

Project Manager's View vs. Developer's View - sstrudeau
http://www.knowing.net/index.php/2010/03/16/project-managers-vs-developers-view/

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j_baker
I'm actually somewhat surprised at how managers react to JSON. Every time I
mention it, I can sense that they want to say something along the lines of
"take a shower, hippie".

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AndrewO
Well, after that much of an XML binge, it's going to take them awhile to go
through detox. We just have to be patient and loving and make sure they get
the help they need and are kept away from the bad influences/vendors.

~~~
j_baker
Are you suggesting an intervention?

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danw
I am looking forward to EC3

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jasonkester
Personally, I still look back wistfully to the days of EC.

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jasongullickson
I would move Windows Forms to a higher level of project manager anxiety; this
chart may have been correct in this regard 10 years ago but most PM's I've
worked with are afraid to do anything that isn't "on the web" (including
mobile apps) anymore.

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zacharydanger
What's the y-axis supposed to represent?

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ulf
The maximum total desire to work with some technology.

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bradbeattie
from the developer's perspective, I gather. However, the lower x-axis already
indicates this, so the curve is still poorly defined.

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Alex63
I would expect that at least a few HN readers are like me: past developers,
who now spend the bulk (if not all)of their time managing projects. In
response to questions about the vertical axis, my answer is that from a PM
perspective, it's the measure of how much the developers want to play with the
latest technology. From a developer perspective it's the measure of "perceived
benefit" from applying a specific technology. Having seen a lot of sexy
technologies fall by the wayside over the years (often because they turned out
to cause more problems than they solved - yes I'm talking about you, CORBA),
my sympathies are with the PM view. When I was a young programmer, we had
similar "discussions" with the old guys about the merits of C versus
COBOL/VSAM versus RDBMS/client-server versus dumb terminals. As far as I'm
concerned, if you can show me (the PM) a quantifiable benefit of using a new
technology, I'll consider it. But in a lot of cases, the benefit seems to be
"it's cool, and I want to try it." I sympathize with you, but that's not
enough to justify the risks I'm taking on by using a new technology.

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run4yourlives
What developers need to always understand is that the PM's view is the
business's view.

If developers have a tough time with developing Windows Forms and would rather
use Python daily, they should found a start-up and create a business that is
inline with a developer's view.

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generalk
_What developers need to always understand is that the PM's view is the
business's view._

The PM's view is the business's view colored by the PM's preconceptions. Good
PMs will defer on technical decisions and be firm on business decisions. Bad
PMs won't.

 _If developers have a tough time with developing Windows Forms and would
rather use Python daily, they should found a start-up and create a business
that is inline with a developer's view._

That's one way to do it. Another good way is to communicate with the
PM/business in language that speaks to them (cost/savings, time to build,
maintenance costs, etc.) and make the case for Python (or whatever).

Interesting thought: * Poor developers will pick their technology irrespective
of the problem at hand. * Good developers will pick the most appropriate tool
given the problem at hand. * _Great_ developers look at the problem at hand
and write whatever tools from the ground up they need in their chosen
technology to make it happen. (See: 37signals with Ruby, developed Rails.
Django with The World Company, etc.)

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hubb
i don't really agree with your assertion about great devs. i would word it
such that great devs will write their own tools from the ground up _only if_
there aren't already tools out there that will do the job. DRY etc etc

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j_baker
I would say that a better way of phrasing it would be: "Great developers solve
the problem at hand _in spite of_ the tools that are available".

