, can NOT efficiently keep up with all industry changes on their own".
It might be, if we can get the Managers out of the way! Scrum-Masters indeed!?? In this day of phones, email, IM, etc.; these managers still need daily round-table meetings just to try to figure out what's going on! Do you think Napoleon had to had face-to-face meetings with each Marshal daily in order to give orders to his army; especially when elements were hundreds of miles apart??
Well maybe not Napoleon. But I know one thing for sure, we don't want the majority of the developers doing releases.
So a competent manager "outside the bun" is appreciated
So a competent manager "outside the bun" is appreciated
The days of developer going off on one and producing stuff that didn't match the need simply because they could has long gone.
Those of us left either understand the argument behind good enough better than management, or are the glorified clerks business wanted and aren't capable of going off on one.
Those of us left either understand the argument behind good enough better than management, or are the glorified clerks business wanted and aren't capable of going off on one.
Too bad the "developer" does not know what he is getting into. Tiny office, little air, food slipped under the door. Sounds more like a prisoner than a hero. Just a few months ago, people were crying that all the "software jobs" were moving off shore. Unless you want to move to another country there will be NO jobs to be had in the Western Hemisphere; that's a fact.
I think what you should have said was that development is getting commoditized and globalized to the point where 3rd world developers are able to provide applications for 10 bucks which would cost a programmer in NYC 1000 bucks to build (because the difference in cost of living). As a result, the pricetag/payscale for programmers is plummeting and companies expect instant turnaround of robust apps. I can't tell you the number of programmers I know who have switched careers entirely in the last 3 years.
Could you share some anecdotes? Just curious as I used to be a dev for banks downtown and midtown. Tkx.
You still have to deal with changing a developers undeserved air of superiority to make them a part of the 'big picture'. Good luck.
to your own thoroughly justified superiority?
As far as I can make out the only people who don't want developers to have the big picture are those who realise we'll figure out that what we are being asked to do doesn't make any sense.
As far as I can make out the only people who don't want developers to have the big picture are those who realise we'll figure out that what we are being asked to do doesn't make any sense.
It's about architects & visionaries. Please note: I do not mean architects in the traditional IT sense (e.g., systems architecture). I'm speaking more broadly, at a business, if not social, level.
People who can see more than one or two pieces more than one or two feet in front of them and come up with a solution to meet that need (or need to be) in the market. True, some of these might be "developers" but that is their means. It's not what makes them successful in and of itself.
On the other hand, the one trick pony types (e.g., "generic" programmers) on the opposite side of this coin will continue to be treated as a commodity. As they should be. Their only option is to become value adders that are able to differentiate - both their own talents as well as the brands they work for.
People who can see more than one or two pieces more than one or two feet in front of them and come up with a solution to meet that need (or need to be) in the market. True, some of these might be "developers" but that is their means. It's not what makes them successful in and of itself.
On the other hand, the one trick pony types (e.g., "generic" programmers) on the opposite side of this coin will continue to be treated as a commodity. As they should be. Their only option is to become value adders that are able to differentiate - both their own talents as well as the brands they work for.
no one else has noticed except me (up till now, of course).
I agree that it's the visionaries, the people with ideas and who are at the same time, skilled to get their ideas implemented, who will make the best developers.
The app creators will be a dime a dozen and the majority of them be struggling to make ends meet in their lives.
There are still many ideas waiting for the visionaries and for the entrepreneurs. If those visionaries also have the right skills to get their projects started or completed, then it is they who will be the ultimate developers.
I agree that it's the visionaries, the people with ideas and who are at the same time, skilled to get their ideas implemented, who will make the best developers.
The app creators will be a dime a dozen and the majority of them be struggling to make ends meet in their lives.
There are still many ideas waiting for the visionaries and for the entrepreneurs. If those visionaries also have the right skills to get their projects started or completed, then it is they who will be the ultimate developers.
I could probably write a book (not here of course!) about what really ails our benighted profession. Some people have even encouraged me to do it. Well, maybe...
When I was active in the field, I was called an Artificial Intelligence Architect or Adept or Witch Doctor or worse Time Waster. When I taught in college classrooms, I tried to instill the idea that product release (aka "Smart App") should follow app testing, app coding, app documentation, development of app design specifications, and inspiration (also determination of NEED for app) using a top-down approach pretty much in the reverse order of the general steps I just mentioned.
In the "real" world, the faster a person in development could type lines of code, the more productive that person was determined to be. Bugs, design flaws and logic errors were relegated to the "maintenance" programmers who were left to clean up the mess. It helped if the folks doing the repairs had strong psychic abilities because documentation was faulty, flawed, spotty and/or non-existent, and it was on the head of the fixer to come up with something which at least appeared to solve the current problem. If the fix created new problems (all of which remained undocumented, but which had copious documentation re: how much time was spent, who spent the time, etc.) which would later require more maintenance, the term describing the outcome was something like "job security."
I am not trying to be cynical. Nor am I on a mission to point my finger and blame anyone in particular or in general either, for two reasons. It wouldn't help in any way. It is already too late for casting aspersions.
We are building machines which boggle the mind - well, they boggle my mind, but perhaps now that I am an old fart, I boggle more easily. Smart phones? When I was growing up in a small Pennsylvania farm town, we had "party lines." The whole community shared the same phone line, and the common courtesy then was to pick up the receiver, listen to see if someone was using the line, hang up softly if they were, or dial your outgoing call if the line was free. OK, so I'm a dinosaur. Excuse me while I rearrange my scales.
I am not giving an arbitrary "history lesson." I am trying to make the point that in terms of our attitudes regarding what we are about and how and why we "do it," we are sort of like stone age people who have been given nuclear submarines and orders to sail off and find the New World without directions for use or the reasons why the "RED" buttons (no pun intended to those old enough to know who he was) should never be pressed - ever.
We have been prisoners of Moore's Law even before Moore discovered it. More, faster, greater, more powerful, think about consequences later (if ever), faster, more!
If there is a bottom to this hole we're digging, I sincerely hope to be in the next phase of life before we get there. To put an end to this: Try to imagine what the ancient pyramids all over the world would be like if our ancestors had simply started slapping stones together without any sort of well-considered thought fueling the ideas for the design of the edifices they were building. Even so, not all turned out as their designers originally intended.
Also please consider that there is much more to mark the difference between "Snake Oil" and a real pharmaceutically effective medicine than the bottles they come in, or the boxes in which the bottles were packaged.
When I was active in the field, I was called an Artificial Intelligence Architect or Adept or Witch Doctor or worse Time Waster. When I taught in college classrooms, I tried to instill the idea that product release (aka "Smart App") should follow app testing, app coding, app documentation, development of app design specifications, and inspiration (also determination of NEED for app) using a top-down approach pretty much in the reverse order of the general steps I just mentioned.
In the "real" world, the faster a person in development could type lines of code, the more productive that person was determined to be. Bugs, design flaws and logic errors were relegated to the "maintenance" programmers who were left to clean up the mess. It helped if the folks doing the repairs had strong psychic abilities because documentation was faulty, flawed, spotty and/or non-existent, and it was on the head of the fixer to come up with something which at least appeared to solve the current problem. If the fix created new problems (all of which remained undocumented, but which had copious documentation re: how much time was spent, who spent the time, etc.) which would later require more maintenance, the term describing the outcome was something like "job security."
I am not trying to be cynical. Nor am I on a mission to point my finger and blame anyone in particular or in general either, for two reasons. It wouldn't help in any way. It is already too late for casting aspersions.
We are building machines which boggle the mind - well, they boggle my mind, but perhaps now that I am an old fart, I boggle more easily. Smart phones? When I was growing up in a small Pennsylvania farm town, we had "party lines." The whole community shared the same phone line, and the common courtesy then was to pick up the receiver, listen to see if someone was using the line, hang up softly if they were, or dial your outgoing call if the line was free. OK, so I'm a dinosaur. Excuse me while I rearrange my scales.
I am not giving an arbitrary "history lesson." I am trying to make the point that in terms of our attitudes regarding what we are about and how and why we "do it," we are sort of like stone age people who have been given nuclear submarines and orders to sail off and find the New World without directions for use or the reasons why the "RED" buttons (no pun intended to those old enough to know who he was) should never be pressed - ever.
We have been prisoners of Moore's Law even before Moore discovered it. More, faster, greater, more powerful, think about consequences later (if ever), faster, more!
If there is a bottom to this hole we're digging, I sincerely hope to be in the next phase of life before we get there. To put an end to this: Try to imagine what the ancient pyramids all over the world would be like if our ancestors had simply started slapping stones together without any sort of well-considered thought fueling the ideas for the design of the edifices they were building. Even so, not all turned out as their designers originally intended.
Also please consider that there is much more to mark the difference between "Snake Oil" and a real pharmaceutically effective medicine than the bottles they come in, or the boxes in which the bottles were packaged.
...you're preaching to the choir here.
The mad dash forward, to heck with the consequences, nature of what all IT people have to do is really pushed by non-IT people. I mean, how often do we tell our clients, customers, users, bosses, we need more time to get things right? To make sure we don't have hidden showstoppers. Be it bugs, security issues....whatever.
More importantly, how often do they listen? How often do they consider our warnings nothing more than us being unwilling to do what they want...for whatever reason?
There's not a shortage of people who are skilled enough to produce shoddy work quickly any more. And since the demanders of this work often either don't know the difference between good work and bad or, probably just as often, don't care, I'd say the fellow who wants to take the time to do quality work might have a tough time earning a living at it.
Cheap, fast, and good. Pick two.
The mad dash forward, to heck with the consequences, nature of what all IT people have to do is really pushed by non-IT people. I mean, how often do we tell our clients, customers, users, bosses, we need more time to get things right? To make sure we don't have hidden showstoppers. Be it bugs, security issues....whatever.
More importantly, how often do they listen? How often do they consider our warnings nothing more than us being unwilling to do what they want...for whatever reason?
There's not a shortage of people who are skilled enough to produce shoddy work quickly any more. And since the demanders of this work often either don't know the difference between good work and bad or, probably just as often, don't care, I'd say the fellow who wants to take the time to do quality work might have a tough time earning a living at it.
Cheap, fast, and good. Pick two.
No doubt there are many talented individuals out there. However, they are:
1) Only as good as the idea being built
2) Only as good as their understanding of that idea.
My point is, that too often those doing the coding don't *really* understand the biz needs. Nor do they attempt to understand.
Therefore, they are unable to anticipate, add value, etc. The traditional reactive developer is going to be no match for a proactive business driven contemporary developer.
Developer is a state of mind, it's not a title. Also, there's a difference between a programmer and a developer. Until developer is applied correctly and uniformly there are going to be too many programmers expecting developer respect and pay.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with being a programmer. I was one once But years on the job has NOTHING to do with becoming a developer. Developer should be position that's earned.
1) Only as good as the idea being built
2) Only as good as their understanding of that idea.
My point is, that too often those doing the coding don't *really* understand the biz needs. Nor do they attempt to understand.
Therefore, they are unable to anticipate, add value, etc. The traditional reactive developer is going to be no match for a proactive business driven contemporary developer.
Developer is a state of mind, it's not a title. Also, there's a difference between a programmer and a developer. Until developer is applied correctly and uniformly there are going to be too many programmers expecting developer respect and pay.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with being a programmer. I was one once
But years on the job has NOTHING to do with becoming a developer. Developer should be position that's earned.
They want quality, for free, and yesterday, if not the day before.
What they tell us they want, and what they tell us to do are somewhat at variance....
We develop within the constraints set by the business. That constraint is good enough. Until they have to compete on quality, it will stay that way.
None of that has anything to do with a definition of programmer and developer. If prgrammers are still about, it would be the systems analyst / designer tearing their hair out saying WTF, and the programmer would just be doing his comb over.
Not being funny but I've heard this schtick before. The guy who was spouting it, told me refactoring was just developers f'ing about and we should have got it right the first time anyway.
What they tell us they want, and what they tell us to do are somewhat at variance....
We develop within the constraints set by the business. That constraint is good enough. Until they have to compete on quality, it will stay that way.
None of that has anything to do with a definition of programmer and developer. If prgrammers are still about, it would be the systems analyst / designer tearing their hair out saying WTF, and the programmer would just be doing his comb over.
Not being funny but I've heard this schtick before. The guy who was spouting it, told me refactoring was just developers f'ing about and we should have got it right the first time anyway.
There is a difference, and yes this does have to do with that difference. The issue being there are far too many (non-proactive) programmer with the title of Developer. With that title comes expectations - on both side.
The biz expects participation, understanding and the ability to anticipate and add value. But the programmer expects the pay and respect of Developer without being able to deliver the business goods that a developer should be able to deliver.
With the title comes responsibility and accountability. IMHO, there are far too many developers who believe they just programmers with better pay and a flashier title. That's not the case, is it?
The biz expects participation, understanding and the ability to anticipate and add value. But the programmer expects the pay and respect of Developer without being able to deliver the business goods that a developer should be able to deliver.
With the title comes responsibility and accountability. IMHO, there are far too many developers who believe they just programmers with better pay and a flashier title. That's not the case, is it?
Programmers / developers / software engineers / solution arcitects wanted reuse, IDEs and other tools so they could concentrate on adding value. Business realised with our productivity enhancers cookie cutters culd churn out applications in the same time as we would have done it properly, but they cost less.
You get what you pay for, and you pay for what you get.
But the latter is after the fool, who made this decision got their bonus and or promotion.
A poor workman blames their tools....
You get what you pay for, and you pay for what you get.
But the latter is after the fool, who made this decision got their bonus and or promotion.
A poor workman blames their tools....
Some of what "they" want can be done if the software shop has a library of well documented, well designed software packages (such as a Quicksort routine) that are actually designed to be re-used.
Unfortunately, management often thinks that any bit of code can be re-used, even it was a quick hack that was never designed to be re-used.
Unfortunately, management often thinks that any bit of code can be re-used, even it was a quick hack that was never designed to be re-used.
We (the People) finally had to "bail out" the American Auto Industry in large, but certainly not the whole!, part because the prevailing attitude held by management at the highest level went something like: If we build it, they'll buy it - period.
If I am "preaching" to the choir, how many of us remember how difficult getting seat belts installed as standard equipment in a new car really was. How much more difficult was the task to convince drivers (i.e., the end users) to buckle up for their own safety - even if they were only about to move the vehicle a few feet, park it and get out?
Today, the bells and whistles still go off when the engine starts and the driver's belt is not buckled, because many people still haven't learned enough basic physics to realize that there is no such thing as a drive to short to necessitate taking the proper precautions.
What the folks in marketing (especially, since they enjoy the major influence with senior management, boards of (mis)direction, and (lest we forget,) the all-important stock holders (the pockets from which flow start-up capital, our "toys," etc.) tend to forget, ignore, or fail to understand is - before you sell the "candy," a factory must be designed and built and tested for ability to produce product in sanitary conditions while maximizing output, ability to ship and deliver, and all the other factors which must be considered in order to avoid constant FDA audits and inspections, ruinous lawsuits, and potential stacks of dead bodies rotting in the sun.
As producers of "software" we are at least once removed from the kind of dirty hands-on responsibilities one finds in the development, production, sales and distribution of a simple stick of chewing gum. Those who somehow control or provide our inspiration (carrots, sticks, chains and whips) now have people saying, "I'm a PC, and Windows blah was my idea." Right.
Part of my diatribe has its roots in the way IT, Software Development, Maintenance, and Support have evolved as a sort of mystical "priesthood" who never really communicated with the "end users." The users were - and in many respects still are - the poor devils who are supposed to make productive use of the software installed on their machines, and whose butts are on the line if for some reason they don't or can't (never mind won't) "make it do what it's supposed to do.".
Now the pendulum is swinging back to (it is hoped) a the region of "New Ideas." And so much of our information resources, assets and efforts have been invested, wasted and will be lost forever if we fail to "get it right" this time. Will we be given the time we need to get it right? Well... In an atmosphere where productivity is measured in the sound and frequency of keystrokes, and people with great typing skills and lousy or no critical reasoning ability have been raised high on our Olympian mounts as the true heroes of our "mystical" craft, I harbor serious doubt.
The machines become ever more capable, swift, and ubiquitous, so the weakness isn't there. Our greatest problem continues to be the conflict between the ways we are expected to produce and maintain new software, and the realities so many of us know are necessary to achieve the desired results.
If I am "preaching" to the choir, how many of us remember how difficult getting seat belts installed as standard equipment in a new car really was. How much more difficult was the task to convince drivers (i.e., the end users) to buckle up for their own safety - even if they were only about to move the vehicle a few feet, park it and get out?
Today, the bells and whistles still go off when the engine starts and the driver's belt is not buckled, because many people still haven't learned enough basic physics to realize that there is no such thing as a drive to short to necessitate taking the proper precautions.
What the folks in marketing (especially, since they enjoy the major influence with senior management, boards of (mis)direction, and (lest we forget,) the all-important stock holders (the pockets from which flow start-up capital, our "toys," etc.) tend to forget, ignore, or fail to understand is - before you sell the "candy," a factory must be designed and built and tested for ability to produce product in sanitary conditions while maximizing output, ability to ship and deliver, and all the other factors which must be considered in order to avoid constant FDA audits and inspections, ruinous lawsuits, and potential stacks of dead bodies rotting in the sun.
As producers of "software" we are at least once removed from the kind of dirty hands-on responsibilities one finds in the development, production, sales and distribution of a simple stick of chewing gum. Those who somehow control or provide our inspiration (carrots, sticks, chains and whips) now have people saying, "I'm a PC, and Windows blah was my idea." Right.
Part of my diatribe has its roots in the way IT, Software Development, Maintenance, and Support have evolved as a sort of mystical "priesthood" who never really communicated with the "end users." The users were - and in many respects still are - the poor devils who are supposed to make productive use of the software installed on their machines, and whose butts are on the line if for some reason they don't or can't (never mind won't) "make it do what it's supposed to do.".
Now the pendulum is swinging back to (it is hoped) a the region of "New Ideas." And so much of our information resources, assets and efforts have been invested, wasted and will be lost forever if we fail to "get it right" this time. Will we be given the time we need to get it right? Well... In an atmosphere where productivity is measured in the sound and frequency of keystrokes, and people with great typing skills and lousy or no critical reasoning ability have been raised high on our Olympian mounts as the true heroes of our "mystical" craft, I harbor serious doubt.
The machines become ever more capable, swift, and ubiquitous, so the weakness isn't there. Our greatest problem continues to be the conflict between the ways we are expected to produce and maintain new software, and the realities so many of us know are necessary to achieve the desired results.
unsuccessful, pile of rubble, 2000 dead slaves, very irritated Pharoah.
The Pharoah now out of slaves and pyramid made sure he was never heard of again, ever.
He did not thank him for reducing his staffing costs or agree that the pile of rubble was functionally equivalent to a pyramid, or cut his losses and pay off said incompetent with the gold he was going to have his Dad's coffin made out of....
Reward failure and you succeed at doing so....
The Pharoah now out of slaves and pyramid made sure he was never heard of again, ever.
He did not thank him for reducing his staffing costs or agree that the pile of rubble was functionally equivalent to a pyramid, or cut his losses and pay off said incompetent with the gold he was going to have his Dad's coffin made out of....
Reward failure and you succeed at doing so....
I agree with Chief Alchemist, more than hackers, we need software architects with vision having also quality and maintenance concerns.
Even if ready to play software applications are more and more developped for handy hardware, they should work smoothly for a while and then be maintained and evolve.
JF retired software engineer
Even if ready to play software applications are more and more developped for handy hardware, they should work smoothly for a while and then be maintained and evolve.
JF retired software engineer
Our efforts in these regards though are judged cost ineffective.
So it's irrelevant.
Q So should I write a unit test for this?
QQ How long will it take?
A Maybe later if we've got time. ?????? !!!
For those who say we should write the unit test first, I agree, but you are teling the wrong bloke!
The alchemist's point in the bin.....
Businesses might say they want quality, what they do, well different ball game altogether.
If they haven't got the people who could do it given they were to practice what they preach. Well maybe they should have hired one instead of some cheap H1b, fresh grad or out of work cookie cutter....
If you want a real pointer, look at how maintenance coders are generally percieved in the industry. Guys (or gurls) inimtately familiar with at least definitions of what isn't maintainable code.
Not to mention the art of writing it is very low value in academia.
So it's irrelevant.
Q So should I write a unit test for this?
QQ How long will it take?
A Maybe later if we've got time. ?????? !!!
For those who say we should write the unit test first, I agree, but you are teling the wrong bloke!
The alchemist's point in the bin.....
Businesses might say they want quality, what they do, well different ball game altogether.
If they haven't got the people who could do it given they were to practice what they preach. Well maybe they should have hired one instead of some cheap H1b, fresh grad or out of work cookie cutter....
If you want a real pointer, look at how maintenance coders are generally percieved in the industry. Guys (or gurls) inimtately familiar with at least definitions of what isn't maintainable code.
Not to mention the art of writing it is very low value in academia.
Tony, I don't mean to single you out but your profile/bio on TR is a perfect example. It's a Who's Who of "platforms" from the last 20-25 years some of which don't even matter in 2011. Yet there's not a single mention of one business solution, one business accomplishment, one stroke of biz creative genius.
If you (and I'm saying you collectively) don't want to "just lay bricks" then you need to stop acting like a bricklayer. (With all dues respect to bricklayers of course Bricks are irrelevant. It's the resulting business buildings that matter. Yet IT continues to obsess with bricks. Anyone can laybricks. Not everyone can have the vision AND skill to build the Pyramids.
It's time for IT to smell the coffee already. The Business isn't going to change. Wake up IT! So it's time for IT to change. Stop talking about brick. Start talking the buildings (i.e., solutions).
If you (and I'm saying you collectively) don't want to "just lay bricks" then you need to stop acting like a bricklayer. (With all dues respect to bricklayers of course
Bricks are irrelevant. It's the resulting business buildings that matter. Yet IT continues to obsess with bricks. Anyone can laybricks. Not everyone can have the vision AND skill to build the Pyramids. It's time for IT to smell the coffee already. The Business isn't going to change. Wake up IT! So it's time for IT to change. Stop talking about brick. Start talking the buildings (i.e., solutions).
According to your bio, you have no tools, or skills and have acomplished nothing.
No point in asking you anything is there, whereas I get PM'ed by complete strangers asking for help, on things in my bio!
Coming up with the big idea is a very rare attribute. That's why we notice them and call them big.
When you do come up with one, job one is to see if or how well it can be realised within the constraints set by the environment.
At that point you can say to yourself, ah that bits easy and drag someone who once played with lego off the street. Or you can have a look about for a chap who at least worked wth Cheop's chief engineer.
Your idea, your choice....
Doesn't matter to me, a doom clone called Purple Doom which looks like Doom but is purple, wasn't all that big an idea anyway.....
Choosing to deliver it on Lynx could be seen to make it challenge, but....
PS anytime you feel like debating the point I was making instead of attempting to ridicule my non-pointy hair style, feel free.
No point in asking you anything is there, whereas I get PM'ed by complete strangers asking for help, on things in my bio!
Coming up with the big idea is a very rare attribute. That's why we notice them and call them big.
When you do come up with one, job one is to see if or how well it can be realised within the constraints set by the environment.
At that point you can say to yourself, ah that bits easy and drag someone who once played with lego off the street. Or you can have a look about for a chap who at least worked wth Cheop's chief engineer.
Your idea, your choice....
Doesn't matter to me, a doom clone called Purple Doom which looks like Doom but is purple, wasn't all that big an idea anyway.....
Choosing to deliver it on Lynx could be seen to make it challenge, but....
PS anytime you feel like debating the point I was making instead of attempting to ridicule my non-pointy hair style, feel free.
Prime ministers are a pain in the butt... but TR private messages can be like tiny little trojans all by themselves, as replying in almost any way will reveal your email to the complete strangers.
was an offer to save my soul from teh eternal fires of hell, so not replying became a habit from day one.
Had to buy books, spend time in drafty buildings, put money on plates.
I could have lived with that. Ritual canabilism I drew the line at though.
I prefer my meat fresh.
I could have lived with that. Ritual canabilism I drew the line at though.
I prefer my meat fresh.
I see how that wafer can be a disappointment to a conoisseur of fresh meats, a bit stale eh?
But that's cannibalism, I thought you meant hashish-eating
But that's cannibalism, I thought you meant hashish-eating
What about the new technologies that are to be deployed?
We train users every few years...it doesn't work. They can deal with instructions that tell them to follow step 1, step 2, etc., but anything out of the ordinary throws them. Maybe as younger people enter the workforce that will change, our younger employees do seem more willing to try and use Google for help. At the very least reboot before you call!
Your late again on this topic. Aside from what the industry tried to do by keep skill sets seperate, all the techs that started out in the industry and are still working were always developers. True, they were slowed down by technology users that did not want to learn and by bad software, hardware and security. But, the whole point of the "anything machine" is that you can make it do what you want with code rather than wait for another version for a year.
Catch up dude.
/:>
Catch up dude.
/:>
to judge the viability of developing these much ballyhooed "apps on devices"? I came across a few numbers recently ( Aug 28,2010 )...here's the link to the page:
http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/08/28/apple.passes.quarter.million.app.mark/
Here's an older page:
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2009/05/15/pushing-the-app-store-price-envelope/
Interesting, 97 percent of apps on Apples App Store are priced uner $10 US, and the overall average price is $2.67. Apple gets 30 percent, leaves the developer $1.87. Without any statitics for actual number of downloads, one can only make a guess. Let's say your app is "average", and does pretty good and gets 10,000 downloads. Your "gross" is $18,700, out of which you take your cost to develop the app, testing time, bug-tracking, updates...doesn't really make for a "get rich quick" idea, does it? To make matters worse, roughly 25% of apps are free, and 67% are priced less than $1, so there's a good chance your competition might be "good enough" to bite into your sales, or at least coerce you to lower your price from the average to $1, then you'll get only 70 cents per download. Now, 70 cents x 10,000 (since Apple keeps 30 percent!) and for the year you just earned $7000!
I'm just not convinced...these types of numbers mean you'll have to develop what, like 7 or more apps just to earn a somewhat reasonable living?
(edit-typo error on $7000 above)
http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/08/28/apple.passes.quarter.million.app.mark/
Here's an older page:
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2009/05/15/pushing-the-app-store-price-envelope/
Interesting, 97 percent of apps on Apples App Store are priced uner $10 US, and the overall average price is $2.67. Apple gets 30 percent, leaves the developer $1.87. Without any statitics for actual number of downloads, one can only make a guess. Let's say your app is "average", and does pretty good and gets 10,000 downloads. Your "gross" is $18,700, out of which you take your cost to develop the app, testing time, bug-tracking, updates...doesn't really make for a "get rich quick" idea, does it? To make matters worse, roughly 25% of apps are free, and 67% are priced less than $1, so there's a good chance your competition might be "good enough" to bite into your sales, or at least coerce you to lower your price from the average to $1, then you'll get only 70 cents per download. Now, 70 cents x 10,000 (since Apple keeps 30 percent!) and for the year you just earned $7000!
I'm just not convinced...these types of numbers mean you'll have to develop what, like 7 or more apps just to earn a somewhat reasonable living?
(edit-typo error on $7000 above)
Here's what I wrote about it a few months ago:
"iOS development by the numbers
Steve Jobs is trying to convince folks that developing for the iOS ecosystem (iOS is the new name for the OS that runs iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad) is a financial winner. His numbers, though, only appeal to those who are mathematically challenged. He claims $1 billion has been paid to app developers, and he says that there are 250,000 apps out there. That comes out to a paltry $4,000 per app. Sounds like a lot? Not exactly. Four grand is decent money if you spend a few nights and weekends on it, or if you are monetizing a labor of love. It certainly isn?t ?quit my day job money? even if the ?day job? is flipping burgers. They are about to sell the 100 millionth device. That means that each iOS device generates a ?whopping? $10 for app developers. Wee. Who cares how many iOS users have their credit cards stored and ready to spend, when they are spending a mere $10 on apps per device? Oh, and the $60 million in ad inventory doesn?t look so impressive when you realize that it is less than $1 per device. Jobs? numbers may impress some of the so-called ?analysts? out there, but I can do enough basic math to know better."
"iOS development by the numbers
Steve Jobs is trying to convince folks that developing for the iOS ecosystem (iOS is the new name for the OS that runs iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad) is a financial winner. His numbers, though, only appeal to those who are mathematically challenged. He claims $1 billion has been paid to app developers, and he says that there are 250,000 apps out there. That comes out to a paltry $4,000 per app. Sounds like a lot? Not exactly. Four grand is decent money if you spend a few nights and weekends on it, or if you are monetizing a labor of love. It certainly isn?t ?quit my day job money? even if the ?day job? is flipping burgers. They are about to sell the 100 millionth device. That means that each iOS device generates a ?whopping? $10 for app developers. Wee. Who cares how many iOS users have their credit cards stored and ready to spend, when they are spending a mere $10 on apps per device? Oh, and the $60 million in ad inventory doesn?t look so impressive when you realize that it is less than $1 per device. Jobs? numbers may impress some of the so-called ?analysts? out there, but I can do enough basic math to know better."
1.) That's only one ecosystem
2.) We're still at an extremely early stage of the smartphone market so the numbers have barely started scaling
2.) We're still at an extremely early stage of the smartphone market so the numbers have barely started scaling
I agree that we are at an early stage, however I do not think it is as early as many seem to portray. Apple has had their app store for over 3 years, a long time in tech. Android is just starting, but seems to want to follow similar route.
Windows Mobile, Palm, Symbian and others have had all kinds of apps available in software repositories other than some "company site", and despite some peoples dire warnings of doom and disaster by using "non-approved" app stores to obtain apps, I don't remember too many tales of actual malware being spread.
Perhaps the freedom to release your works yourself if you desire, or through other "mobile friendly sites", like the old shareware days (remember those?) would be of more benefit, allowing the developer to choose how their apps are delivered.
If your app is good, and ZDNet wants to include a shareware version, to use an example, that could result in great exposure and potential sales.
Maybe it's time to drop the "App Store" model and do something better.
Windows Mobile, Palm, Symbian and others have had all kinds of apps available in software repositories other than some "company site", and despite some peoples dire warnings of doom and disaster by using "non-approved" app stores to obtain apps, I don't remember too many tales of actual malware being spread.
Perhaps the freedom to release your works yourself if you desire, or through other "mobile friendly sites", like the old shareware days (remember those?) would be of more benefit, allowing the developer to choose how their apps are delivered.
If your app is good, and ZDNet wants to include a shareware version, to use an example, that could result in great exposure and potential sales.
Maybe it's time to drop the "App Store" model and do something better.
to generate and own a new concept for the market in terms of an application, I guarantee the rules would be changed immediately to make sure you were the last....
As USB expands PnP (plug and play) between systems the classic birds nest of cables and switches fade. WiFi replaces LAN/ TokenRing/ DECNet wires. People buy computer hardware for entertainment to watch ipTV or listen to MP3s, etc.
While the hardware can self assemble itself, the data can not. Developers and programmers are critical to conjouring up the data poured into the black cauldron of laptop or blade server. Programmers, D.B.A.s, security and privacy experts have, IMO, growing work.
Why? Who is happy with just their data? Its much better when computers share/exchange or work with each other ("deja vu"?).
As Bill Gates said "A computer without an OS is a 'brick' ." With so many new 'bricks' comming out there will be lots to develop and build upon. "Yea, there is an app for that" - comming soon
While the hardware can self assemble itself, the data can not. Developers and programmers are critical to conjouring up the data poured into the black cauldron of laptop or blade server. Programmers, D.B.A.s, security and privacy experts have, IMO, growing work.
Why? Who is happy with just their data? Its much better when computers share/exchange or work with each other ("deja vu"?).
As Bill Gates said "A computer without an OS is a 'brick' ." With so many new 'bricks' comming out there will be lots to develop and build upon. "Yea, there is an app for that" - comming soon
Just check out the NY Times link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/business/economy/07jobs.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th
First the IT and "programmer" jobs go over. Then they become sources of innovation and drag the high level jobs with them overseas. Worse, it's not just India any more but Russia and China adding more and more highly educated talent to their job pools.
Now Americans get to live more cheaply off overseas goods, but even that doesn't work if there's not enough jobs in the states anymore.
I'm afraid all I can see right now is the downward spiral for the US. They don't hire entry level talent any more because those jobs are easy to get done overseas. College students go into other professions because they either see or fear the lack of jobs in IT and Engineering. I see lots of companies asking for Developers with 10+ years of experience, but nothing less will do. So an entire generation of IT and Developers will disappear and then Corporate America will be forced to outsource the remaining jobs too.
So the future looks bleak from my standpoint if you live in the US. Best bet is to find a job requiring a government security clearance or perhaps Healthcare -professions resistant to outsourcing. Or skip most of the tech skills entirely and focus on acquiring project management skills so you can find a job coordinating the outsource teams.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying all the jobs will go overseas. Many will stay in the US and employ those willing to make minimum wage -at least until the standard of living rises around the world and finally eliminates most pools of cheap labor -say in 50 to 100 years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/business/economy/07jobs.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th
First the IT and "programmer" jobs go over. Then they become sources of innovation and drag the high level jobs with them overseas. Worse, it's not just India any more but Russia and China adding more and more highly educated talent to their job pools.
Now Americans get to live more cheaply off overseas goods, but even that doesn't work if there's not enough jobs in the states anymore.
I'm afraid all I can see right now is the downward spiral for the US. They don't hire entry level talent any more because those jobs are easy to get done overseas. College students go into other professions because they either see or fear the lack of jobs in IT and Engineering. I see lots of companies asking for Developers with 10+ years of experience, but nothing less will do. So an entire generation of IT and Developers will disappear and then Corporate America will be forced to outsource the remaining jobs too.
So the future looks bleak from my standpoint if you live in the US. Best bet is to find a job requiring a government security clearance or perhaps Healthcare -professions resistant to outsourcing. Or skip most of the tech skills entirely and focus on acquiring project management skills so you can find a job coordinating the outsource teams.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying all the jobs will go overseas. Many will stay in the US and employ those willing to make minimum wage -at least until the standard of living rises around the world and finally eliminates most pools of cheap labor -say in 50 to 100 years.
What do you guys think is the development tool that we should learn?
One of the few benefits of being old is that I have seen and heard all this before.
In the '80s when I was IT service manager for an automotive parts group we had a rash of IT freelancers in the company who bought PCs and ZXs and goodness knows what out of their petty cash on the basis we were too slow to meet their business needs. Trouble is, as soon as data were lost because they broke or the application failed we were expected to fix them, which we didn't. And more recently I was tasked to sort out the plethora of unofficial web sites set up by untrained enthusiasts in the user departments. One was found when the IP address that the user had spoofed was legitimately allocated to a network printer, causing the web site on a PC under a desk in Manchester to fail. Again we were held responsible for the failure to produce management accounts and again we refused to help.
This article makes the common error of confusing technology with service. Yes, the technology is comparatively cheap to buy; the problem is information technology is ?deferred design?; it is only useful when the application is added. The problem with this is that users are unreasonable and insist that the technology continues to function. There is a risk to the business if the technology fails. In my experience too many ?developers? have a habit of throwing some half considered development over the wall for IT service to sort out and they are in the pub celebrating before the problems start.
Somebody has to evaluate the acceptable level of risk, then ensure that the backup services are in place to alleviate the risk to that level. Where I come from this is the IT department. This may not be how the CIOs who were surveyed see themselves but if they do not choose the technology and manage the ongoing risk of using it then somebody else will have to, and they will be doing IT's job when they should be doing their own.
In the '80s when I was IT service manager for an automotive parts group we had a rash of IT freelancers in the company who bought PCs and ZXs and goodness knows what out of their petty cash on the basis we were too slow to meet their business needs. Trouble is, as soon as data were lost because they broke or the application failed we were expected to fix them, which we didn't. And more recently I was tasked to sort out the plethora of unofficial web sites set up by untrained enthusiasts in the user departments. One was found when the IP address that the user had spoofed was legitimately allocated to a network printer, causing the web site on a PC under a desk in Manchester to fail. Again we were held responsible for the failure to produce management accounts and again we refused to help.
This article makes the common error of confusing technology with service. Yes, the technology is comparatively cheap to buy; the problem is information technology is ?deferred design?; it is only useful when the application is added. The problem with this is that users are unreasonable and insist that the technology continues to function. There is a risk to the business if the technology fails. In my experience too many ?developers? have a habit of throwing some half considered development over the wall for IT service to sort out and they are in the pub celebrating before the problems start.
Somebody has to evaluate the acceptable level of risk, then ensure that the backup services are in place to alleviate the risk to that level. Where I come from this is the IT department. This may not be how the CIOs who were surveyed see themselves but if they do not choose the technology and manage the ongoing risk of using it then somebody else will have to, and they will be doing IT's job when they should be doing their own.
...that software that hasn't been carefully designed and thoroughly tested can (and probably will) still break, especially when the managers won't let you test the changes properly before putting those changes into production. Unfortunately you're right.
The other is confusing an enthusiastic amateur knocking up a data island, with an enthusiastic professional trying to add a new node to the IT system.
The only disadvantage is that they are amateurs so it can be managed by employing a professional to facilite and oversee, avoiding the 'erm obvious pitfalls that mean to do our job profesionally we have to say no.
I got this instituted at one place after some poor fool asked me to attached his data to the main product database and he hadn't collected the product identifier, which did make things a tad difficult.
Traditionally IT being under resourced is often a bottleneck on getting things done unless someone important OKs the funding, and that's why individual departments go off on one. The need is real though, trying to stop it, or continual saying no is a waste of effort, so the best bet is to help them help us.
The only disadvantage is that they are amateurs so it can be managed by employing a professional to facilite and oversee, avoiding the 'erm obvious pitfalls that mean to do our job profesionally we have to say no.
I got this instituted at one place after some poor fool asked me to attached his data to the main product database and he hadn't collected the product identifier, which did make things a tad difficult.
Traditionally IT being under resourced is often a bottleneck on getting things done unless someone important OKs the funding, and that's why individual departments go off on one. The need is real though, trying to stop it, or continual saying no is a waste of effort, so the best bet is to help them help us.
Jason, this editorial essay presents a short-sighted vision of the future of IT, and it over-simplifies the necessary considerations our colleagues must factor into their career planning decisions.
Researchers continue to expand IT in concept and application. Before us lies a decade of exponential innovation, and IT professionals who maintain competency in the specialty of their choice will continue to realize success and achievement.
Career planning and professional development will assist the authentic IT professional in reaching his or her professional and personal goals; I am interested in reading editorial essays that help me grow, and help me manage my stress.
Woody Fairley CCNA, MCITP, CCP
Researchers continue to expand IT in concept and application. Before us lies a decade of exponential innovation, and IT professionals who maintain competency in the specialty of their choice will continue to realize success and achievement.
Career planning and professional development will assist the authentic IT professional in reaching his or her professional and personal goals; I am interested in reading editorial essays that help me grow, and help me manage my stress.
Woody Fairley CCNA, MCITP, CCP
While I disagree with the premise, if IT leaders start letting developers have some real traction in the industry, I wouldn't look that particular gift horse in the mouth....
Most of my stress comes from not being allowed to do the job properly, and of course being blamed for the result.....
Most of my stress comes from not being allowed to do the job properly, and of course being blamed for the result.....
I agree with you Tony, good IT Leaders empower their employees, and good IT leaders develop their employees to also be good IT leaders, in a perfect world.
Woody Fairley CCNA, MCITP, CCP
Woody Fairley CCNA, MCITP, CCP
I AM ON TECHNOLOGY HEELS TO GET IT DONE FOR THE IT RRRRRRRS GO IT
last at most two years, so have a fallback plan...
I am a software developer. Yes, technology empowers me. I am not going to be an employee again. I am going to start a little business, with 500 millions potential customers. It's very basic. Every developer could have done it, it's a simple wiki for everybody, soon in beta, if 0.1% of the users pay for it, the 99.9% get it for free, that's because it is so cheap to produce, it's called SimpliWiki, http://simpliwiki.com
Note: I am 44, I knew this would eventually happen, computers are amplifiers, doubling their prower every 18 months, per Moore's law.
Note: I am 44, I knew this would eventually happen, computers are amplifiers, doubling their prower every 18 months, per Moore's law.
It would be a horrible world if everything was running Android or iOS.
The conclusions are more or less right, but for more or less the wrong reasons. See my response here: http://apchamberlain.blogspot.com/2010/09/shadow-it-is-symptom-not-disease.html
It IS a good time to be a developer. We still are in a pre-industrial age of coding, and the shorter lifecycles and continuing poor product quality of (most) apps will create an increasing demand for good, new... and quick. Quick is what will keep many jobs onshore, people close to markets and customers will always have a niche against the wannabe industrial-style offshore coding factories.
But to suggest all other IT is in decline is just plain unsupportable. Every year I've been in IT (30 years now) I've heard people promising to cut unit costs year-on-year... or maybe after the bubble of investment. Never happens. Even when the technologies shrink in price, like storage, people just want even more of it. We still buy, steal or get gifted technological tools that are plain awful to use. Usability has a long, long way to go before technology delivers the promises of three decades ago.
Meanwhile everything we see, think and hear can be digitised. So there's still a long way to go before it is, or even could be, but the trend is relentless.
But we still have cludgy, buggy, unintegrated, incompatible, form-factor locked-in tools. We need even MORE IT system/database administrators, business analysts, integrators, architects and most of all coders. Which it is why everyone in IT who wants to ride the dragon has a rosy future to look to.
But to suggest all other IT is in decline is just plain unsupportable. Every year I've been in IT (30 years now) I've heard people promising to cut unit costs year-on-year... or maybe after the bubble of investment. Never happens. Even when the technologies shrink in price, like storage, people just want even more of it. We still buy, steal or get gifted technological tools that are plain awful to use. Usability has a long, long way to go before technology delivers the promises of three decades ago.
Meanwhile everything we see, think and hear can be digitised. So there's still a long way to go before it is, or even could be, but the trend is relentless.
But we still have cludgy, buggy, unintegrated, incompatible, form-factor locked-in tools. We need even MORE IT system/database administrators, business analysts, integrators, architects and most of all coders. Which it is why everyone in IT who wants to ride the dragon has a rosy future to look to.
when will people understand that software development has nothing to do with industrial production.
Sigh.
Sigh.
This text is wrong:
"But that revolution is over. The technologies are deployed. The users are trained. The data centers are built. In recent years, no new IT innovations have arisen that can transform businesses the way corporate networks or email groupware or the Web did a decade ago. Nearly everything IT is doing now is tweaking and incremental upgrades to existing technologies."
Because there is much more to add. It's just beyond your mental abilities. This is common mistake in technology...
"But that revolution is over. The technologies are deployed. The users are trained. The data centers are built. In recent years, no new IT innovations have arisen that can transform businesses the way corporate networks or email groupware or the Web did a decade ago. Nearly everything IT is doing now is tweaking and incremental upgrades to existing technologies."
Because there is much more to add. It's just beyond your mental abilities. This is common mistake in technology...
It's real and the reason is that "developers" who used to be parochial, be hidden in basement rooms, and hump out C++ code, has morphed into those who manage the development process. In ten years we have gone from "waterfall" where wiser IT heads and system analysts dictate detailed, immutable specs to an "agile" scenario where those entering lines of code meet with marketing literally on a daily basis and demonstrate their products frequently.
This methodology, which because it is successful has many parents, each guru with their own cute name for how we develop, has dramatically shrunk delivery times and raised quality. That same philosophy has pervaded many organizations where instead of being a title, the "head of IT" is a real manager that has to be quick on his or her feet to actually manage -- the interplay of developers and product owners. Wait, it gets worse -- in many cases those creating the product may not even work for them and ... the ground changes every day thanks to the likes of Steve Jobs.
So yeah, it is the day of the developer, but if managers get with the program, there is also a bright future for those IT execs who embrace change and demonstrate they can deliver the amazing results that our present tools and developers make possible.
This methodology, which because it is successful has many parents, each guru with their own cute name for how we develop, has dramatically shrunk delivery times and raised quality. That same philosophy has pervaded many organizations where instead of being a title, the "head of IT" is a real manager that has to be quick on his or her feet to actually manage -- the interplay of developers and product owners. Wait, it gets worse -- in many cases those creating the product may not even work for them and ... the ground changes every day thanks to the likes of Steve Jobs.
So yeah, it is the day of the developer, but if managers get with the program, there is also a bright future for those IT execs who embrace change and demonstrate they can deliver the amazing results that our present tools and developers make possible.
Ok... I hear ya but how do I stay in the game? I have been an IT Pro (Sys Admin / Engineer) for nearly 15 years. I have an IT degree but there were only a hand full of programming courses. I have several IT certifications (CISSP, MCSE, MCITP, ITIL, etc) but none directly related to hands-on coding. The most "real" coding that I have done is writing scripts. I have considered going back to school to get a software engineering degree and pursue the PMP. Where I start in order to stay relevant?
I think we're heading towards a scenario where 'consumer' software will not need developers anymore (not on the immediate short term , but we're accelerating towards that) - There will be a closed loop of sophisticated end users using 'smarter' tools that generate their computing needs,with good exposure and delivery mechanisms (i.e. the Web) . Developers are benevolent enough to write software that will eventually replace them for the larger share of the market . So wide-spread , adaptable general-purpose software will be a product of business users directly - Making useful functional software will become everybody's game - no coding required.
I've seen the future - much less developers than today , with most doing specific-purpose software packages and infrastructural work (data manipulation,communication protocols , security...), consumer software will be consumer-created , not consumer driven . efff - programming career is already short , just like a professional athlete ,or a prostitute - The worst of it will be 10 years from now , there will be too many developers still around and too many power business users,tough times to come .It will eventually be corrected , as per my prophecy.
I've seen the future - much less developers than today , with most doing specific-purpose software packages and infrastructural work (data manipulation,communication protocols , security...), consumer software will be consumer-created , not consumer driven . efff - programming career is already short , just like a professional athlete ,or a prostitute - The worst of it will be 10 years from now , there will be too many developers still around and too many power business users,tough times to come .It will eventually be corrected , as per my prophecy.
and change is part of the business model.
So if you had this super duper no developers needed software, what are they going to sell you next? What do you need a version 2 for? If saturate the market and then go bust was the way forward we'd still be driving around in Model Ts.
The next point is how complex would this super duper application be. How much would you have to know about it in order to make it meet the current needs? It would just be a change of language wouldn't it?
People have been trying to sell this particular panacea since the first 2GL came out, programmers became programmer/analysts which then got renamed developers. Programming didn't go away it just changed.
In ten years time maybe we'll be AI psychiatrists but we'll still be about...
Programmng / analysing / developng is a skill not a tool.
So if you had this super duper no developers needed software, what are they going to sell you next? What do you need a version 2 for? If saturate the market and then go bust was the way forward we'd still be driving around in Model Ts.
The next point is how complex would this super duper application be. How much would you have to know about it in order to make it meet the current needs? It would just be a change of language wouldn't it?
People have been trying to sell this particular panacea since the first 2GL came out, programmers became programmer/analysts which then got renamed developers. Programming didn't go away it just changed.
In ten years time maybe we'll be AI psychiatrists but we'll still be about...
Programmng / analysing / developng is a skill not a tool.
I'm sorry but I just don't see what possible App 'Joe???s Garage down the street' could ever want that isn't already on his desktop!
Development skills are now 10-a-penny. India and China have flooded the market. The developer is not the man who will make the money, it is the businessman who has the idea and funds it. Hourly rates for developers has plummeted and will continue to. It is the time of the project manager....
By looking at the history of most software giants, starting from it's early days to recent years, all have been founded by developers: facebook, google, apple, microsoft, twitter, etc. Unfortunately, for managers, they are a resource for the developer: keeps track of time. Sure, small companies see software as any other sort of production. But these companies are neither great, nor successful.
Even tough there are many developers coming from China and India that doesn't mean that all of them are good. Experience is an asset in developers and newly graduated developers from anywhere aren't that great.
Of course good PMs should know that, and at least in my experience successful PMs are always backed up by great developers.
Of course good PMs should know that, and at least in my experience successful PMs are always backed up by great developers.
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